Connecticut Trout Stocking Report 2026

Every sentence here comes from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP), and each section names its sources. Updated .

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) raises and stocks four kinds of trout: rainbow, brook, brown and tiger. Between March and May 2026 it planned more than 500,000 trout for over 100 lakes and ponds and 135 rivers and streams, and for fall 2026 over 60,000 trout and more than 2,000 Atlantic salmon. Its stocking report is a PDF that gains a date beside each water as it is stocked, and a map shows how many days it has been since each water's last stocking.

From CT DEEP: Trout Parks, CT DEEP: Celebrate Spring Fishing Day on April 11 (6 April 2026), CT DEEP: Trout and Salmon Stocking Report (PDF) and CT DEEP: Trout Stocking Maps.

The CT DEEP trout stocking report

The season's stocked waters, listed by water in one table and by town in another, with the date added to the Stocked column as each water is stocked. It lists the waters planned for the season; it does not give their dates ahead of time. Find your water in Table 1, or your town in Table 2, and read the Stocked column. Check the update date at the top, and expect some river locations to be missed on a given run.

Open the CT DEEP Trout Stocking Report
  • Trout Stocking Maps: DEEP's page for the interactive map, which shows the waters stocked in the past day, week or month, plus more than 100 printable maps of stocked river and brook sections.
  • Fish Stocking Report 2025: The record of the year before: every species stocked and how many went into each water. In October 2026 the current edition was 2025's.

From CT DEEP: Trout and Salmon Stocking Report (PDF), CT DEEP: Trout Stocking Maps and CT DEEP: Fish Stocking Report 2025 (PDF).

When Connecticut stocks trout

Spring

Spring stocking generally begins in late February and runs until mid-May, and more than half the year's trout are in the water before catch-and-keep opens on the second Saturday in April. Some waters get more. Trout Parks are stocked every 10 days or so in spring and again in fall once the water cools, and Trophy Trout Areas get a higher share of fish over 12 inches, including most of the surplus broodstock over 2 pounds.

Fall

A subset of waters, several Trout Management Areas among them, is stocked again in September and October for fall and winter fishing. The fall 2026 plan was over 60,000 trout, more than half of them over 12 inches, for 38 lakes and ponds and 37 river and stream sections. Adult Atlantic salmon go in each fall from September, as river conditions allow, in three river sections designated Atlantic Salmon Management Areas and in select lakes, Mount Tom Pond and Crystal Lake among them.

From CT DEEP: Fish Stocking Report 2025 (PDF), CT DEEP: Trout Parks, CT DEEP: River and Stream Regulations, CT DEEP: Trophy Trout Areas, CT DEEP: Trout and Salmon Stocking Report (PDF) and CT DEEP: Atlantic Salmon Management Areas.

Rules on stocked water

  • There is no closed season for trout. From 1 March until 6 a.m. on the second Saturday in April it is catch and release only in most waters (11 April in 2026), and from then until the end of February you may keep 5 trout a day, each at least 9 inches long since 1 January 2026.
  • Trout Management Areas are stocked again in fall for catch and release from 1 September to the second Saturday in April, and on 10 sections no trout may be kept at any time. Fishing any of them takes a Trout and Salmon Stamp on top of the license.
  • Trout Parks allow 2 trout a day and take the stamp to fish; Trophy Trout Areas allow 2 a day and take the stamp to keep any.
  • Anyone 16 or older who keeps a trout from any water needs the Trout and Salmon Stamp, which runs to the end of each calendar year. Releasing every trout and salmon, you need it only in the special waters above.
  • Atlantic salmon on the Naugatuck, Shetucket and Housatonic are open all year: catch and release from 1 September to 15 December, then 1 fish a day, and in those areas a single fly or a lure with one free-swinging hook is required from 1 September to 31 March. DEEP sets the salmon limits each year by Commissioner's Declaration, so check the current one.

From CT DEEP: Species Regulations, CT DEEP: Celebrate Spring Fishing Day on April 11 (6 April 2026), CT DEEP: Trout Management Areas, CT DEEP: Trout Parks, CT DEEP: Trophy Trout Areas, CT DEEP: Trout and Salmon Stamp and CT DEEP: River and Stream Regulations.

How to hear about a stocking

  • DEEP's Fisheries Division posts stocking information each afternoon during trout season, in the stocking report and on the map.
  • DEEP also posts its stockings on Facebook and Instagram, and points anglers there to stay up to date.
  • For questions, the Fisheries Division's line is 860-424-FISH (3474).

From CT DEEP: Fish Stocking Report 2025 (PDF), CT DEEP: Trout and Salmon Stamp, CT DEEP: Trout and Salmon Stocking Report (PDF) and CT DEEP: Trout Parks.

Worth knowing before you go looking

  • The stocking report is one PDF, rewritten as the season goes, so check the update date printed at its top before trusting a blank Stocked column.
  • The map counts days since each water's most recent stocking, so a water not stocked this fall still shows its spring date.
  • Open the map from DEEP's Trout Stocking Maps page, which carries the current link after a software upgrade.

From CT DEEP: Trout and Salmon Stocking Report (PDF) and CT DEEP: Trout Stocking Maps.

Which day to fish it

The schedule says where the fish went in. Which day to go is a different question: the forecast scores each day of the week for trout at the water you pick, from its water temperature, the wind and the weather.

See the week for rainbow trout

Species guides: Rainbow Trout · Brown Trout · Brook Trout

Sources

Every sentence above was read on one of these pages, and a check re-reads each quoted line against the page it came from.

Spotted something out of date or plain wrong here? Tell us and we will check it.