The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will kick off the Capital Region fishing season April 23, with its annual fish stocking and free Family Fishing Festival at Six Mile Waterworks, Commissioner Basil Saggos announced this week. “There are a number of great places to fish within the Albany city limits and Six Mile Waterworks is a prime example,” Saggos said in a statement. Six Mile Waterworks is located off the Fuller Road roundabout between Washington and Central avenues. The event coincides with Earth Week and spring recess for area schools. As part of the festival, the DEC will stock Rensselaer Lake with more than 1,000 rainbow trout. DEC fisheries staff will also present a sports fishing clinic, teaching participants about fish identification, angling techniques and fishing safety. The DEC stocks more than 2.3 million varieties of catchable-sized trout in more than 309 lakes and ponds and roughly 2,900 miles of streams statewide every spring. In Columbia County, the DEC recently stocked One Pit Pond in Copake, Queechy Lake in Canaan, and Weed Mines Pond in Ancram, with rainbow trout. The department will stock locations throughout Greene County with brown trout later in the spring.