Kentucky Trout Stocking Schedule 2026

Every sentence here comes from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR), and each section names its sources. Updated .

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) stocks rainbow trout, and brown trout in some waters, in streams, tailwaters and lakes, all of them raised at Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery. In 2026 its stream program covers 45 streams and 14 tailwaters. Its Trout Stocking Schedule page lists the stockings for the current month. From age 16, keeping a trout takes a trout permit on top of the fishing license. Without one you may still fish, but every trout goes back, except on the Cumberland River below Wolf Creek Dam, where you need the permit just to fish.

From Kentucky Fish and Wildlife: Trout Streams Program in Kentucky for 2026 (PDF), Kentucky Fishing & Boating Guide, March 2026 to February 2027 (PDF), Kentucky Fish and Wildlife: Trout Stocking Schedule, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife: Frequently Asked Questions and 301 KAR 1:201, Taking of fish by traditional fishing methods.

The KDFWR trout stocking schedule

This month's trout stockings. Earlier stockings this year are on the Yearly Trout Stocking Archive. Streams on federal land are stocked without notice, so they never appear ahead of time: Bark Camp, Cane, Chimney Top, Craney, Rock and Swift Camp creeks, the East Fork of Indian Creek, the Middle Fork of the Red River, the North Fork of Triplett Creek, War Fork and Hatchery Creek. The Cumberland River tailwater's dates are not announced either.

Open the Trout Stocking Schedule
  • Kentucky Fishing & Boating Guide: Trout Waters: Every stocked tailwater, stream and lake for the license year from March 2026 to February 2027, with how many rainbows and browns each gets and the months it is stocked in. Months are written as numbers, 1 for January to 12 for December. An asterisk marks a Daniel Boone National Forest stream, whose stockings are not announced.
  • FINs Trout Stocking Schedule: The Fishing in Neighborhoods lakes by county, with the date each was last stocked and how many trout each gets in October, November, February and March.
  • Yearly Trout Stocking Archive: This year's earlier stockings, by month. A month moves here once the next one starts.

From Kentucky Fish and Wildlife: Trout Stocking Schedule, Kentucky Fishing & Boating Guide, March 2026 to February 2027 (PDF), Kentucky Fish and Wildlife: FINs Trout Stocking Schedule, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife: Frequently Asked Questions and Kentucky Fish and Wildlife: Yearly Trout Stocking Archive.

When Kentucky stocks trout

Streams and tailwaters

Few Kentucky waters stay cold enough for trout to last the year, so most trout water is stocked for anglers to catch while the water is cool in spring, fall and winter. The 14 tailwaters below dams get rainbows, and a few get browns, from spring into late fall. Streams get rainbows in the months the guide lists for each, and some get browns once a year to grow. Casey, Jennings, Trammel and Round Stone creeks and Sulphur Spring Creek are stocked through the summer as well. The Cumberland River below Wolf Creek Dam, the Lake Cumberland tailwater, is stocked every month from March through December, with 192,400 rainbows and 42,000 browns in the 2026-27 guide and brook trout in March. Its dates are not announced. Hatchery Creek, which runs from Wolf Creek National Fish Hatchery to the river, is stocked monthly.

Lakes

Lakes such as Greenbo, Wood Creek, Cannon Creek and Paintsville get trout in the months the guide lists for each, all between October and May in the 2026-27 guide. Stockings from January to March depend on the weather and the roads.

Fishing in Neighborhoods (FINs) lakes

The 45 FINs lakes, run with city and county governments to put fishing near cities across the state, get rainbow trout in October, November, February and March, and catfish from March to June.

Seasonal catch and release streams

From October 1 through March 31 a set of stocked streams is catch and release on artificial bait only: Bark Camp, Beaver (Wayne County), Big Bone, Casey, Clear, Elk Spring, Gunpowder, Otter, Rock, Swift Camp and Trammel creeks, Floyds Fork, and the East Fork of Indian Creek.

From Kentucky Fish and Wildlife: Trout Streams Program in Kentucky for 2026 (PDF), Kentucky Fishing & Boating Guide, March 2026 to February 2027 (PDF), Kentucky Fish and Wildlife: Trout Stocking Schedule, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife: Fishing in Neighborhoods, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife: Frequently Asked Questions and 301 KAR 1:201, Taking of fish by traditional fishing methods.

Rules on stocked water

  • Anglers 16 and older need a fishing license. For the license year from March 2026 to February 2027 an annual license costs a resident $24.31 and a nonresident $58.14, and the trout permit $10.57. Nonresidents can also buy a 1-day license for $15.86 or a 7-day license for $37. The resident sportsman's license and the senior or disabled sportsman's license include the trout permit. Licenses run March 1 through the last day of February.
  • Statewide you may keep 8 rainbow trout a day with no size limit (5 on Trammel Creek in Allen County) and 1 brown trout of at least 16 inches. Brook trout go back, cutthroat trout are 1 a day of at least 20 inches, and culling, replacing a trout you are holding with another, is not allowed.
  • On the Cumberland River from Wolf Creek Dam to the Tennessee line, its tributaries up to the first riffle and Hatchery Creek, every licensed angler needs a trout permit, keeping fish or not. The river's daily limits are 5 rainbows, none from 15 to 20 inches and only one over 20; 1 brown trout of at least 20 inches; and 1 brook trout of at least 15 inches. Chumming is not allowed.
  • On the upper section of Hatchery Creek, as signed, you may keep 5 trout a day of any species with no size limit. The lower section is artificial bait only and every trout goes back.
  • On a seasonal catch and release stream from October 1 through March 31 you may use only artificial bait, and every trout goes back.
  • On the FINs lakes the limit is 5 rainbow trout a day, with no culling.
  • Artificial bait only, all year: Chimney Top Creek in Wolfe County and the Dix River for two miles below Herrington Lake Dam. Artificial bait with a single hook only: Dog Fork and Parched Corn Creek in Wolfe County, and Shillalah Creek in Bell County outside Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.

From Kentucky Fish and Wildlife: Frequently Asked Questions, Kentucky Fishing & Boating Guide, March 2026 to February 2027 (PDF), 301 KAR 1:201, Taking of fish by traditional fishing methods, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife: Trout Streams Program in Kentucky for 2026 (PDF) and Kentucky Fish and Wildlife: Fishing in Neighborhoods.

How to hear about a stocking

  • KDFWR posts the month's stockings on its Trout Stocking Schedule page. Past months move to the Yearly Trout Stocking Archive when the next month begins.
  • The monthly schedules are also available by phone from KDFWR at 1-800-858-1549.

From Kentucky Fish and Wildlife: Trout Stocking Schedule, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife: Yearly Trout Stocking Archive and Kentucky Fishing & Boating Guide, March 2026 to February 2027 (PDF).

Worth knowing before you go looking

  • Cane Creek in Laurel County, a seasonal catch and release stream, was closed in 2025 for two years after tornado damage and the logging that followed, and is not stocked in 2026.
  • Swift Camp Creek's catch and release season ran to May 31 until 2023. It now ends on March 31, like the others.
  • Otter Creek on Fort Knox and the Fort Campbell streams need a post fishing permit as well as a Kentucky fishing license and trout permit.
  • Many stocked streams run through or beside private land, and crossing it takes the landowner's permission.

From Kentucky Fish and Wildlife: Trout Streams Program in Kentucky for 2026 (PDF), 301 KAR 1:201, Taking of fish by traditional fishing methods and Kentucky Fishing & Boating Guide, March 2026 to February 2027 (PDF).

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.