Louisiana Trout Stocking Schedule 2026
Every sentence here comes from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), and each section names its sources. Updated .
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) stocks rainbow trout once a year, in winter, into the community ponds of its Get Out & Fish program, which get channel catfish in spring and fall. The trout are adult fish of 1 to 2 pounds. They cannot survive Louisiana's spring and summer water, so LDWF asks anglers to keep what they catch. In 2026 the trout went to 15 sites, from Joe Brown Park in New Orleans and BREC Burbank in Baton Rouge to Turner's Pond in Minden and Stuart Lake in the Kisatchie National Forest. The ponds are built for fishing from the bank.
From LDWF: Get Out & Fish Community Fishing Program, LDWF: Community Fishing Sites Stocked with Rainbow Trout This January (January 27, 2026), LDWF: Rainbow Trout Being Stocked at Community Fishing Ponds Across Louisiana (January 15, 2020) and LDWF: Rainbow Trout Stocked at Community Ponds Statewide (January 21, 2020).
The LDWF trout stocking schedule
LDWF's program page: when each kind of fish goes in, the dates of the next catfish round by site, and the way to every pond. The day-by-day trout schedule is posted on the program's Facebook and Instagram, @ldwfgetoutandfish. Find the nearest pond on the locations page, from its printable list or the interactive map's Stocked Lakes layer, where the green pins are Get Out & Fish ponds. LDWF asks anglers to check in when they fish one, to help its stocking.
Open the Get Out & Fish Community Fishing ProgramFrom LDWF: Get Out & Fish Community Fishing Program, LDWF: Get Out & Fish Sites Stocked with Rainbow Trout in January (January 9, 2023) and LDWF: Get Out and Fish Locations.
When Louisiana stocks trout
Winter, mid-January to early February
The trout go in from mid-January to early February, once the water has cooled. In 2026 LDWF announced them on January 27; in 2023 stocking began on January 10 and ran through the month; in 2022 it began on January 27, and in 2021 on January 14. In 2020, 4,400 pounds went into the ponds on January 14 and 21, from 200 pounds at Girard Park in Lafayette to 500 pounds at Joe W. Brown Park in New Orleans.
From LDWF: Get Out & Fish Community Fishing Program, LDWF: Community Fishing Sites Stocked with Rainbow Trout This January (January 27, 2026), LDWF: Get Out & Fish Sites Stocked with Rainbow Trout in January (January 9, 2023), LDWF: LDWF Stocks Rainbow Trout at Community Fishing Ponds Across Louisiana (January 24, 2022), LDWF: LDWF Stocks Rainbow Trout at Community Fishing Ponds Across Louisiana (January 8, 2021) and LDWF: Rainbow Trout Stocked at Community Ponds Statewide (January 21, 2020).
Rules on stocked water
- Anglers 18 and older need a Basic Fishing License: $17 for residents, and $68 a year or $30 for five days for nonresidents. Residents 60 and older need a Senior Hunting/Fishing License instead, free for those born before June 1, 1940. Anglers 17 and under need no license.
- The daily limit is five rainbow trout per person.
From LDWF: Recreational Fishing Licenses and Permits and LDWF: Get Out & Fish Community Fishing Program.
How to hear about a stocking
- Follow the program on Facebook and Instagram, @ldwfgetoutandfish, for the trout dates and sites. LDWF has also announced the stocking in a January news release, most recently on January 27, 2026.
From LDWF: Community Fishing Sites Stocked with Rainbow Trout This January (January 27, 2026) and LDWF: Get Out & Fish Sites Stocked with Rainbow Trout in January (January 9, 2023).
Worth knowing before you go looking
- The dates move with the weather. Stocking waits for the water to cool, and in 2022 winter storms at the supplying hatchery pushed the stockings set for February 3 back to February 8.
From LDWF: Get Out & Fish Community Fishing Program and LDWF: Rainbow Trout Stocking Postponed due to Northern Winter Storms (February 2, 2022).
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 troutSpecies guides: Rainbow 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.
- LDWF: Get Out & Fish Community Fishing Program
- LDWF: Get Out and Fish Locations
- LDWF: Recreational Fishing Licenses and Permits
- LDWF: Community Fishing Sites Stocked with Rainbow Trout This January (January 27, 2026)
- LDWF: Get Out & Fish Sites Stocked with Rainbow Trout in January (January 9, 2023)
- LDWF: LDWF Stocks Rainbow Trout at Community Fishing Ponds Across Louisiana (January 24, 2022)
- LDWF: Rainbow Trout Stocking Postponed due to Northern Winter Storms (February 2, 2022)
- LDWF: LDWF Stocks Rainbow Trout at Community Fishing Ponds Across Louisiana (January 8, 2021)
- LDWF: Rainbow Trout Being Stocked at Community Fishing Ponds Across Louisiana (January 15, 2020)
- LDWF: Rainbow Trout Stocked at Community Ponds Statewide (January 21, 2020)
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