New Jersey Trout Stocking - Fall 2020

Mid and late October can be an ideal time to go trout fishing in New Jersey as the state's fall stocking program coincides with cooler days, less crowded waters, and colorful fall scenery.

During the second and third weeks of October, the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife undertakes its fall stocking program, which consists of stocking only two-year old trout, some of which can be 18 inches in length.

Fall stocking begins Tuesday, October 6 in 2020 and concludes on Wednesday, October 14.

All trout are raised at the division's Pequest Trout Hatchery and measure approximately 14" to 18" in length.

Trout that evade anglers during the fall could hold potential for winter fishing. A few of the large, fall stocked trout survive the winter and provide fly fishermen and other anglers with early spring catches.

The Division will be stocking 6,000 additional fish for the 2020 fall trout stocking season. These extra fish equate to each waterbody receiving roughly 25% more fish per waterbody than in a typical fall season.

Approximately 27,000 trout will be stocked over the two week stocking effort. Four additional areas will be stocked as part of the Fall 2020 program.

The 4 new waterbodies are:

• Dahnert's Lake - Bergen County
• Holmdel Park Pond - Monmouth County
• Manny's Pond - Hunterdon County
• Pohatcong Lake - Ocean County
  

All fall-stocked waters may be fished as soon as they are stocked (no "closed waters" during fall stocking). all fly fisherman

The complete list of fall-stocked waters and the stocking schedule is available at www.njfishandwildlife.com or through the Trout Stocking Hotline 609-633-6765.

Other waters offer fine trout fishing opportunities even though they are not stocked in the fall. The Holdover Trout Lakes, like Lake Aeroflex and Lake Wawayanda, provide year round trout fishing opportunities. Those waters, along with Tilcon Lake in Allamuchy Mountain State Park, are included in the landlocked salmon stocking program, now in its 13th year. All three yield harvestable size salmon (12 inches).

Two Trophy Trout Lakes, Round Valley and Merrill Creek Reservoirs, are additional trout fishing destinations. Shoreline fishing on Round Valley is particularly popular in the fall, as big rainbows cruise the shallows (See the current Freshwater Digest for special area regulations.).

Source: New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Fish and Wildlife