DUTCHESS COUNTY – Opening day of trout season in New York is this Saturday, April 1st, and the forecast is looking good for Dutchess County anglers, according to the well-known sportsman, Bill Conners. Conners, known throughout the area as “Mr. Outdoors” has provided this Dutchess County fishing forecast to Mid-Hudson News so that readers and viewers are prepared for opening day.
“If the Weatherman holds true to his word,” Conner said, “anglers will be greeted by warm, but wet weather,” adding “You might want to pack your rain gear if you plan to visit any of the local streams.”
In preparation for the season opener, the Department of Environmental Conservation has completed the initial stocking of the major trout streams in Dutchess County, and all of the major watersheds will have been stocked with one-year-old brown trout from the DEC’s Catskill Hatchery in Debruce, in Sullivan County. Approximately 10 percent of the trout will be two years old. Mid-Hudson News Reporter Todd Bender tested that theory earlier this week and landed three trout; two in the Crum Elbow Creek in Hyde Park and one from the Wappingers Creek in the Town of Poughkeepsie.
Hudson Valley streams are in much better shape now than they were last summer when near-drought conditions turned many of them into cobblestone paths. Spring runoff from melting snow in the region is lacking this year, so stream conditions are going to be very favorable. Conners said he expects some of the more popular fishing holes to be crowded.
Changes to the state’s trout stream management plan last year limit the number and size of trout that anglers can keep compared to past years. Wappingers Creek is now classified as “Stocked-extended” from the New Hackensack Road bridge in Red Oaks Mill, upstream to the East Branch of the Wappingers in Hibernia. From three-quarters of a mile downstream of Jamison Hill Road in Clinton Corners, upstream to Hunns Lake Creek in Stanfordville, the steam is now classified as “Wild-Quality.” In both sections, anglers may keep only three trout, with no more than one being over 12 inches.
Bill’s best advice is to read the latest Fishing Regulations Guide available from any License Issuing Agent or online at the DEC website.
MHNN video of Reporter Todd Bender’s recent fishing “tests” on the Crum Elbow and Wappingers Creeks:
