It can be easy to take for granted, but if you set aside a moment to read into it, and really absorb the numbers, New England states stock a lot of trout! Spring stockings get all the press, because of the generations of tradition that come with them. By comparison, the fall releases receive far less fanfare, and as a result, they see a lot less fishing pressure. This makes the fall season, and especially the latter half, a great time to get out there and catch a few trout.
Some of the best things about these fish is that they typically aren’t all that fussy and will allow you to decide how you would like to catch them. From dry flies and streamers to worms and shiners, from jerkbaits and Ned rigs, to spoons and spinners, stockie trout will oblige. Perhaps the best thing about fishing for these ‘put and take’ salmonids is that they mesh well with little kids, they bite readily, they battle but can be reeled in easily and they display beautiful colors and interesting markings which really captivates the little ones.
Connecticut
The state plans to stock more than 50,000 trout this fall, and as of this writing they were about a third of the way to reaching that goal. Local hatcheries have been working on growing larger fish this year, which has resulted in the average fish being closer to 15 inches. Additionally, the state’s Kensington Hatchery has been experimenting with growing out some big brooked trout which average more than 2 pounds apiece, and display a deep red belly. The state stocks way too many ponds to list here, but you can find the pond nearest to your home by googling DEEP’s trout stocking page.
In addition to the trout, Connecticut officials will release about 2,000 Atlantic salmon this fall into select ponds including Mt. Tom Pond and Crystal Lake and will continue their legacy stocking of salmon in the Shetucket and Naugatuck rivers. All of the salmon stocked in these rivers will all be released with an orange external anchor tag, each one inscribed with a unique four-digit ID and a phone number. Connecticut Fish and Wildlife is asking anglers to report their catches of Atlantic salmon by calling the number and reporting the date, location and tag number. They ask that anglers leave the tags in the fish.
Rhode Island
The Ocean State conducted the first rounds of their fall stocking during the week of October 4 through the 10th with more planned. Twenty-five ponds were stocked peppered across the state from Westerly to Tiverton and North Kingstown to Foster and beyond. The ponds are being stocked with rainbow and brook trout, and Rhode Island is known for stocking some very large fish, like the 15-pound, 12-ounce rainbow caught last winter, which the state said was stocked during their 2023 fall release.
We also confirmed with biologist KC Fernstrom that anglers can expect the Veteran’s Day tradition to continue with a special stocking round, ahead of the holiday weekend. He wasn’t certain that the Sebago salmon would be part of this year’s plan, but we’ll keep you updated as the day draws near. This special stocking has been an amazing bonus for Rhode Island anglers and we’ve seen a noticeable increase in angler participation as the tradition has progressed.
Massachusetts
MassWildlife plans to stock a whopping 73,750 trout this fall and they started the big release in late September. About 27,000 rainbow trout over 14 inches, just over 40,200 rainbow trout over 12 inches, and about 6,500 brown trout over 12 inches will be stocked across Massachusetts this fall. These fish, along with the 455,000 trout that were stocked in the spring, will provide for some great fall fishing! Weather depending, they plan to wrap up the fall round of trout stockings in mid-October, so, by the time you read this all, or at least most of the trout will already be swimming in your favorite honey hole. Visit mass.gov/Trout for a daily stocking report and to see what bodies of water near you were stocked. As the weather cools down, the fishing heats up! With fewer crowds, fall is the perfect time to get out there and fish.