The annual Texas winter tradition of rainbow trout stocking returns to waterbodies across the state to kick off the holiday season. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) will stock thousands of rainbow trout beginning the week of Thanksgiving to give anglers a chance to catch one of these iconic fish.
It doesn’t take a lot of sophisticated fishing equipment to reel in a rainbow trout. They can be caught using simple, light tackle or hand-tied flies on a fly rod. However, anglers should keep an array of baits and lures nearby as well as ice to keep trout fresh. Rainbow trout are an attractive, tasty fish and anglers can easily find recipes online.
TPWD plans to stock 343,331 rainbow trout in Texas from Nov. 22 through March 1. Because rainbow trout are unable to survive in most areas of Texas after winter, due to the warm water temperatures, anglers are encouraged to keep up to their daily bag limit of five trout. Exceptions exist within special trout management zones on the Guadalupe River downstream of Canyon Lake, which often remains cool enough for rainbow trout to survive year-round. This portion of the Guadalupe River is recognized as one of the top 100 trout streams in the nation and is considered the southernmost trout stream in North America.
