CHEMUNG COUNTY, N.Y. (WENY) -- A pair of popular fishing spots in Chemung County were stocked with Trout today as fishing season gets off to a fast start in the region.

DEC hauled in Trout from the Bath hatchery to stock both Eldridge Park Lake and Park Station today. Several families were in attendance to help, putting a stamp on the beginning of the year's fishing season.

Stocking is an essential process in which fish are first raised in a hatchery and then released into a natural body of water in order to bolster that body of water's fish population. Today, 1400 of these fish were transported to Eldridge Park for stocking, where numerous volunteers, sometimes entire families, pitched in.

The Catherine Creek Chapter of Trout Unlimited along with several of it's members and leadership assisted the public with the volunteer efforts. "At this point in time our organization is mostly made up of older people and obviously we're not getting any younger. But it's nice to see families out because hopefully they'll catch on and see what we do and want to get more involved," remarked Chapter President Jim Palmer.

The Fishing season began in New York back on Tuesday, attracting scores of folks back to the waterways for a pastime enjoyed by millions. Park Station was also stocked with 2400 fish to prepare for the season, and spirits remain high for participation across all age levels. 

"There were a lot of people on Catherine Creek this week and we've already stocked Cayuta Creek, better known as Shepherd's Creek, and there's people fishing there already also," added Palmer, "Very excited just to see the involvement of the community. Most of us don't get to fish until about the end of April because we're busy doing the stocking. But that's okay."

Brook Trout season for lake and pond fishing runs through October 15th in New York State, and the fishing season opens in Pennsylvania on Saturday, April 5th.

In total a combined 3,800 trout were stocked at Eldridge Park and Park Station. Thanks to community support, Eldridge Park was stocked in about an hour's time.