What’s Happening with NC Trout Stocking This Season? An Update with Kin Hodges, District 7 Fisheries Biologist

Springtime fly fishing is upon us! With the ongoing changes to North Carolina’s trout stocking program, there are a few important updates anglers will want to note.

Wait, fill me in! What did I miss?

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is currently in the middle of a major renovation at the Bobby N. Setzer State Fish Hatchery, one of the primary facilities supporting trout production in the state. With Setzer temporarily offline, changes are being made to maintain the stocking program for the recreational angler.

After sustaining significant damage from Helene in 2024, Armstrong State Fish Hatchery is coming back online, but it can’t fully replace Setzer’s output alone. To help bridge the gap, NC Wildlife has acquired the Glady Fork Fish Hatchery in Transylvania County, which will expand production capacity over time. They’re also working with private hatcheries to help maintain stocking levels during the transition.

To learn more on what this means for us as trout anglers, we heard from Kin Hodges, NC Wildlife's District 7 Fisheries Biologist. Kin shares with us what anglers can expect this season, some behind-the-scenes of the program, and what’s ahead in the coming years to prepare for your next trout trip.

Q: Spring trout stocking has just started across North Carolina. Considering hatchery renovations and continued recovery from Helene, certainly the program has changed a bit. Can you share an overview of what anglers should expect this season and in the coming years?

A: While the Setzer hatchery is closed for renovations, the number of trout we produce will be reduced by ~65%. As a result, both the number of stockings and the number of fish stocked will be substantially reduced during the 2026 and 2027 stocking seasons. For the counties in my work area (District 7, covering the northwest corner of the state), we will be compressing Hatchery Supported stockings into March and April when most fishing activity traditionally takes place. For Delayed Harvest waters, we will continue to stock between October and May, but we will be skipping the April stocking. If all goes well, we hope to start increasing the numbers of stocked trout sometime in 2028. To determine when your favorite waters are being stocked during the Setzer shutdown, we encourage anglers to consult the Hatchery Supported and Delayed Harvest stocking schedules found at  www.ncwildlife.gov/trout.

Q: Are there any considerations behind the scenes you all have been working on that perhaps the general population of anglers may not be aware of? 

A: We are doing everything possible to maintain the quality and quantity of trout we stock during the Setzer renovations. We’re attempting to purchase as many trout as possible from private hatcheries to make up for the lost production at our own facilities. Additionally, we recently purchased a small private hatchery near the Setzer hatchery. In the short term, we will hold whatever trout we are able to purchase at this facility until they are ready to be stocked. Longer term, we will incorporate the new facility into our overall trout production system to maximize the numbers of trout we can produce.

Q: Many anglers see the results of stocking but not the process. Can you walk us through the considerations made when selecting how and when streams are stocked? Especially with the adjusted stocking schedule we are seeing these days. 

A: There’s a lot to cover with this one! First, we assess the habitat quality of the stream and its ability to hold fish. We also have to assess the accessibility of the stream, as there are a lot of streams that would otherwise be suitable for stocking, but we can’t stock them because it’s not possible for hatchery staff to reach them. For streams on private land, we then have to get permission for stocking and public access from adjacent landowners. We then determine how long each stream is stocked, which is based partly on the expected use each stream might receive and partly on how quickly the water warms as the season progresses.

Q: What are some common misconceptions about the trout stocking program or maybe a fact about the program that people may not be aware of?

A: Many people think that the goal of our stockings is to establish or augment populations of wild trout. But in reality, the primary goal is to simply provide recreational trout fishing opportunities in streams where trout would not otherwise be found because the habitat is not pristine enough to support trout or the water is too warm. And on a related note, essentially all trout we stock are sterile and couldn’t reproduce even if habitat or water temperatures were suitable for trout.

Q: Can you tell us more about how the stocking program started and its benefits?  

A: I can’t say exactly how or when our trout stocking program started, but I can say that we have been stocking trout since at least the 1940’s. The primary goal of our trout stocking program is to increase recreational trout fishing opportunities for the angling public. The number of streams capable of supporting wild trout is relatively small, and those streams are largely confined to higher elevations in the mountains. Stocking trout in waters where they wouldn’t normally be found allows us to significantly increase recreational trout fishing opportunities and provide those opportunities across a greater geographic range, thereby making trout fishing available to as many anglers as possible across the state. In recent years, we’ve even been able to expand those opportunities into the Piedmont and coastal plain through our winter urban impoundment stocking program! In addition to simply providing more fishing opportunities, fishing for stocked (and wild) trout generates an annual economic benefit of nearly $1.4 billion to the state’s economy. Find the full NC trout fishing economic impact report here.

To learn more about North Carolina’s trout stocking program, including schedules, updates, and hatchery information, visit the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission website.