With the trout season opener behind us and the fishing starting to heat up, here comes New York state and Essex County giving us something to catch.

The stocking of trout has started, with state and county employees – enthusiastically helped by local volunteers – putting tens of thousands of brown, brook and rainbow trout in the county's ponds, lakes, rivers and streams.

Essex County's fish hatchery has raised close to 45,000 fish that crews will be distributing to over 70 spots this spring in each of the county's 18 towns. Year-old brook and brown trout will join 2- and 3-year-old rainbows this year.

Additionally, the state will stock those waters through June with all three trout species.

All this in addition to the wild brookies you can find in some of the headwater streams and it truly becomes a fisherman's paradise.

The Essex County Fish Hatchery is located in the Lake Champlain region town of Crown Point. Since 1972, the hatchery has raised yearling trout of 7 to 9 inches and 2- and 3-year-old trout of 12 to 18 inches. Located on Creek Road, you can visit and see the evolution of the fish from eggs to the fina, catchable product.

Of course, there's something to be said for hitting the streams soon after a stocking. Steve and I often plan our early evenings around the schedule. Not that we vacuum a pool and move on to the next. More often than not, it's catch-and-release for us, although one will usually come home in the creel for the ceremonial trout dinner of the year.During a recent outing, we both tied into some nice fish (hatchery stockies will readily take nymphs and underwater fly presentations this time of year, as well as the plain old nightcrawler). Of course, you don't have to put them all back. In many of the streams, it's designed to be a put-and-take fishery because the water temperatures over the course of the summer will rise to uncomfortable levels for the fish, especially the brookies.

Some of the waters that will be stocked this year in the Lake Placid Region include: yearlings in the Chubb River; the West Branch of the Ausable River, from the ski jumps to Marcy Dam; and Ray Brook Pond. Mirror Lake and Lake Placid will get some 2-year-old rainbows and other portions of the Ausable will get 2- and 3-year-old rainbows and even some 2-year-old brook trout.

In the town of Keene, fish will be distributed in: Lower Cascade Lake, Spruce Hill Brook (the downstream section: Route 73 and Schaffer Road), Slide Brook, Johns Brook, Barkeater Pond (in the Special Kids Fishing Area), Chapel Pond, the East Branch of the Ausable River, Cascade Brook and Upper Cascade Lake.

The state's stocking program includes some of the same waters, but the Department of Environmental Conservation, with help from the state police, will also be stocking selected backcountry ponds from the air.

And this is only the beginning. Those fish will be there all summer long and into the fall. It's gonna be a great year to fish the Adirondacks!