Hempstead Lake State Park hosts fishing festival for fall

People were free to cast their lines throughout Hempstead Lake State Park last Saturday, at the park’s annual Fall Family Freshwater Fishing Festival.

Food trucks, vendors, and information booths lined the path to McDonald Pond at the southern end of the park. The state Department of Environmental Conservation had freshly stocked the park’s two bodies of water with about 1,000 rainbow and brook trout raised at the Connetquot Hatchery in Oakdale.

Heidi O’Riordan, who works with the department’s freshwater fisheries unit, organized the day’s fishing programs. “There’s turtles, there’s frogs, there’s sunfish in there,” she said of the park’s waters. “But we stock the trout for put and take fishery,” she added, referring to the introduction of a species for sport fishing. “The trout get raised for people who buy a fishing license, so we expect them to take them.”

The park also declared a free fishing day for the event, meaning that visitors did not need a fishing license to take part. “We have several throughout the year,” O’Riordan said. “We do this to give people the opportunity, before they commit to buying their license, to see if fishing is right for them.” She added that anyone interested in a fishing license can probably purchase one at their local Walmart, sporting goods store or bait shop.

The DEC’S fisheries unit and the I Fish NY program supplied rods and bait. I Fish NY was started in the 1990s. “It was meant to be mostly for urban youth who don’t really get a chance to go out and go fishing,” explained Walter Burack, the program’s regional director.

The program has expanded over the years, and now offers free lessons for students in grades 6 to 12 throughout the school year. “We’ve gone into schools in the wintertime, and taken entire sixth-grade classes and came in over the course of two days,” Burack said. “We give a talk to the entire class about fishing, and about our resources, and about stewardship, and about regulations, and about what we do.”

I Fish NY also partners with Scout troops, helping scouts looking to earn fishing-related merit badges.

A number of fishing clubs and organizations from across Long Island assisted with the day’s programs. The Wantagh Knights of Columbus Fishing Club, and instructor Paul McCain, from River Bay Outfitters in Baldwin, were among those who pitched in.

In addition to providing equipment, the instructors also helped people prepare their fish to eat. “We also clean the fish,” O’Riordan said. “So if people catch a fish, they can bring it to us and we’ll clean it.”

The Texas-based Raptor Project was on site, displaying numerous owls, falcons and other birds of prey. For $10, park visitors could don a falconer’s glove and pose for a photo holding on of the majestic animals.

“We’ve done a lot of shows here over the years,” explained raptor handler Jonathan Wood. “Covid cut things down for a few years, but we travel all 50 states. We were just in Alaska. We travel all over the country. We do a lot of state fairs and stuff like that.”

Beyond fish and birds, visitors had a number of food vendors to choose from. Organizers set up a station where participants could try to catch pumpkins with their rods. Pumpkin decorating and other arts and craft stations were also set up by the Nassau County Police Department’s Law Enforcement Exploring program, in which young people can explore potential career paths.

O’Riordan estimated that about 2,000 people came to the park to fish throughout the day, a marked improvement from last year’s turnout, when cold weather and Covid concerns kept visitors away. “It was a beautiful day today,” she said. “We’re really happy with how this turned out.”