Nebraska Trout Stocking Schedule 2026

Every sentence here comes from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (Nebraska Game and Parks), and each section names its sources. Updated .

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission stocks trout twice a year, in spring and fall, in city ponds and state park and recreation area lakes across the state, a program aimed at urban and community waters. The fish are rainbows of about 12 inches, and the Commission encourages anglers to keep a few. In 2026 the spring stockings ran from mid-February to late April and the fall ones from late September to late October, with each season's plan posted week by week. Anglers 16 and older need a fishing permit, and its price includes the Aquatic Habitat Stamp.

From Nebraska Game and Parks: Trout Stocking Reports, Nebraska Game and Parks: Game and Parks releasing rainbow trout this fall (September 16, 2026), Nebraska Game and Parks: Game and Parks releasing rainbow trout this spring (February 19, 2026), Nebraska Game and Parks: Fishing permit and Nebraska Game and Parks: 2026 Fishing Guide (PDF).

The Nebraska Game and Parks trout stocking schedule

The season's planned stockings, by the week, with each water, its town and how many trout it gets. A listed week is a plan. Stockings can move on short notice, for the weather or for other reasons.

Open the Trout Stocking Reports
  • Fish Stocking Database: Every stocking of every species back to 1927, searched by species, county and year. Records before 1970 are likely incomplete.

From Nebraska Game and Parks: Trout Stocking Reports, Nebraska Game and Parks: Game and Parks releasing rainbow trout this fall (September 16, 2026) and Nebraska Game and Parks: Fish Stocking Database.

When Nebraska stocks trout

Spring trout

In 2026 the spring stockings began the week of February 15 at the North Platte I-80 Lake and Lake Ogallala and ended the week of April 26 on East Branch Verdigre Creek near Royal, timed to start the open-water season.

Fall trout

The fall 2026 plan runs from the week of September 21 to the week of October 26. The largest single stockings are 3,000 trout in Crystal Cove at South Sioux City and 2,500 each in Holmes Lake at Lincoln and Rock Creek Lake at Parks, and East Branch Verdigre Creek near Royal gets 200 every week.

From Nebraska Game and Parks: Game and Parks releasing rainbow trout this spring (February 19, 2026) and Nebraska Game and Parks: Trout Stocking Reports.

Rules on stocked water

  • Anglers 16 and older need a Nebraska fishing permit; nonresidents under 16 may fish without one alongside someone who has one. In 2026 residents pay $41 a year, $12 a day or $33 for three days, and nonresidents $95.50 a year, $17.50 a day or $40 for three days, the Aquatic Habitat Stamp included.
  • Statewide an angler may keep 5 rainbow, tiger and cutbow trout a day with 12 in possession, 5 brown trout with 10, and 2 brook and cutthroat trout with 4. Only one of the day's fish in each group may be 16 inches or longer, or 12 inches for brook and cutthroat.
  • At Two Rivers SRA in Douglas County, trout fishing from March 1 to May 31 takes a daily trout tag: $6 at the park office for four trout, up to three tags a day. No tag is needed on its Lake No. 5 from June 1 to January 31.

From Nebraska Game and Parks: Fishing permit, Nebraska Game and Parks: 2026 Fishing Guide (PDF) and Nebraska Game and Parks: Permit Pricing.

How to hear about a stocking

  • Check the Trout Stocking Reports page for the season's plan before a trip. The Commission also announces each season's stockings in a news release that lists them.

From Nebraska Game and Parks: Trout Stocking Reports, Nebraska Game and Parks: Game and Parks releasing rainbow trout this spring (February 19, 2026) and Nebraska Game and Parks: Game and Parks releasing rainbow trout this fall (September 16, 2026).

Worth knowing before you go looking

  • The prices above are for 2026 permits. The Commission approved higher fees on August 14, 2026, to take effect with 2027 permit sales once the state approves them.
  • The Commission is asking trout anglers, especially those who fish put-and-take lakes, to fill in a survey that will inform its future trout stocking.
  • The trout program is one part of the Commission's stocking: in 2025 its hatcheries stocked 57 million fish of 22 species into 300 waters.

From Nebraska Game and Parks: Commissioners approve increase to hunt, fish permit fees (August 14, 2026), Nebraska Game and Parks: Trout Stocking Reports and Nebraska Game and Parks: 2026 Fishing Guide (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

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.