North Carolina Trout Stocking Schedule 2026

Every sentence here comes from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC), and each section names its sources. Updated .

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) stocks brook, brown and rainbow trout in its Public Mountain Trout Waters, around 1 million a year as its January 2026 release put it. Hatchery Supported waters are stocked in spring, and Delayed Harvest waters in spring and fall. In 2026 there are far fewer trout than usual. Setzer, the hatchery that supplied most of them, closed in late 2025 for a renovation, and NCWRC said only 35% of the usual number would be available until it is done. Then a hot summer, drought and damage from Hurricane Helene cost Armstrong, now the main trout hatchery, about 70% of its fish, and the fall 2026 Delayed Harvest stocking waits until November.

From NCWRC: NCWRC Hatcheries, NCWRC: State Wildlife Agency Minimizes Impacts to Mountain Trout Stocking Program Caused by Hatchery Renovation (27 January 2026), NCWRC: Trout Fishing in North Carolina and NCWRC: Environmental Impacts Cause Wildlife Agency to Adjust Fall 2026 Mountain Trout Stockings (23 September 2026).

The NCWRC trout stocking schedule

Upcoming stockings in both Hatchery Supported and Delayed Harvest waters, and the waters stocked in the last few days. It is updated every day after noon.

Open the Daily Trout Stockings
  • Weekly Stocking List: A week-by-week report, as a PDF, of the waters due a stocking. It covers Hatchery Supported waters only. Pick a starting and an ending month, then one county or all the counties stocked, and it builds the report for those.
  • 2026 Delayed Harvest Stocking Weeks: Every Delayed Harvest water, county by county, and the weeks in 2026 it was due a stocking. NCWRC says the dates can change for events such as snow. Its fall weeks no longer hold: in September NCWRC moved the fall 2026 Delayed Harvest stocking to November.

From NCWRC: Daily Trout Stockings, NCWRC: Weekly Stocking List, NCWRC: 2026 Delayed Harvest Stocking Weeks (PDF) and NCWRC: Environmental Impacts Cause Wildlife Agency to Adjust Fall 2026 Mountain Trout Stockings (23 September 2026).

When North Carolina stocks trout

Hatchery Supported

The Hatchery Supported season is closed from 1 March through the first Friday in April and opens at 7 a.m. on the first Saturday in April. From then until 28 February the limit is 7 trout a day, with no bait restrictions and no minimum length. Their trout go in through spring, the first from early March, ahead of the opener. In 2026 NCWRC compressed its stocking so that most fish went in during the heart of the season. Power reservoirs and city water supply reservoirs designated as trout waters have no closed season.

Delayed Harvest

NCWRC stocks Delayed Harvest waters from fall through spring, with high densities of trout. In 2026 there were 30 such streams and two lakes, posted with diamond-shaped black-and-white signs. From 1 October to the Friday before the first Saturday in June they are catch and release, with one single-hook artificial lure, and it is unlawful to carry natural bait while fishing them. This season that runs from 1 October 2026 to 5 June 2027. Then there is no fishing at all from half an hour after sunset that Friday until 6 a.m. Saturday. From 6 a.m. to noon only anglers under 16 may fish, an age lowered from under 18 in the 2025-2026 regulations. From noon until 30 September the waters are open to everyone, with a 7-trout limit, no bait restrictions and no minimum length.

From NCWRC: Trout Fishing in North Carolina, NCWRC: NCWRC Hatcheries, NCWRC: State Wildlife Agency Minimizes Impacts to Mountain Trout Stocking Program Caused by Hatchery Renovation (27 January 2026), NCWRC: Delayed Harvest Trout Season Begins Oct. 1 (5 September 2025), NCWRC: Change to Qualifying Youth Age as Delayed Harvest Trout Waters Open June 6 (11 May 2026) and NCWRC: Environmental Impacts Cause Wildlife Agency to Adjust Fall 2026 Mountain Trout Stockings (23 September 2026).

Rules on stocked water

  • Anglers 16 and over need a valid inland fishing license to fish Public Mountain Trout Waters.
  • In the stretches that 17 mountain towns designate as Mountain Heritage Trout Waters, an $8 three-day license is enough, and an inland license covers them too. It is sold only online or by phone, not by Wildlife Service Agents.

From NCWRC: Mountain Heritage Trout Waters Program.

How to hear about a stocking

  • The Daily Trout Stockings page lists the waters stocked in the last few days and is updated every day after noon.
  • NCWRC announces changes to the dates through press releases, on its social media and on ncwildlife.gov.

From NCWRC: Daily Trout Stockings and NCWRC: 2026 Delayed Harvest Stocking Weeks (PDF).

Worth knowing before you go looking

  • Expect fewer trout through 2027, and possibly 2028. Setzer produces over 75% of NCWRC's trout, and NCWRC says it is on track to reopen at the end of 2027.
  • A stocking spot on a stream may not be where it was before Hurricane Helene, and NCWRC does not stock stretches that are still closed or dangerous to fish.
  • The weekly list shows Hatchery Supported waters only. For Delayed Harvest stockings, use the daily page or the 2026 weeks PDF.

From NCWRC: Trout Fishing in North Carolina, NCWRC: Environmental Impacts Cause Wildlife Agency to Adjust Fall 2026 Mountain Trout Stockings (23 September 2026), NCWRC: Delayed Harvest Trout Season Begins Oct. 1 (5 September 2025), NCWRC: Weekly Stocking List and NCWRC: Daily Trout Stockings.

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.