The annual Fall Family Fishing and Children’s Festival at Hempstead Lake State Park will be held Saturday, Oct. 15, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- fishing with free loaner rods and bait;
- fishing instruction;
- casting instruction;
- fish-cleaning services;
- children’s casting for pumpkins contest;
- live animal show;
- magician;
- pumpkin decorating;
- fish printing;
- a children’s slide; and
- DEC and State Parks displays.
The fishing license requirement for all anglers over the age of 16 is suspended for this festival, and admission and parking are free.
Prior to the festival, State Parks will stock South and McDonald ponds in Hempstead Lake State Park with brook and rainbow trout. These and additional stockings will occur by Oct. 27, and provide excellent prospects for fall fishing. A second DEC stocking will occur in early November. For more information about the fall trout stocking program in Nassau and Suffolk counties, call the DEC Bureau of Fisheries at (631) 444-0280. DEC provides additional information on Free Fishing Clinics. General information on freshwater fishing on Long Island can be found at DEC’s Long Island/NYC Fishing webpage and more info at DEC’s Fishing webpage.
For more information about the festival, call DEC’s I FISH NY Program at (631) 444-0283 or Hempstead Lake State Park (516) 766-1029 for event status. There is no rain date for this event.
