It is hard to exaggerate the quality of Empire State trout fishing, which compares favorably with anything east of the Rockies. To put in perspective the scope and diversity of our cold-water resources, you have to realize that the New York Department of Environmental Conservation hatcheries will funnel 2.3 million brown, rainbow and brook trout into various streams, lakes and ponds this spring.

But collectively, they're just a big drop in the bucket. Most stockers will have to compete with wild trout or holdovers from previous plantings, since very few of New York's fish-farm graduates are deposited in environs not suited to the trouts' long-term survival.

New York boasts more than 10,000 miles of trout streams, including some 1,200 miles of creekbanks and riverbanks with designated public access. These fisheries are at their productive peak in May, when the spring runoff has ended and water temperatures rise to the 55- to 65-degree range that triggers mayfly hatches and stirs the appetites of cold-blooded trout. Streams that were too high, muddy and cold to fish properly a week or two earlier now have a "live" look to them. Experienced anglers recognize the signs and venture forth with rod and reel at every opportunity.

Hundreds of prime trout waters in New York are generous to sportsmen at this point in the season, but the following half dozen are surely among the state's best spring-season fisheries:

LIMESTONE CREEK
Do you enjoy fly-fishing in an urban-suburban setting, for a mix of recent stockers and holdover brown trout that have grown fat and colorful during their first year of free living? How about dunking worms in rural headwaters populated by wild, brilliantly colored brownies? Limestone Creek is a split-personality stream that offers both experiences.

From DeRuyter Reservoir in Madison County, Limestone flows north for about 28 miles, passing through the Onondaga County towns of Pompey and Manlius before merging with Butternut Creek north of Minoa. In the 1950s and '60s, most anglers rated it as one of two or three best, if not the best, trout stream in the Syracuse area. But rapid development along Limestone's banks has caused its reputation to be somewhat sullied since then. Many Onondaga County residents who haunted the creek in its heyday have since shifted their allegiance to other local streams, such as Ninemile Creek or Fabius Brook. That's their loss, for Limestone remains a top-notch trout stream.

I'd recommend that New York Game & Fish readers test the creek's potential in May, when weather and water conditions are ideal for bait, spinning and fly-fishing enthusiasts alike.

Credit the Onondaga County-owned Carpenter's Brook fish hatchery for playing a key role in sustaining Limestone's trout resource while housing developments and shopping centers mushroomed along its banks in the 1970s, '80s and '90s. The local hatchery currently supplies the creek with about 11,500 trout annually. They're mostly browns, with a few brookies sprinkled in. Perhaps 3,000 to 4,000 of the brownies in a typical spring will be chunky 2-year-olds that average 13 inches long.