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It’s not an April Fool’s Day joke. Trout season is on for tomorrow.
And the state Department of Environmental Conservation has stocked cold-water lakes and streams with 2.2 million catchable-sized trout.
“Fishing is good for the mind and body,” said DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos.
The spring stocking included 1.68 million brown trout, 424,860 rainbow trout, and 156,970 brook trout. Approximately 98,000 two-year-old brown trout 13-14 inches in length are included in the brown trout total. Nearly 1.6 million yearling lake trout, steelhead, landlocked salmon, splake, and coho salmon was also stocked by DEC this spring to provide exciting angling opportunities over the next several years.
Anglers can visit the DEC website to find a complete list of this spring’s planned trout stocking in 307 lakes and ponds and roughly 2,845 miles of streams across the state.
While enjoying the outdoors, Seggos reminds activists to practice social distancing to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
Also, if an angler arrives at a parking lot and there are several cars, they should consider going to another parking lot. If an angler is fishing upstream, they should fish downstream of the other angler or consider fishing another day. Anglers fishing from boats should be able to maintain at least six feet of distance between one another.
To further limit the community spread of COVID-19, DEC is encouraging hunters, trappers, and anglers to purchase sporting licenses online. Sporting licenses may be purchased online at any time, and anglers may use their privileges immediately by simply carrying their transaction number (DEC-LS#) with them while afield.
Anglers, hunters, and trappers may also use the HuntFishNY mobile app to display an electronic copy of their license. The HuntFishNY app is available for download through the Apple App or Google Play stores. Back tags and carcass tags must still be mailed, and customers should allow 10-14 days for receipt of their tags.
