There are basically three rivers on L.I. that have good trout fishing. The Connetquot River in Connetquot State Park, the Nissequogue River in Caleb Smith State Park, and the Carmans River in Southhaven County Park.

The first two are run on a reservation system where you reserve a beat of the river for a four hour session and pay a fee ($15-$20 last time I checked). You are likely to catch quality sized fish here as they are regularly stocked. The Connetquot is the more well known of the two and consequently they have a lot of rules to keep the "crowds" from jeopardizing the fishing. The Nissequoque is more low key and more pleasant to fish.

On the Connetquot River you phone in your reservation and if you get one you are guaranteed a spot on the river, but you won't know which one until you get there. The spots are assigned on a first-come first-serve basis. There are people that line up the night before to ensure getting there favorite beat. I think there are around 30 beats to choose from.

On the Nissequoque River, you also phone in your reservation but you reserve a specific beat so there is no waiting in line. You can just show up at the right time and that's it. They only have about 8 beats on the river so they fill up fast though. They also have some ponds but fishing on the ponds is somewhat unpredictable. If you get an early morning session on the ponds in the spring you will do OK. Once the sun comes out the fish go deep and are pretty much unreachable due to the weeds. The ponds have casting platforms so there is no boat involved.

The Carmans River is more typical of public water with smaller stocked fish and also wild brook trout. No reservation is required but there is a nominal fee ($2) and there are no time limits other than sunrise to sunset. You can fish pretty much anywhere on the river if you fly fish.

If you are interested in fishing with a guide, I believe Dean at the Orvis shop in Greenvale does some guiding on the Carmans.

They are all beautiful rivers. Enjoy!



[This message has been edited by gadabout (edited 09 February 2005).]