In honor of Veterans Day, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) will be stocking several thousand rainbow and brook trout in select bodies of water across the state this week.
“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 stocking will take place from Wednesday, Nov. 6 through Friday, Nov. 8. Anglers can expect to find these fish in the following locations: Barber Pond, South Kingstown; Carbuncle Pond, Coventry (wheelchair accessible); Meadow Brook Pond, Richmond; Olney Pond, Lincoln State Park, Lincoln (wheelchair accessible); 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; Willett Pond, East Providence; and Wyoming Pond, Hopkinton, Richmond.
Daily stocking updates will be posted on the DEM’s Division of Fish and Wildlife’s (DFW) Facebook Page, at www.dem.ri.gov/troutwaters, or by calling 401-789-0281 or 401-539-0019.
Anglers 15 and older need a 2024 fishing license and a Trout Conservation Stamp to keep or possess trout. However, trout stamps are not required for those possessing trout caught from a lake or pond that borders Rhode Island. DEM’s Rhode Island Outdoors (RIO) portal sells fishing licenses online.
For those planning to cast a line, the DEM reminds anglers of the following changes in the Freshwater Regulations:
* The daily creel and possession limit for trout and/or salmon is five fish, with only two of those being salmon, from April 13, 2024, through Nov. 30, 2024. From Dec. 1, 2024, through Feb. 28, 2025, the limit is two trout and/or salmon, with only two of those being salmon.
* Specific regulations are in place for the Wood River, between RT. 165 Check Station and Barberville Dam at Arcadia Road, and the Falls River, from the bridge at Austin Farm Road to the bridge at Brook Trail.
* The Beaver River and Pawcatuck River confluence upstream of New London Turnpike is now a catch-and-release area and is no longer stocked.
* There is an 8-inch minimum size for any trout caught in any state waters, and the minimum size limit for domestic (landlocked) Atlantic salmon is 11 inches.
The 2024-2025 Freshwater Fishing Abstract, DEM’s Great Swamp Field Office (401-789-0281), and DEM’s Aquatic Resource Education office (401-539-0019) provide additional information about stocked freshwaters, size and creel limits for all freshwater fish species.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisted a What’sUpNewp journalist with the reporting included in this story.
