Winter Trout Stocking Today and Tomorrow

The aggressive three part 2023 trout stocking schedule by New Jersey DEP’s bureau of freshwater fisheries concludes with the Winter Trout Program today and tomorrow.

In total, 4,380 two-year old rainbow ranging from 14 to 16 inches will be released in 18 select waters spread over nine counties in the northern, central and southern regions of the Garden State, ranging from Sussex County down through southern Cape May County.

A wide spread, to be sure, but these venues, all lakes and ponds, are easy to reach and provide enjoyable fishing in urban, suburban and bucolic settings.

What’s more, the stocking coincides with Thanksgiving Week, giving anglers, youngsters and families in particular, opportunities to catch quality trout during the holiday weekend.

What’s more, these ‘bows will hold over through the winter, providing trout fishing during the colder months and any not caught will prove a bonus when the 2024 trout season re-opens April 6 after the three week March pre-season stocking March closure.

The daily limit is four trout, and you can fish even while the trout are being stocked.

Waters, counties and numbers follow.

Monday, November 20: Green Turtle Pond (Passaic/ 320); Silver Lake (290), Lake Aeroflex (360), LittleSwartswood Lake (350), Lake Ocquittunk (250; all Sussex County); Amwell Lake (Hunterdon/250); Topenumus Lake (190), Spring Lake (200; both in Monmouth County); and Shenandoah Lake (Ocean/240).

Tuesday, November 21: Barbour’s Pond (Passaic/260); Mt. Hope Pond (Morris/280); Haddon Lake (200), Rowands Pond (100; both in Camden County); South Vineland Park Pond (190), Shaws Mill Pond (200; both in Cumberland County); Birch Grove Park Pond (Atlantic/190); and Ponderlodge Pond (Cape May/160).