NY Regs Question

[cmoran719]

I'm spending this upcoming weekend in a cabin in the Catskills, along the Esopus creek. I was originally hoping to do some fly-fishing on the esopus (since it will be my backyard!) but I found out I can't fish it until April 1st apparently?

I looked into the regs and saw that but am a bit confused. Trout season starts on the 1st, but certain other fish, like sunfish, can be fished year round. TBH, I would not mind at all just catching some sunfish, since I simply want to get a line wet and try out my new fly rod. So is there any way I can do that? Is it that you can't keep trout or that you can't target them? Is there a way I can "prove" that I'm not targeting trout while still fly-fishing lol ?

Thanks for any help

[gwl2oneida]

Call the ny DEC office. They'll give you the most accurate answer

[jimmythegreek]

The info will often actually be in the regs if you look carefully, Ive overlooked them lots of times. Like here in NJ some rivers/streams are closed for fishing period the few weeks before trout opens, that means u cant fish it period. Other waters like lakes, are closed to trout as is the whole state, but you can fish for whatever you want, if a trout is caught it must "immediately be released" and I had a CO tell me you cant even take a picture of it, it must go back as fast as possible. Take a look and see if they have detailed info or call a bait+tackle shop close to there, they usually know the regs well

[oelgnal1]

Region 3 Ulster Co. - Fisheries (845) 256-3161

[lennysky]

Esopus is closed from November 1 until April 1 I'm pretty sure or at least this was true 5 years ago