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Catchable Trout Stocking Program

As in most states, put-and-take trout fishing draws the most interest and attention in Virginia, probably because of the availability of catchable-sized trout and ease of capture. Virginia's catchable program is supported by hatcheries located at Marion, Paint Bank and Wytheville. Three additional rearing facilities are located at Marion, Montebello and Williamsville.

Trout eggs are collected from large brood stock in early fall and placed in incubator trays. This helps to maintain an even flow of well-oxygenated water through the eggs. Once the embryo is developed, trays must be constantly cleaned and dead eggs removed to control disease. After 25-30 days the trout begin to hatch. The small "fry," as they are called, remain attached to their egg sacs for about 14 days, and draw their food from it. The fry are kept indoors in small troughs until their sacs are absorbed and they begin taking small, pelleted food. When they reach a suitable fingerling stage (2-3 inches) they are transported to rearing facilities where they are placed in raceways.

The fish are fed several times daily for at least a year until they reach catchable size (9-11 inches). During this rearing period, it is necessary to clean raceways daily to control disease and occasionally grade fish to ensure that the larger trout will not eat smaller ones.

The program is covered primarily from the sale of trout licenses. In addition to a valid state freshwater fishing license, a trout license is required to legally fish in designated stocked trout waters. Annual output from the program is approximately 1,250,000 catchable trout, in addition to variable numbers of fingerling and subcatchable trout used in other programs.

By January 1, most streams on the stocking list will have already received at least one stocking and will continue to be stocked through spring. Stockings will be discontinued by the end of May and will resume after October 1. Streams and lakes will be stocked at various intervals, depending on their potential to hold trout during the late spring and early fall. Fishermen should find that most streams have good numbers of trout throughout the stocking season.

Waters to be stocked are listed by county in the Trout Stocking Plan (PDF). The plan indicates the frequency of stocking and the specific stocking periods for each stream. Call your local VDGIF office for more information. For daily trout stocking updates during stocking season, check the Trout Stocking Schedule on this Web site or call (434) 525-FISH (3474).

Stocked trout streams are marked with appropriate signs, which identify the portion of stream stocked. Marked sections are open to public fishing, in accordance with agreements between the Department and private landowners. This is the only case where anglers are not required to have landowner permission before fishing on private water.