Outdoors RI: Fish 24 waterways stocked with Trout this Columbus Day weekend

Photo: RIDEM

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is conducting fall trout stocking in advance of the Columbus Day holiday weekend in selected areas in Rhode Island. As Rhode Island still is experiencing a severe drought that is particularly affecting the levels of rivers and streams, some areas will not be stocked at this time. Cyanobacteria alerts also will prevent stocking in some ponds and lakes.

The following areas will be stocked with rainbow and brook trout starting Thursday, Sept. 29, and extending through Friday, Oct. 7:

• Barber Pond, South Kingstown
• Barberville to Wyoming Pond, Richmond, Hopkinton
• Bradford Fishing Area, Westerly
• Breakheart Pond, Exeter
• Browning Mill Pond, Exeter
• Carbuncle Pond, Coventry
• Carolina Trout Pond, Richmond
• Cronan Landing, Richmond
• Eight Rod Farm Pond, Tiverton
• Grantville to Route 95, Hopkinton
• Hope Valley Fishing Area, Hopkinton
• Kings Factory Bridge, Charlestown
• Lower Shannock, Charlestown
• Meadow Brook Pond, Richmond
• Olney Pond, Lincoln State Park, Lincoln
• Route 165 to Barberville, Exeter, Hopkinton
• Round Top Ponds, Burrillville
• Shippee Sawmill Pond, Foster
• Silver Spring Lake, North Kingstown
• Spring Grove Pond, Glocester
• Stafford Pond, Tiverton
• Upper Pawtuxet, (Hope), Scituate
• Willet Pond, East Providence
• Woodville, Richmond, Hopkinton           

Daily stocking updates will be available each afternoon. Please visit DEM’s website at dem.ri.gov/fishing, DEM Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Outreach and Education Facebook page, or call 401-789-0281 and 401-539-0019 for more information on stocking.

A 2022 fishing license is required for anglers 15 and older and a trout conservation stamp is required to keep or possess a 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  9 through Nov. 30, 2022; and two trout and/or salmon, of which only two can be salmon from Dec. 1, 2022, to Feb. 28, 2023.  
• The creel and possession limit for trout taken in the Wood River, between Route 165 check station and Barberville Dam at Arcadia Road, is two fish from the second Saturday in May through the last day of February. That stretch of the Falls River, from the bridge at Austin Farm Road to the bridge at Brook Trail, is a catch-and-release area. 
• The confluence of the Beaver River and Pawcatuck River, upstream to New London Turnpike, is designated as a catch-and-release area.
• The daily creel limit for landlocked Atlantic salmon is two fish per day, statewide until Feb. 28, 2023, which must be part of the overall five-fish limit for trout and salmon
• There is an eight-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 or 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.
• To curtail the spread of invasive aquatic plants, it is prohibited to enter or exit a state boat ramp with any vegetation attached to any type of boats, motors, boat trailers, or other conveyance or equipment .

Information about stocked freshwaters, size, and creel limits for all freshwater fish species is available in the 2021-22  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 services, visit www.dem.ri.gov. Follow DEM on Facebook, DEM’s Outdoor Education on Facebook, Twitter (@RhodeIslandDEM), or Instagram (@RhodeIslandDEM).