Maine Trout Stocking Report 2026

Every sentence here comes from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (Maine IFW), and each section names its sources. Updated .

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (Maine IFW) stocks over 800 lakes, streams, rivers and ponds from its eight hatcheries, in spring and in fall. Its stocking report is a record, posted within a few days of each release: waters grouped by county and listed by town, with the date, species, number and size of the fish.

From Maine IFW: Hatcheries and Maine IFW: Fish Stocking Report.

The Maine IFW trout stocking report

The page for this year's report, a PDF of every stocking so far, spring and fall, with past years' annual and big-fish reports back to 2013. Search this year's report for your water, under its county. The figures are preliminary, and the department's review may correct them.

Open the Maine IFW Fish Stocking Report

From Maine IFW: Fish Stocking Report, Maine IFW: Current Year Stocking Report (PDF) and Maine IFW: 2025 Brood Fish Stocking Report (PDF).

When Maine stocks trout

Spring

Spring stocking goes into lakes, ponds, rivers and brooks. In York and Cumberland counties some brooks are stocked for the season only, where trout can last the season but not the year, and remote ponds the trucks cannot reach get their fish by airplane.

Fall

In the fall Maine IFW stocks large fall-yearling trout, usually brook trout of 12 to 15 inches, for open-water anglers that fall, ice anglers in winter and some at ice-out. In 2026 it was under way by 21 September, when Durepo Lake in Limestone got 150 brook trout of 13 inches.

Big fish

The big brood fish come late and get their own report. In 2025 they included 18-inch landlocked salmon in Tripp Pond, Poland, on 21 November and 18-inch brook trout in Bartlett Pond, Livermore, on 5 December.

From Maine IFW: Hatcheries, Maine IFW: Current Year Stocking Report (PDF) and Maine IFW: 2025 Brood Fish Stocking Report (PDF).

Rules on stocked water

  • Maine's laws split the state in two: a North Zone with abundant wild and native coldwater fish, and a South Zone of mostly stocked and warmwater fisheries, which gets more fall and year-round fishing.
  • Under the general law, North Zone lakes and ponds are open from 1 April to 30 September and closed to all fishing from 1 October to 31 March; South Zone lakes and ponds are open all year, through the ice too.
  • Rivers, streams and brooks in both zones are open from 1 April to 15 August, artificial lures or flies only from 16 August to 30 September, and closed from 1 October to 31 March, unless a water's own law says otherwise.
  • Fall seasons on stocked waters are set water by water in the special laws. Otter Pond #4 in Standish, for one, is open from 1 October to 30 November for artificial lures only, with every trout, salmon and togue released at once.

From Maine IFW: Statewide General Fishing Laws and Maine IFW: Special Fishing Laws.

How to hear about a stocking

  • The stocking report is the channel: hatchery staff update it within a few days of each release.
  • A water added to or dropped from the stocking program is posted for 30 days of public comment first.

From Maine IFW: Fish Stocking Report and Maine IFW: Proposed Stocking Program Changes.

Worth knowing before you go looking

  • A North Zone lake is closed from 1 October unless its own entry in the special laws opens it, so check the water before fishing a fall-stocked lake. Durepo Lake, stocked on 21 September 2026, opens from 1 October to 30 November under its own entry.
  • The report runs behind and is preliminary: allow a few days after a stocking before it shows, and expect the occasional correction.

From Maine IFW: Statewide General Fishing Laws, Maine IFW: Special Fishing Laws, Maine IFW: Current Year Stocking Report (PDF) and Maine IFW: Fish Stocking Report.

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: Brook Trout · Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout · Landlocked Salmon · Lake 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.