A great place to fish: Twin Island and Stissing lakes

By Pete Colaizzo
Poughkeepsie Journal

And if you want some great fishing, head north to Pine Plains and dip your line into Stissing Lake and Twin Island Lake. For two fishers from southern Dutchess County, it's more than worth the drive up north.

''It's real nice up there,'' Gary Rogers said, ''because you catch fish. A lot of fish.''

Rogers and his fishing buddy Mark Italiano drive the 45 minutes from their Wappingers Falls homes to test their fishing prowess at Stissing and Twin Island several times during the fishing season. They did just that on June 15 during the Pine Plains Lions Club's annual Bass Fishing Tournament on the opening day of bass fishing season.

What they and others in the tournament found were beautiful lakes with mountain views -- and lots and lots of fish. In Italiano's case, it was more fish than he could have dreamed of nabbing in a single day.

''We were on Twin Island and we caught 28 fish,'' he said. The tournament format was catch and release, so after their top fish were weighed they were tossed back into the water.

Fishing enthusiasts have plenty of options in the mid-Hudson Valley:

-- One of the more popular destinations is Morgan Lake in the City of Poughkeepsie. The lake is stocked with trout and has many other species of fish.

-- Stream and creek fishing for trout has surged in popularity, especially now that the Department of Environmental Conservation routinely stocks local streams with two-year-old trout.

Karl Rabe/Poughkeepsie Journal Brock Miles of Copake (Columbia County) reaches for a lure while fishing on Twin Island Lake.

''Trout fishing is really good now because of the way the DEC is stocking,'' Italiano said. ''This year, we went out to Sprout Creek (in Fishkill) and got our limit each day. Nice fish, beautiful.''

-- The Hudson River as a fishery has surged in popularity in recent years because of renewed interest in striped bass fishing. The stripers' annual spawning run in late April and May draw many out-of-town fishers to the river.

-- Lake fishing is usually the way to go when trying to land bass. The bass season runs from June 15 through Oct. 15.

According to Pine Plains tournament coordinator Don Spohr, bass fishing is the most common type of fishing done at Stissing Lake, especially in the summer months. And that Pine Plains tournament opens the eyes of many fishers to some gems of lakes in northern Dutchess County.

''Maybe it's not that over-fished,'' Rogers said. ''I really don't know. Some lakes are just better than others.''

Whether it's the gorgeous glacial lakes of northern Dutchess County, a small creek in Fishkill, or the popular Morgan Lake in Poughkeepsie, one thing's for sure: Chances are, no matter what the outcome, a day of fishing will be a success.

Or, as long-time fishing store owner Don Traver of Don's Tackle Shop in Red Hook says: ''It's not really all that difficult. Fishing's a fairly simple sport.''