2023/2024 Official Trout Stocking Season Thread.

The 2023/2024 Rainbow Trout Stocking Season is here. The fish are being stocked all across the state and dates/locations are posted on the Texas Parks & Wildlife
Web Site. Stockings will go on through early March 2024. Feel free to post any trout fishing reports on this thread if you desire. Myself and several friends of mine went out today to a stocking that took place in the San Antonio area. South Side Lions Park. We all got our limit but really had to work form them. Got several fish in the 12 inch range. Fish had some weight and were full of fight. Gold Super Duper Lures was the bait of choice. Catching some early "Holiday Season" Rainbow Trout with good friends. It just don't get any better.

Congratulations. Gotta love those Super Duppers!

Yes Sir. Rainbow Trout Fishing is a GREAT way to enjoy the holiday season!

Favorite time of year. And, like in past seasons, yours truly modified the schedule to sort by Stocking Date, calculated the count of trout stockings planned for a location, and estimated trout to be stocked for each stocking.

Makes for ease of reference by allowing Readers to quickly see when the next trout stocking is planned. As changes are unexpected for various reasons like weather, do check for updates, changes, and corrections at TPWD’s website – 2023-2024 TPWD Trout Stocking Schedule.

Sorted by Date Schedule.

My local pond is due for a stocking on Wednesday. Guess I better be there at noon if I want a chance to catch anything ... between the Kenai-style masses of fishermen over the following days and the depredations of the cormorants, I won't stand a chance otherwise lol

Now where did I stash my ultralight rod and super dupers?

Caught these at a Stockdale stocking. Only three people counting myself were fishing. Limited but the bite was slow for the six hours I fished. Caught 9 and kept 5 for the dinner table. Seven caught on a Gold Super Duper Lure and two caught on Berkley Power Bait-Yellow in color.

Got these a day after the stocking. Caught 16 kept five. Gold Super Duper Lure and the Berkley Power Bait-Yellow got good results. Slow to medium retrieve working the lure worked best.


Stockdale Park Pond.

Yesterday on the San Gabriel River. Sometimes the stocking dates on the schedule are off by a day or so. Read between the lines guys! Anyway, very few folks fishing and a couple of cormorants. I caught and released 23 in about an hour and a half of fishing time. Cormorants were still catching when I left. They weren’t releasing too many!
Usual tactics worked very well. Ultra lite spinning, 4lb test line, gold SDLs.
Good fishing to all!

Got these on the Blanco River. Started fishing at daylight 3 days after the stocking day. Caught about 15 including three Channel Cats. Kept five trout and two of the three catfish. One catfish was undersize. Three friends showed up when I was finished and they easily limited out. Great fishing. Get out and enjoy the outdoors. It just don't get any better.

Yep! I’m goin again later today. You catch those catfish on SDL? I have caught rainbows, bass, bluegill and northern pike on SDL. NO CATFISH.

Got the catfish on the power bait-Yellow, Salmon Egg color. Picked up the trout on the power bait and Gold Super Duper.


Side Note: The catfish were the first three fish I caught. Got the bigger one first and thought I had a record trout on line!

I want to catch a salt water fish on a SDL. I have several of the largest that they make. I’ll bet under the right conditions, a spec or a red would go for one!

Absolutely they would! I have caught bass on the SDL while fishing for trout.

Took a 2 hour road trip to a pond in San Saba. Caught several trout and a 6.50 Lb Common Carp. The carp was released and I gave my fish to an angler who I met and netted my carp. The trout were caught on a Gold Super Duper Lure and the Berkley Power Bait-Yellow in color. The carp was caught on dough bait. A great time fishing a nice city park pond and meeting a super nice angler. It just don't get any better.

Went out to Bailey Lake park with my son and we didn't catch any trout. Talked to some others there and they weren't catching either.

Pending Water Body Record. Rainbow Trout.


Congratulations to John Spaulding of Universal City TX on his pending record Rainbow Trout! John's fish weighed 1.25 lbs. and it's length was 14.25". Paper work will be completed and sent to the Texas Parks & Wildlife for the review. The fish was caught at Live Oak City Park.

Draven Chapa caught his first ever Rainbow Trout while fishing at Live Oak City Park Pond. He also had learned to tie certain knots and tied on his trout hook. Draven was fishing with his parents. A great way to bring a son up. Enjoying the outdoors and meeting some very nice people. It just don't get any better.

Checked out Bethany Lakes in Allen. Bite was slow.

Caught a limit and had to work for them this morning . Fished from 9am till 12:30pm. Only a very few anglers were present today. Fish caught at Live Oak City Park Pond. Berkley Power Bait-Yellow was the bait used. Getting a limit of some nice Rainbow Trout. It just don't get any better.

Back to Bethany Lakes onsite #GoPro Mobile #Fishing #Livestream
Slow bite but it did pickup...

Looks like a pretty good bunch of anglers are fishing and enjoying the outdoors. As for the Super Duper, it's a great lure for trout but sometimes you need to resort to the Power Bait. Enjoyed the video.

Blanco River. Quick Limit! 12-13-23


Side Note: Gold Super Duper and Berkley Power Bait used.

Did the limit use to be 5?

The limit has always been five for the stockings. There are special rules on the Guadalupe River's (Trophy Zone) as for size, limit, and baits used, that are strictly enforced.

Wow Chuck, You are wearing those trout out!!! Looks like lots of fun

Been fishing the Canyon Trail Race a bunch. Limited Out every time. Gold Super Duper Lure is doing well.

Louies Hays Park. Guadalupe River. Kerrville TX. 12-19-23

Limited. Gold Super Duper and Berkley Power Bait-Yellow.

Beautiful park!

Yes indeed. It also has plenty of Rainbow Trout ready to catch!

Lampasas Limit:


Caught these on a very rainy day. Berkley Power Bait-Orange. Caught 8 and kept five. Two were caught on the Gold Super Duper Lure.

Limit in Garland! Went today from 11:00-3:00. It was foggy and misting and that made fishing slow until about 2:00, and then they turned on. Caught 5 on the good super duper and took them home for supper!

Fished the stocking at Hamilton Creek Park Lake in Burnet, Texas today. Got there about 30 minutes after fish were dropped. Water looked like chocolate milk. Visibility for the SDL was very poor. No strikes for the first 30 minutes or so. Switched to a small Roadrunner inline spinner. 11 inch rainbow on third cast after switching lures. Next fish was an 11 inch largemouth bass. Then caught 3 more rainbows in the 11 inch range. The Roadrunner was the ticket. It showed up much better in the water and the spinner blade produced good vibration to attract the fish. Not a banner day but I learned what works in off color water. I had a great time as always when fishing for rainbows! What say you Banker? What’s up. Site won’t let me add pictures today?!?!

Must have missed you. I was there also fishing with a friend of mine. We both limited out and released a bunch. Gold Super Dupers got the job done.

Sorry I missed you guys. I fished the water to the south of the road that runs through the park. (The side where the restrooms are located) I didn’t get a single strike on the gold SDL. Fewer folks where I was fishing. I released the rainbows I caught into another fisherman’s bucket. It was a party of 3 and none of them caught a single fish.

I was on the opposite end by second water spout. Was there when to trout were dumped. We only had two fish at 1:00pm when the bite picked up. We limited out in 30 minutes and released a bunch more. The water was muddy. According to one of the locals it had rained the day before.

For you guys who know what you’re doing, is it best fish the day it’s stocked/the next day or better after it’s settled for a few days?

Basically go when you can. The day of stocking can be epic! However! There are places I avoid on stocking day. I live in Georgetown but I avoid the 1st day at Blue Hole Park. Very crowded! Others I avoid on 1st day are: Palmetto State Park, Lampasas, Canyon Lake tail race. All the places are fishable but crowded.
Lots of places fish good for up to a week after stocking. When I can’t catch fish on lures I go someplace else. That’s just me. Some folks fish with bait only and do very well.
Places like Burnet, Harker Heights, Temple, and Copperas Cove are good on opening days. There is plenty of elbow room and access is easy.
Also, down size your tackle, lures, hooks etc. Good luck to ya!

Plus #1 on the above. I will add to have patients also. Sometimes it takes a couple of hours for the fish to start biting after they are dumped on the stocking day. At the Burnet stocking they dropped the fish at around 10am they did not bite until around 1:30pm. When they did start to bite me and my friend easily limited out. I fished the Live Oak Stocking and it took me about five hours to get my limit on the day of the stocking. I went back the next day and limited out in 40 minutes.

Great info Banker! You the man!

Plenty of trout both at the Canyon Trail-Race and Huaco Springs. Been catching limits with plenty of throw backs evetime out. Good bite from daylight till around 10am. Gold Super Duper Lures and Power Bait- Yellow are working good. Also seeing anglers having good results with White or Yellow Rooster Tails.

Love those "Tail Gate Parties"! Nice fish.


Side Note: Plenty of stockings throughout the state this month. Catch in on some great fishing!

Fished a hill country stocking and I was the only one there. Caught about 15 and kept 5. Power Bait, Yellow and Orange and the Gold Super Duper were the baits used.

Nice catches Banker! There are some size on those hill country trout. Keep it up!

Three man Limit Fisher Park. Power Bait and Gold Super Duper Lures.

Huaco Springs and the Canyon Lake Trail Race are loaded with trout. Limited out this past Friday and Saturday. Fished from daylight until 8:30 am. Gold Super Duper Lure was all I needed.

Yes Sir the Guadalupe River is loaded with Rainbow Trout. Double Limit caught at Guadalupe State Park this morning. Me and a friend of mine limited out and also caught a bunch of throwbacks. Power Bait-Yellow in color got very good results.

Still plenty of trout at Fisher Park, New Braunfels. Caught a bunch and kept five. Yellow Power Bait got great results.

This is what they looked like at the Blue Hole Park in GTX yesterday. Managed to give a few away to some folks that weren’t having any luck.
I didn’t go until about 3:00 PM and didn’t catch my first fish until 4:45. SDL gold was the ticket.
Will go again late this afternoon if the wind calms down. Fun, fun, fun!!

Caught 7 of these beauties at Blue Hole Park in Georgetown, Tx (GTX) in less than hour this afternoon. All caught on a 1/16th ounce Rooster Tail white color. Been doing good with RT’s this year. Conditions were cloudy with 15-20 mph wind right in my face. Water was slightly off color for the San Gabriel River in GTX. Had to fish today because of freezing weather for the next 3-4 days. This is Blue Hole Park in the trout off season. That’s where the fish are usually put in the river. Beautiful place. Will be back there next Thursday afternoon. FUN FUN FUN!!!

thats great
a great spot also
i have never been able to catch 1 on a lure
& i really want to
i have caught many on canned corn
do you fish above or below the dam ?
way to go

The times I have fished there, have all been above the dam. Use a Gold Super Duper 2oz or a White/Yellow Rooster Tail.

Butch, the fish are always stocked above the dam. I have always used gold super duper lures to catch rainbows here in Texas and in Colorado. That is until this season. I fished some murky water in Burnet a few weeks ago and could not get a strike on a super duper. Tried a Rooster Tail out of desperation and low and behold it worked. Thursday I caught all of my fish at the Blue Hole on a gold super duper. Today I needed a little more weight to cast into the wind. Caught them all on a white Rooster Tail. By the way, I fish with an ultra lite spinning outfit with 4lb test Stren or Trilene mono. Great fun!

Getting good numbers all week long at the Canyon Trail Race! Gold Super Duper.

Limits in Kerrville and on the Guadalupe River this week. Various artificial lures including the Super Duper were used. The Gold Super Duper got the best results. Released a bunch and kept a few for the dinner table.

Plenty of trout in area water bodies. Stockings still taking place. Check out the trout stockings on the TPW Web Site. Some very nice fish are being stocked.



Side Note: Some catches form some recent stockings.

Great job Chuck You've had a awesome trout stocking season. There's an 8 lber in there somewhere

Got some very creditable information that a Rainbow Trout, in the 12 pound range, was caught on the Guadalupe River over the Christmas Holidays. The fish was submitted for a record and was declined due to the fact that the fish was weighed on a NON- CERTIFIED SCALE.

Question for Banker Always Fishing: Does the San Marcos hatchery really stock rainbows on Sunday? One of my bucket list locations says it doesn’t get stocked till 1-28-24. That’s Sunday. Sounds somewhat “fishy to me.” Haha!

You are correct, they do not stock on weekends. They usually will make the (Weekend) stockings on Friday. As for why, I do not know. There could be several good reasons.

PENDING RECORD!


Caught this Rainbow Trout while fishing for carp at a local water body. The fish was 13.15" in length and the certified weight was 1.17 Lbs. Records application and pictures sent to Texas Parks & Wildlife for their review. The fish took a dough ball.

Blanco State Park and other water bodies across the state were stocked throughout the week. Go catch you some.

Great thread. Some super catches also. Had some friends who have fished some of the water bodies that were stocked and they had a good time and caught some very nice fish. Good eating as well.

Double Limit, Blanco State Park!


Went out this morning with my good friend Steve. Caught a double limit and released some. Power Bait Orange, Yellow, and mixed colors got the best results. The bite was great from sunup till 9:30am. After 9:30am when the sun was out, the bite became very SLOW! Still had a great time. Catching some Monday morning Rainbow Trout. It Just don't get any better!

Garner State Park! 1-20-2024


Fished the stocking at Garner State Park . Truck arrived at 12:00 noon. There were about 15 people waiting. Just about everyone was catching fish. Me and several friends of mine easily got our limits and released a bunch more. Bite stayed active the whole time we fished. Gold Super Duper Lures, small sinking fly's (Fly Rod Anglers) and Yellow Power Bait were the baits used. Catching a bunch of Rainbow Trout on the Frio River. It just don't get any better.

Side Note: Below is a two man limit! My other two friend's limit's were not included.







Two man limit.

This is what they looked like at AdamOrgain Park Pond this afternoon. My total was a dozen plus in about 2 hours. Released all of them. No bleeders or other damage. Used 3 different lures today and caught fish on all 3. (Gold super duper, a copper panther Martin, and a white rooster tail.) Had to increase my retrieve speed, uncomfortably for me. The pond has lots of shallow grass and slime. So, if anyone is taking kids to the trout derby tomorrow, your best Bet will be to use bait on a hook below a light weight and a bobber. Good luck! Had a great short trip. Never had fished this place before. By the way, I was the only person there fishing! And finally, this park is in Hutto, Texas.
,

Fished there today Saturday! Kids had a fishing contest from 9am till 12 noon. After that the public was able to fish. Caught 10 between 12:30pm and 4pm. Nothing of good size. Longest was about 8 inches. Released all but two which I gave away to a angler who wanted them for his dinner. Met some very nice people and it looked like everyone was having a good time. I did not see very many fish caught.


Side Note: Nice fish! Have you fished Bull Frog Pond?

Yes fished Bullfrog and Kingfisher last year. Bullfrog is a tiny little pond. Easy to cast all the way across. Not room for many anglers there. Caught a few and then went to Kingfisher. It’s a big lake for a park. Had to keep moving around. When I would catch a fish there, several other folks would sort of want to cast right where I was. Got them both off my bucket list the same day. Both of those lakes get stocked every two weeks during the season.
Adam Orgain pond in Hutto is off my bucket list also. They only put 500 in there. I caught most of my fish there yesterday close to the aerator that was not pumping. Caught more on a white 1/16th ounce Rooster Tail than SDL or small Panther Martin.
Adam Orgain Pond could use a few grass carp to clean it up some. One of my rainbows yesterday was right at 11 inches. Caught that one on SDL.

Fishing Rowlett pond with a neighbor and a herd of Orientals showed up. I looked at him and said looks like trout is on the menu at the local Chinese restaurant.

Fished Harry Meyers in Rockwall Friday and Saturday morning. On Friday I had some minnows left over from fishing Fork the day before. Nothing but dinks both trout and crappie on the minnows. They stocked a lot of dinks in Rockwall. I use shad on Tawokani that are bigger then some of the trout they stocked.

Have not fished Bull Frog or Kingfisher this year. I did fish both last year a couple of times and did good. The quality (size) are good on both ponds. I plan on fishing there soon.

Looking at stockings by county I am wondering if cities pay to stock extra fish. Collin County ponds get more then some other counties. I know at one time Rowlett was paying to stock larger fish but quit due to budget cutbacks. Royse City pond is fairly large and gets much fewer trout then Collin County ponds.

Still some stockings coming in February. Get some nice Rainbow Trout time in before the stocking season ends. I will be fishing several more this month.

For the rest of the season, I plan on fishing these public ponds:
Southern Cross Pond in Round Rock
Shirley McDonald Park Pond in Round Rock
Miller Park Pond in Temple
Lake view Park Pond in Copperas Cove

Then, sometime in the summer of 2024, some trout fishing in northern Colorado!

I have been slaying the dinks in Royse City. So far fishing pressure has been very light. Fished with a small inline spinner this morning and they were hitting it on the drop during stop and go retrieve. It was like fishing for schooling sandies. Cast to a swirl and fish on.

Double limit Canyon Trail Race. Gold Super Duper Lures was all we used.

Headed out this morning to catch some more dinks in Royse City.

The Royse City dinks were nailing the power bait and trout nuggets early. Mid morning the Panther Martin bite was on. Ended up with 13. All were released. More comorants have shown up and watched one get a trout.

Tomorrow last stocking of the stocking season at Millers Park Pond and Southside Lions Park Pond. Catch em while you can. Also plenty of trout are still holding in some past area stockings.


Side Note: Still some late February and early March stockings on the schedule.

Fished the Guadalupe River, Saturday 2/17. Easily limited out and caught many more which were released. The dependable Gold Super Duper got it done.

Reports are they are catching very good quality trout at Millers Pond in San Antonio. 12 to 15 fish are common catches. Get em while they last.

Canyon Trail Race and Huaco Springs- Guadalupe River was stocked today. 1100 fished stocked. Friend of mine went this morning and easily limited out with some good quality fish. 12 to 14 inches.

Miller Park Pond in Temple was stocked at 10:30 AM yesterday. I did not catch a single rainbow trout!! But look at these two yellow cats that were by catch. I threw 6 different lures over about 3 hours of fishing for rainbows. My little Rooster Tail spinners caught these two catfish, several small bluegills and a chunky 13 inch largemouth bass. This was the most fun I have ever had fishing for rainbows!!

Channel Cat's. Perfect eating size, if you were keeping fish. Nice ones.


Side Note: It has been a strange bite at some stockings this year. I have been to several stockings when the truck had arrived and not a bite. It took 4 to 5 hours to get a limit if you were lucky. Have gone back the next day and limited out easily with plenty of throw backs. I have had better luck going the day after the stocking day. Also some water bodies still have good quantities of fish days and even weeks after a stocking. The bite this year was a challenge, on some trips for sure.

Guadalupe River and the Blanco River were stocked this week for the last time this season. Plenty of trout waiting to be caught.

Blue Hole Park in Georgetown received 1500 more rainbows this past Monday. This stocking was not on the schedule but it was a great surprise! Very little fishing pressure and I had an epic few hours of fishing. Caught all my fish on a 1/16th ounce white Rooster Tail. Released them all back in the river unharmed so maybe some kids can catch them in the next few days. Caught some quality fish like the picture! Big thanks to TPWD and the city of Georgetown for this great program!

By the way this was today 3-1-2024

Myself and good friend Steve fished the Bull Frog Pond stocking in Manor TX. There were about 20 anglers waiting for the stocking truck to arrive. Truck arrived around 10am. Bite turned on at 11am and most anglers there were catching some very nice Rainbow Trout. Myself and Steve easily limited out and caught a bunch more that were released. Gold Super Duper Lures got the job done. The trout stockings are coming to an end and there are still plenty of fish in some of the water bodies that have been stocked over the stocking season. Catch them while you can.

Fished the Canyon Lake Trail Race yesterday and easily limited out. Good quality of fish and plenty of them. Gold Super Duper Lure was all I used.

Still lots of trout in area water bodies waiting to be caught. The Blanco and Guadalupe Rivers are just two water bodies that are still holding some nice trout. I also caught this week several nice trout in the 14 inch range at Millers Pond in San Antonio. The bite will get slower as time goes on and most of the trout that do not get caught will die off. Only the trout that were stocked at the Canyon Trial Race or in the Trophy Zone of the Guadalupe River have a chance to live year around. Feel free to let us know how you did if you went to any of the stockings either the day of the stocking or days after the stockings took place.


From a recent trip Blanco State Park .

Still catching trout at the Canyon Trail Race and the Blanco River.

Still catching trout in Guadalupe (trail race) and the Blanco River (State Park).


Friday 3-22

Limits are getting harder to catch. Friends of mine are still catching a few each time they are going out to some of the stocking places. Catching 2 to 3 fish daily.


Side Note: I am done for this Trout Stocking Season and had a BLAST! Can't wait till the 2024/2025 Stocking Season Starts.