The Old Chenango Canal, located in Madison County, is a small-to-medium sized stream that flows through the Hamlet of Bouckville. The canal, which operated from 1837 to 1878, connected Utica to Binghamton.
Access:
- Though there are no official Public Fishing Rights (PFR) easements along the canal, much of it's length it is bordered by the Chenango Canal Towpath Trail and the Canal Road. Both offer access to the canal.
- The Chenango Canal Museum has a universal fishing access platform located at the intersection of Route 20 and Canal Road in Bouckville.
- For information on this and also for a map showing the Towpath Trail please visit the Chenango Canal Association website in the right hand column under sites leaving the DEC webpage.
DECinfo Locator - Interactive Trout Stream Fishing Map (Decinfo Locator is best viewed on a desktop computer).
Trout Stream Fishing Map User Guide ("How to" instructions for using the fishing map on Decinfo Locator.)
Fish Species:
Brown trout and white sucker.
Fishing:
The canal can be challenging to fish as it has an abundance of aquatic vegetation and woody structure in the stream. For most of it's length, the bank is lined with trees and brush.
Regulations:
Inland Trout Stream Fishing Regulations Apply.
Fish Management:
The Chenango Canal is a Wild-Premier reach from Oriskany Creek upstream to the Route 20 Bridge and is not stocked. It was stocked annually with around 1,000 year-old brown trout (8-9 inches) until 2021.
Fisheries Survey 2019
An electrofishing survey was conducted on the Chenango Canal, Madison County, on September 6, 2019. This was a repeat of surveys conducted in August 2015 and 2017. The purpose of these surveys was that there had been some concern by anglers that fishing "wasn't what it used to be." Mainly, they weren't catching the numbers of larger trout they used to. The Chenango Canal is managed under a special "trophy" trout fishing regulation of an all year open season, a minimum length of 12-inches, 2 fish daily limit, and artificial lures only. Two sites were electrofished for 0.65 hours of "on-time." A total of 65 brown trout were collected for a catch per unit effort (CPUE) of 100/trout hour. This CPUE was less than both the 2015 CPUE of 125/h and 2017 CPUE of 181/trout hour but greater than the1991 CPUE of 53/h. It should be noted that the efficiency was down for some reason in 2019, numerous trout were "rolled" but recovered before being netted. Adjustments were made to the gear but with no improvement. No explanation for this occurrence at this time but it ultimately led to a lower CPUE.
The 2019 mean brown trout length was 5.3 in, an improvement over the 2015 mean length of 5.1 in but less than the 6.7 in mean length in 2017. However, all were still below the 1991 mean length of 8.4 in. None of the 65 brown trout caught were ≥12 in. At least five trout, that likely would have been legal length, were spotted but not successfully netted. The majority (69%) of the 2019 catch of wild trout was Age-0 fish, followed by Age-1 at 18%.
With recent changes in stream trout management, it will be recommended that the Chenango Canal no longer be stocked and be designated Wild-Premier, based on the number of wild trout with the potential to produce some large fish.