Top 10 Stocked Trout Fishing Tips [Detailed Guide]

The year’s most detailed guide to trout fishing tips has arrived! There is never a bad day when chasing stocked trout on a lake, pond, stream, river, or reservoir. In this trout fishing tips post, I’ve included the top ten stocked trout fishing strategies to help you catch more trout the next time you go to the water. Chasing stocked trout is a terrific way to attract new people into fishing, and I always take a kid fishing to show them what the outdoors is all about. So, after reading this post on stocked trout tips and how to catch stocked trout, get out there and have a fantastic day trout fishing!

Top 10 Stocked Trout Fishing Tips

1. Use a light setup for stocked trout fishing

When it comes to stocked trout you’re talking about anywhere between eight inches to say 16-inch trout and these guys will fight pretty good but they’re not behemoths or broodstock, you’re talking you know 10-pound trout and because these trout are light and smaller you can get away with a smaller lighter setup when you’re going out to chase trout.

Now for a typical light setup think four to six pounds on your main line. Think bait holder hooks say size 10, size 12. You don’t need the biggest reel, a 1000-size reel is perfect.

Even a trout rod somewhere between six to seven feet in a light action maybe light-medium action is the perfect setup to allow that trout to snag your bait, hook itself and you’re going to have a big takedown and fun time reeling in those trout.

Now the one thing you don’t want to do with those light setups is to set really hard hooks, fall backward on your ass and make a fool of yourself, don’t ask me how I know.

2. Fish right away

Now the next tip is to fish right away after a place has been stocked and across the country, you can use your state’s stocking schedule to know which body of water trout or getting stocked at. Either by the day or by the week like we have here in Oregon.

Now when it comes to the stocking schedule you better expect that there’s gonna be places where people are getting up early and gonna be there before first light to get their perfect fishing spot to go after stocked trout.

So if you’re gonna go early or go on the day of stocking you better be prepared to get there early. Now if you’re someone like me I typically like to wait a couple of days after a place has been stocked maybe it’s been fished with a little bit of pressure and I like to go in there and fish for those stocked trout.

Now there’s still going to be plenty around especially at big lakes where you’re talking about tens of thousands of fish that are going to be around. So if you don’t want to fish right away take a couple of days get in there when there’s a little bit less pressure and go slam them.

3. Go Simple for stocked trout fishing

Now the next tip is to go simple and this is referring to baits and to go simple I’m talking about power bait and in-line spinners.

Now power bait and inline spinners are probably the two most common baits to go after stocked trout. So if you’re fishing a place with a ton of trout you don’t need to go complex with your setup and your baits.

Now start out with something that’s pretty simple, plunking power bait off the bottom, casting some spinners, seeing if the fish are maybe on the top edge of the water, or plunking off the bottom to see if the fish are a little bit deeper.

With power bait and spinners, you can fish different levels of the water column to figure out where the trout are hanging out, and hopefully, you’ll land in the perfect spot.

No matter what your age it’s always fun to hear people say oh my gosh I’ve got glitter all over my hands after they put the power bait on their hook.

4. Fish inlets and outlets

The next tip is to fish inlets and outlets where you’re going to have flowing water and typically a lot cooler water where stocked trout are going to want to hang out and this is especially important after a body of water has been stocked for a while and the trout have acclimated to that body of water.

They’re going to move around and they’re going to want to find the cooler water, water, and areas that have more food and flow, and in that case, we’re talking inlets and outlets of water.

So if you’re trout fishing in a place that hasn’t been stocked in a couple of weeks or say a couple of months go to the best spots where you’re gonna have high-traffic areas and that’s gonna be inlets and outlets.

5. Pay attention to water temps for stocked trout fishing

Pay close attention to the water temperature after a body of water has been stocked with trout. The trout get transferred from hatcheries into the body of water and if there’s a big difference in the water temperature say from the hatchery to your body of water that’s going to cause a little bit of shock to the trout especially when they get first planted.

They’re going to have to get accustomed to the water the temperature and just a lot of different factors and so if they’re going from someplace that is 60-degree water into a lake that’s maybe 40-degree water that is a huge shock and so it might take a little while for the fish to get acclimated and start to bite right away.

Now, this is like if you go into the shower and you actually turn it on the cold water setting instead of the warm water setting, you’re going to freak out for a second and adjust quickly and the same thing goes when it comes to stocked trout.

If they’re going into a lot cooler water you need to make adjustments to your baits, to your presentations, into the areas that you’re fishing and hopefully, you get after the bite after the trout has been shocked.

6. Flash them

I don’t mean to take off all your clothes and flash the fish that’s not what I mean. What I’m talking about is getting a lot of flash in the water to get the trout’s attention. When we’re talking flash I’m talking spinners, I’m talking lake troll, I’m talking four fenders and I’m talking in-line flashers from Yakima bait company to get a lot of flashes, a lot of uv, a lot of glow in the water that’s gonna get the attention of the trout.

Now whether they’re freshly stocked trout or trout that have been around for a while in the water that flash is gonna attract the trout from farther distances.

You’re gonna get groups or singles of trout to come in look at that flash from a far distance and go absolutely bonkers for your bait or your presentation and this is especially key on overcast or super sunny days.

The flash could mean all the difference to the trout and it could mean a day between not catching anything and a really epic day.

7. Give them the corn

Corn is a typical bait and scent that we use when we go after stocked trout. The biggest reason being is at the hatcheries they feed the trout a corn-based meal pellet for food to get those trout built up before they transfer them from the hatchery to the body of water.

So it only makes sense that you use corn-based scent, corn-based power bait and corn-based gel say from procure to add to your baits for that extra corn attractant to get the trout to bite right away and one thing you absolutely have to be very careful about is taking that jar of scent throwing it into your tackle box and forgetting to close it.

Because when you get home your tackle box is going to smell like a corn maze in the fall, don’t ask me how I know.

8. Use movement to your advantage

Now we’re talking about the baits that you’re using whether it’s spinners, whether it’s mice tails, trout magnets, night crawlers, anything with movement and flow in the water is an added bonus and going to attract those stocked trout to get in there and bite your bait really quickly.

So if it’s a super calm day on the water with say no wind you’re gonna want something with a little bit of movement so spinners are the perfect bait to go with.

Now if it’s a little bit of a windy day that’s a perfect situation where you could float a bobber and a bait underneath because it’s going to be moving in the water creating that flow.

So as you go out and chase stocked trout make sure your baits have plenty of movement.

9. Fish near boat launches

Fish near boat launches or key high-traffic areas where places are going to get stocked with trout. So as hatcheries transport the fish from the hatchery to the body of water there are going to be common areas where they plant and stocked the trout.

Now boat launches will be the number one area where they’ll back the truck down and offload those fish right into the water. So it makes perfect sense if you’re going after stocked trout to focus on areas near the boat launch and near the docks first.

Now if you’re fishing for stocked trout and creeks and streams, pay attention to bridges or areas where the truck can pull over and dump those trout into those bodies of water.

Those are also going to be good areas to target the trout first when you get out there.

10. Fish early in the day

Now, when a place has been stocked with trout, you could fish it all day long. But your best chance and your most likely chance to get a fast limit or to get your quickest bites are going to be in the early morning hours.

You know some days it could be right at 10 o’clock as the water is perfectly warming up and some days it could be right at first light, other days it could be in that mid-morning time frame when the sun finally hits the water and the trout start to get on the feed.

So wake up early get yourself a nice cup of coffee, get your gear all set up, fling your gear out there and get fishing early in the morning, snap a photo of the sunrise, and just enjoy the beautiful day of trout fishing that’s to come.

And there you guys have it, the top 10 stocked trout fishing tips. Hope you guys got some great information in this article to take out to the field and catch a lot of stocked trout this year and years beyond. So thank you guys for reading this article.