The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife recently published a reminder to anglers that all of the trout New Jersey stocks during fall and winter measure 14 inches to 24 inches and weigh one and a half pounds to eight pounds.

More and more anglers are enjoying the larger fish stocked since a change in 2006 to stocking only larger trout. However, 67% of New Jersey trout anglers were not aware of this major stocking change when surveyed in 2010.

A growing number of anglers have begun enjoying big fish, cool water, great weather, and spectacular scenery that occur during New Jersey's fall trout fishing season. Trout fishing action extends through the winter months until spring stocking begins again in April.

From October 9 through November 21, more than 26,000 lunker trout will be stocked in 16 streams and 40 ponds and lakes throughout the state.

For more information on the fall and winter stocking program, visit www.njfishandwildlife.com/trtinfo.htm or call the Trout Hotline at 609-633-6765.

source: NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife

According to DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife, six trout streams in New Castle County Delaware will be stocked with rainbow and brown trout, including some trophy-sized fish.

White Clay Creek, Christina Creek, Pike Creek, Beaver Run, Wilson Run and Mill Creek will be stocked. Additional trout will be stocked through early May.

The state’s spring 2012 upstate trout season will open at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, April 7. Downstate trout season remains open in Tidbury Pond in Dover and Newton Pond near Greenwood, both of which were stocked in March.

To purchase a fishing license or trout stamps or for more information about the trout stocking schedule, visit www.fw.delaware.gov/fisheries, or call the Fisheries section at 302-739-9914.

source: DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife

Several hundred rainbow trout were stocked in Tidbury Pond and Newton Pond prior to the opening of Downstate Delaware’s 2012 trout season on Saturday, March 3.

In less than an hour, about 275 pounds of fish were released in Tidbury Pond, plus a small number of trophy-sized trout. Most of the fish averaged 11 inches long and weighed about one-half to three-quarters of a pound, while the larger trout measured at least 14 inches and weighed two pounds or more.

Both ponds were scheduled to receive a second stocking of rainbow trout in late March.

Tidbury Pond is owned and managed by Kent County Parks and Recreation, and anglers are asked to be respectful of the vegetation and fences erected to protect landscaped areas. Newton Pond, a 10-acre restored borrow pit, is owned and managed as a state wildlife area by the Division of Fish and Wildlife, and features a boat ramp for small car top boats and canoes (no gasoline motors allowed), a fishing pier and plenty of shoreline access to allow anglers to spread out.

source: delaware.gov

Although most anglers are familiar with North America's iconic rainbow trout, there are actually several variations of this colorful fish.

Rainbow trout are named for the bands of coloration along their sides. The body of the rainbow trout is typically dark on top with silver flanks and lighter undersides. Male rainbows have red stripes, especially during the spawning phase while females are less colorful.

In 1963, the “West Virginia Centennial Golden Trout” was released. The variation was a developed from an unusually colored specimen which appeared in a West Virginia trout hatchery. Later breeding produced a palomino trout. Several other states in the Mid Atlantic region now produce and stock golden or palomino rainbow trout in ponds and streams.

Golden rainbow trout should not to be confused with the true golden trout (Oncorhynchus aguabonita), which is found only in California.

A third form of rainbow trout is the steelhead. These special forms of rainbow trout leave coastal streams and rivers as juveniles to live in saltwater environments. Like their close relatives, the salmon, steelhead eventually return to freshwater to spawn. Steelhead typically live after spawning, unlike Pacific salmon.

Over the next few months, approximately 22,000 Lahontan cutthroat trout (LCT) will be stocked in Lake Tahoe. The cutthroat trout will be approximately nine inches in length when released.

This is the first time in more than 35 years that the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) will be stocking Lake Tahoe with Lahontan cutthroat trout, the only trout species native to the Basin.

In response to a growing interest in the Tahoe area for the restoration of native species, an interagency team was created to explore opportunities to restore LCT to the Basin.

The team identified NDOW's stocking efforts at Lake Tahoe as an opportunity to provide anglers with the chance to catch native Lahontan cutthroat trout.

For more information, visit www.ndow.org

In 2011, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency established a walleye stocking program in Watts Bar Reservoir, releasing over 220,000 fingerlings in the lake.

According to the agency, the decision to replace the sauger stocking program with walleye is based on reoccurring issues with the sauger's low natural reproduction, challenging hatchery propagation, and the management of the sauger as a sportfish.

A TRWA official explained that: "Walleye, on average, live longer than sauger. They obtain a larger size, more conducive to year around fishing. The brood fish are less of a challenge to obtain, and walleye require fewer man hours to produce in TWRA hatcheries."

Walleye and sauger have several parallel characteristics and are closely related. Both migrate up rivers to spawn, share similar feeding patterns, and are good night feeders because of they have a light reflective coating located behind the eye. Both fish are highly sought after as table fare by anglers.

source: Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency