Virginia Trout Stocking Schedule 2026

Every sentence here comes from the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR, formerly VDGIF), and each section names its sources. Updated October 14, 2026.

The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR), once the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, stocks catchable-size trout in its designated stocked trout waters from October through May. It publishes the dates ahead. Every stocking planned for a month goes up on the third Friday of the month before, and a daily schedule shows what was actually stocked, updated after 3 p.m. each day fish go in.

From DWR: 40 Years of Commitment (5 January 2026), DWR: Trout Fishing Guide, DWR: Trout Fishing Changes & Updates for 2027, DWR: Monthly Trout Stocking Schedule and DWR: 2026 Catchable Trout Stocking Plan (PDF).

The DWR trout stocking schedule

Every stocking planned for the coming month, by date, water and county, posted on the third Friday of the month before. Dates and places can move for weather, drought or other trouble. Plan the trip from it, then check the daily schedule before you leave. A stocking that misses its announced date is made up later.

Open the DWR Monthly Trout Stocking Schedule

Daily Trout Stocking Schedule: What was stocked, by date, county, water, category and species, with an archive you can search by date. It and DWR's trout line, 434-525-FISH (3474), are updated after 3 p.m. each day fish are stocked.
2026 Catchable Trout Stocking Plan: Every designated stocked trout water by county, each with a code for how many times it is stocked and by when. Category A waters are stocked 8 times between 1 October and 31 May, B waters 5 times by 15 May, and C waters 3 times by 30 April. Catch-and-release and delayed-harvest waters get 3 stockings, NSF marks a water with one fewer, and H a Heritage Day water.

From DWR: Trout Fishing Changes & Updates for 2027, DWR: Monthly Trout Stocking Schedule, DWR: Daily Trout Stocking Schedule, DWR: 2026 Catchable Trout Stocking Plan (PDF) and DWR: Designated Stocked Trout Waters (Catchable Trout Stocking Program).

When Virginia stocks trout

Fall to spring

Designated stocked trout waters are stocked from 1 October through May, each to its category: 8 stockings for an A water, 5 for a B and 3 for a C. The Trout Heritage Day waters are stocked for the first Saturday in April, an announced stocking for anglers who miss the old opening day. They close to fishing the Friday before, the fee fishing areas close Monday through Friday before, and fishing opens at 9 a.m. that Saturday. In spring 2026 DWR also announced single stockings on a set of waters ahead of time, from Liberty Lake on 20 March to the Middle Fork Holston River on 30 May. Most were set for between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., with no closures.

Urban waters

Urban program waters are stocked 5 times between 1 November and 15 April, and their dates are posted the week before on DWR's stocking page and trout line.

Youth-only waters

From 1 April to 15 June the youth-only waters are for anglers 15 and under. They are stocked three times in that window, and the limit is 3 trout.

Fee fishing areas

Clinch Mountain and Crooked Creek are stocked 4 times a week through their fee season, from the first Saturday in April to 30 September. At Douthat State Park the lake and 4 miles of Wilson Creek are stocked twice a week, from the first Saturday in April to 15 June and from 15 September to 31 October, and not at all in between.

From DWR: Trout Fishing Guide, DWR: 2026 Catchable Trout Stocking Plan (PDF), DWR: Trout Heritage Day, DWR: Pre-Announced Trout Stocking, DWR: Urban Program Waters, DWR: Youth-Only Stocked Trout Program and DWR: Fee Fishing Areas.

Rules on stocked water

The trout season is open all year, and the statewide limit is 6 trout a day, none under 7 inches. Some waters have their own limits and hours.
From 1 October to 15 June, fishing a designated stocked trout water takes a trout license on top of your freshwater fishing license. From 16 June to 30 September it does not. Nonresident children under 16 need neither license.
On designated stocked trout waters you may fish for trout from 5 a.m. until an hour after sunset, with one rod, one line and one baited hook, though any mix of lures is fine. A trout you put on a stringer or in a cooler counts toward your limit and cannot be swapped, and once you have your limit you stop fishing.
On the delayed-harvest waters, from 1 October through 31 May, only artificial lures are allowed, no trout or bait may be in your possession, and every trout goes back. From 1 June to 30 September they are ordinary stocked trout water.
Urban program waters need a trout license only from 1 November to 30 April, and their limit is 4 trout a day, none under 7 inches.
In the fee season a fee fishing area takes an $8 daily permit for anyone over 12, on top of a fishing license. After it, the areas become ordinary stocked trout water and take a trout license instead.

From DWR: Trout Season and Limits, DWR: Designated Stocked Trout Waters (Catchable Trout Stocking Program), DWR: License Requirements for Trout Fishing, DWR: Delayed Harvest Waters, DWR: Urban Program Waters and DWR: Fee Fishing Areas.

How to hear about a stocking

DWR's trout line, (434) 525-FISH (3474), and its daily schedule carry each day's stockings, updated after 3 p.m.
Next month's stockings go up on DWR's website on the third Friday of this month.

From DWR: Designated Stocked Trout Waters (Catchable Trout Stocking Program), DWR: 2026 Catchable Trout Stocking Plan (PDF) and DWR: Trout Fishing Changes & Updates for 2027.

Worth knowing before you go looking

An announced stocking can slip for weather, equipment failure or a staff shortage. It is made up later, so check the daily schedule before you drive.
Heritage Day waters close to fishing the Friday before, and the fee fishing areas for the five days before, so a trip that week finds them shut.
Some waters are off the list for the 2026-27 season: the Raven Cliff section of Cripple Creek until construction there is done, Little Stony Creek in Scott County until its roads reopen, Lovill's Creek in Carroll County for good, and Lake Thompson indefinitely.

From DWR: Trout Fishing Changes & Updates for 2027, DWR: Monthly Trout Stocking Schedule, DWR: Trout Heritage Day and DWR: Fee Fishing Areas.

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.