At 95 acres, Meadow Lake in Flushing Meadows Corona Park is the largest fishable freshwater body in New York City. Meadow connects to 45-acre Willow Lake, also open to fishing. Meadow Lake is tidally influenced through a connection to Flushing Bay via Flushing Creek and a network of culverts passable by fish. This connection has led to a high number of American eels, white perch, and gizzard shad in Meadow Lake, all of which are found in marine waters and can tolerate both fresh and saltwater. Other salt-tolerant species of fish found during DEC Fisheries surveys include Atlantic tomcod, alewife and inland silverside.
Physical Features:
Elevation: 10 feet
Area: 95 acres
Shoreline Length: 2.7 miles
Depth: Approximately four feet throughout
Fish Species:
Alewife, American eel, bluegill, brown bullhead, common carp, goldfish, gizzard shad, silverside, largemouth bass, mummichog, Northern snakehead, pumpkinseed, white mullet and white perch
Regulations:
Special regulations apply. See Special Fishing Regulations for NYC.
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation rules require the use of non-lead weights and barbless hooks.
Anyone catching a northern snakehead MUST NOT RELEASE it. Anglers are required by law to kill any snakehead caught and report the catch to their local DEC Regional Fisheries Office. Call the NYC Regional Fisheries office at 718-482-4922 or send an email to report your catch.
Fishery Highlights and Reports
The most recent technical report of DEC fisheries work at Meadow Lake is from 2021. Fish species captured and observed during that survey were American eel, common carp, silverside, gizzard shad, white perch, pumpkinseed, and goldfish. Full findings can be found in the Meadow Lake Technical Brief (PDF).
Invasive Species Monitoring
Northern Snakeheads in New York City (PDF). 2016 article published in Northeastern Naturalist, 23(1): 11-24. The publisher, the Eagle Hill Institute, allows download of this article through the DEC website, however, any further distribution or reproduction, in whole or in part, except for personal research purposes, without written permission of the publisher, the Eagle Hill Institute, is prohibited.
