The annual Texas winter tradition of rainbow trout stocking is underway at waterbodies across the state to kick off the holiday season. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) began stocking thousands of rainbow trout in late November. “TPWD stocks catchable sized fish during winter months to create unique winter angling opportunities throughout Texas,” said Carl Kittel, TPWD Rainbow Trout Program Director. “Rainbow trout love cold water and can be caught on a variety of baits and lures (worms, commercially available pastes, corn, spinners, spoons, flies and more), and are great to take home and eat. Our winter rainbow trout program has been a favorite of anglers for over forty years.”
Rainbow trout are not only fun to catch for the entire family; they are an attractive fish that make for excellent table fare. Easy to catch and great eating, makes this fish very popular among Texas anglers. This leads to many new anglers anxious to try catching rainbow trout every season. Novice anglers often wonder about the technique behind catching this popular fish in Texas waters. This document is intended to familiarize these anglers with some common techniques used to catch rainbow trout in Texas.
Trout anglers will need a valid fishing license that includes a freshwater fishing endorsement, although anglers under 17 years of age are not required to have a license. The Daily Bag limit is 5 trout, with No Minimum Length Limit.
A few stocking locations in our area:
