Veterans Day Trout Stocking

Veterans Day Trout Stocking

Published on Monday, November 04, 2024

PROVIDENCE, RI - The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is conducting a special trout stocking in advance of Veterans Day in honor of our veterans. Several thousand Rainbow and Brook Trout will be stocked in selected areas.

"Stocking fish in popular waterbodies is a gesture by which DEM honors Rhode Island veterans for their service, sacrifice, and duty done," said DEM Director Terry Gray. "We hope many veterans will get outside and drop a line in the water this weekend."

The following areas will be stocked from Wednesday, Nov. 6 through Friday, Nov. 8 with Rainbow and Brook Trout:

• Barber Pond, South Kingstown
• Carbuncle Pond, Coventry - Wheelchair Accessible
• Meadow Brook Pond, Richmond
• Olney Pond, Lincoln State Park, Lincoln
• Peck Pond, Burrillville
• Roundtop Ponds, Burrillville
• Shippee Sawmill Pond, Foster
• Simmons Mill Pond, Little Compton
• Silver Spring Lake, North Kingstown - Wheelchair Accessible
• Stafford Pond, Tiverton
• Tarkiln Pond, Burrillville. North Smithfield
• Tucker Pond, South Kingstown
• Watchaug Pond, Charlestown
• Willet Pond, East Providence
• Wyoming Pond, Hopkinton, Richmond

Daily stocking updates will be available each afternoon. Please visit DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife's (DFW) Facebook Page, visit www.dem.ri.gov/troutwaters, or call 401-789-0281 or 401-539-0019 for more information on stocking.

A 2024 fishing license is required for anglers 15 years of age and older and a Trout Conservation Stamp is required to keep or possess trout. Trout stamps are not required for persons possessing trout taken from a lake or pond that shares a border with Rhode Island. Fishing licenses can be purchased online on DEM's Rhode Island Outdoors (RIO)portal.

DEM would like to remind anglers of the following changes in the Freshwater Regulations:

• The daily creel and possession limit for trout and/or salmon is five fish, of which only two can be salmon, from April 13, 2024, through Nov. 30, 2024; and two trout and/or salmon, of which only two can be salmon from Dec. 1, 2024 - Feb. 28, 2025.
• The creel and possession limit for trout taken in the Wood River, between RT. 165 Check Station and Barberville Dam at Arcadia Road, is two fish from the second Saturday in May through the last day of Feb. That portion of the Falls River, from the bridge at Austin Farm Road to the bridge at Brook Trail, is a catch and release area.
• The portion of the confluence of the Beaver River and the Pawcatuck River, upstream to New London Turnpike, is designated as a catch and release area and is no longer stocked.
• The daily creel limit for landlocked Atlantic Salmon is two fish per day, statewide until Feb. 28, 2025, which must be part of the overall five fish limit for trout and salmon.
• There is an 8-inch minimum size for any trout caught in any state waters. The minimum size limit for domestic (landlocked) Atlantic salmon is 11 inches.

The following activities are prohibited:

• The use of external felt soled waders or boots or those soled with any natural or synthetic porous material capable of absorbing water in any freshwaters in Rhode Island is strictly prohibited. This includes any waters shared with adjacent states in which Rhode Island fishing regulations apply.
• It is strictly prohibitedto enter or exit a state boat ramp with any vegetation attached to any type of boats, motors, boat trailers, or any other conveyance or equipment in order to curtail the spread of invasive aquatic plantsor invertebrates.

Information about stocked freshwaters, size and creel limits for all freshwater fish species is available in the 2024-2025 Freshwater Fishing Abstract, or by calling DEM's Great Swamp Field Office at 401-789-0281, or the DEM's Aquatic Resource Education office at 401-539-0019.

For more information on DEM programs and initiatives, visit www.dem.ri.gov. Follow DEM on Facebook, Twitter/X (@RhodeIslandDEM), or Instagram (@rhodeisland.dem) for timely updates. Follow DFW on Facebookand Instagram (@ri.fishandwildlife) to stay up to date on news, events and volunteer opportunities. You can also subscribe to DFW's monthly newsletter here. Sign up hereto receive the latest press releases, news, and events from DEM's Public Affairs Office to your inbox.