Maryland Trout Stocking Schedule 2026

Every sentence here comes from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MD DNR), and each section names its sources. Updated .

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) stocks hatchery rainbow, golden rainbow and brown trout in more than 100 waters in 19 counties. It stocks from February into May, and again in October. Each stocking goes on DNR's Trout Stocking page the afternoon it happens. For spring, DNR also publishes a monthly schedule of the waters to be stocked. Fall has no set schedule.

From Maryland DNR: Maryland Department of Natural Resources to Begin Fall Trout Stocking for 2026 (30 September 2026), Maryland DNR: Trout Stocking, Maryland DNR: Trout Stocking Frequently Asked Questions, Maryland DNR: Maryland Fishing Report, October 14, 2026 and Maryland DNR: Maryland DNR Offers Enhanced Trout Stocking Program for 2026 (5 February 2026).

The MD DNR trout stocking schedule

Each stocking DNR makes in spring and fall: where the trout went in, how many and of which kinds, and the rules on that water. A stocking goes up the afternoon it is made. RB is rainbow trout, BN brown trout and GN golden trout, which is a rainbow with golden coloring. For where on a stream, DNR's Trout Stocking Activities Map shows the stocked stretches, and the trucks stop at access points inside them.

Open the Trout Stocking Updates table
  • 2026 Spring Monthly Trout Stocking Schedule: Every water stocked in spring 2026, county by county, with its closure code and the trout it was due in February, March, April and May. A 0 in the closure column means the water never closes. A 1 means it was closed from 8 to 28 March 2026 and stocked for Youth Trout Fishing Day. Any stocking on it could move for the weather or the hatchery.

From Maryland DNR: Trout Stocking, Maryland DNR: Maryland Department of Natural Resources to Begin Fall Trout Stocking for 2026 (30 September 2026), Maryland DNR: Maryland Fishing Report, October 14, 2026, Maryland DNR: Trout Stocking Frequently Asked Questions and Maryland DNR: 2026 Spring Monthly Trout Stocking Schedule (PDF).

When Maryland stocks trout

Spring

Spring stocking starts in February in the central, southern and eastern counties, where late winter is milder. In Allegany and Garrett counties it starts in March, and it runs into May. For spring 2026 DNR planned about 240,000 adult brown, golden rainbow and rainbow trout, 26% more than the year before. It gave more to the most popular waters with good public access, and less to less popular ones with limited access. Put-and-take waters marked Closure 1 shut to all fishing at 10 p.m. on the first Sunday after 4 March. They open at 6:30 a.m. on the last Saturday in March, opening day, which was 28 March in 2026. The Saturday before, Youth Trout Fishing Day, those waters open only to anglers under 16, from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Each may keep 2 trout, but no brook trout. In 2026 it fell on 21 March.

Fall

Fall stocking usually happens in October. In 2026 it began the first full week of the month: 26 waters and more than 15,000 brown, golden rainbow and rainbow trout, averaging just under a pound each. In fall 2026 the put-and-take waters got rainbow and golden rainbow trout, and the special management waters got brown trout. There is no set fall schedule. DNR picks the waters by conditions at the time and posts each stocking as it goes.

From Maryland DNR: Trout Stocking Frequently Asked Questions, Maryland DNR: Maryland DNR Offers Enhanced Trout Stocking Program for 2026 (5 February 2026), COMAR 08.02.11.01, Trout Fishing and Management Areas (Maryland Division of State Documents), Maryland DNR: Maryland Department of Natural Resources to Begin Fall Trout Stocking for 2026 (30 September 2026) and Maryland DNR: Maryland Fishing Report, October 7, 2026.

Rules on stocked water

  • Anyone 16 or older needs a Maryland fishing license and a trout stamp to fish for trout. The stamp is needed to catch, try to catch or keep a trout in nontidal water.
  • On put-and-take water you may keep 5 trout a day and have 10, with no minimum size. Trout water without special rules allows 2 a day and 4 in possession, all year.
  • A trout counts toward your limit once it cannot swim away from you, so a fish on a stringer or in a bucket is kept.
  • Trout fishing hours are 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. On put-and-take water, a lake or pond of 5 acres or more has no time limit.
  • On delayed-harvest waters every trout goes back from 1 October, and no bait, scented lure or barbed hook is allowed. Group I waters, such as Town Creek and the South Branch Patapsco, follow that through 31 May. Group II waters follow it through 15 June.
  • The Group II waters are the Casselman River, the North Branch Potomac in Potomac State Forest, and the Youghiogheny below Friendsville. After their catch-and-release season, delayed-harvest waters allow 5 trout a day.
  • Some stocked waters are only for anglers under 16, 65 and older, or blind, such as Laurel Run in Allegany County and Pangborn Pond in Washington County. Others, such as Carroll Creek, are only for anglers under 16 and blind anglers.

From Maryland DNR: Maryland Department of Natural Resources to Begin Fall Trout Stocking for 2026 (30 September 2026), Maryland DNR: Trout Stocking Frequently Asked Questions, Maryland DNR: Trout Stocking, Maryland DNR: Trout Fishing and COMAR 08.02.11.01, Trout Fishing and Management Areas (Maryland Division of State Documents).

How to hear about a stocking

  • Each stocking goes on DNR's Trout Stocking page the afternoon it is made, and to subscribers of DNR's email news service.
  • A weekly update goes out on Friday afternoons on Facebook, X and FishBrain. While stocking is under way, a recording at 800-688-3467, option 1, gives the week's stockings.
  • When fall stocking is done, DNR says so in a press release.

From Maryland DNR: Maryland Fishing Report, October 14, 2026, Maryland DNR: Maryland DNR Offers Enhanced Trout Stocking Program for 2026 (5 February 2026), Maryland DNR: Trout Stocking and Maryland DNR: Trout Stocking Frequently Asked Questions.

Worth knowing before you go looking

  • Not every trout water gets fall trout. DNR picks them by conditions at the time, so check the stocking list before you drive.
  • In March, check a water's closure before you go. A Closure 1 water is shut from the first Sunday after 4 March until opening day, and on Youth Trout Fishing Day anglers 16 and older may not fish it from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
  • Release every brook trout on put-and-take water and anywhere east of Interstate 81. DNR does not stock them, so a brook trout there is a wild native fish.
  • Stocked trout move up and down the stream, so do not fish only at the stocking signs. Mind posted property along the way.
  • Felt-soled waders and wading shoes are banned in Maryland.
  • The Albert Powell Trout Hatchery in Washington County is closed to visitors while it is rebuilt, which DNR expects to finish in spring 2028. Tours are by appointment, and stocking goes on.

From Maryland DNR: Maryland Fishing Report, October 14, 2026, Maryland DNR: Maryland Department of Natural Resources to Begin Fall Trout Stocking for 2026 (30 September 2026), COMAR 08.02.11.01, Trout Fishing and Management Areas (Maryland Division of State Documents), Maryland DNR: Trout Stocking Frequently Asked Questions and Maryland DNR: Trout Stocking.

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

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.