The trout are stocked for the Fall Family Fishing Festival at Hempstead Lake State Park and they even have loaner rods and bait if you need.

Festival activities include fishing with free loaner rods and bait, fishing instruction, casting instruction, and fish-cleaning services. In addition to fishing opportunities, the festival features a children's casting for pumpkins contest, DEC and State Parks displays, and additional children’s entertainment.

The fishing license requirement for all anglers over the age of 16 is suspended for this festival, and admission and parking are free. The children's casting for pumpkins contest will be held for as long as pumpkins last, during which kids can "catch" a pumpkin and "hook" a prize. Casting contest prizes are provided by I FISH NY and State Parks.

Prior to the festival, State Parks will stock South and McDonald ponds in Hempstead Lake State Park with brook and rainbow trout. DEC stocks brown trout in several other waterbodies in Nassau and Suffolk counties, including Upper Twin Pond, Oyster Bay Mill Pond, Massapequa Reservoir, and 12 additional Suffolk County lakes. These additional stockings will occur by Nov. 1, and provide excellent prospects for fall fishing.