By now all of the fall stockings have been completed across New England and there are literally hundreds of thousands of fresh brook, brown, rainbow and tiger trout that have been stocked in preparation for winter fishing. Why not start a new tradition in your house and add a fresh trout or two to the Thanksgiving feast? The time between when the fish are stocked and when the safe ice forms provides a great opportunity to get in on some steady trout action. What’s even better is that many of these same water bodies that receive fish in the fall get stocked in the spring each year as well, so the odds of a holdover form earlier in the season or even a season past is very high.
Methods and tactics to target these late-fall trout vary, but the basics that work in the spring and summer will continue to work right now. Live bait like nightcrawlers, mealworms and minnows are always on the menu, but artificials often tempt the largest of fall trout. Many large fall trout fall to a deep-fished metal like a Kastmaster, Little Cleo or similar lure worked in the depths of your local stocked lake. Try casting out the metal lure, let it sink to the bottom and then slowly bounce it back to shore just above the bottom. Fly fishing also has its place in the fall with rivers like the Farmington and Deerfield producing some slammers each year.
While each state stocks different numbers of fish in the fall, complete lists of where fish are stocked can be found by visiting the following websites. Good luck!
NEW HAMPSHIRE
MASSACHUSETTS
RHODE ISLAND
CONNECTICUT
