How to recognise it
- A salmon-like body with a slightly forked tail covered in dark spots.
- Dark olive back, silvery white below, heavily speckled, with a pink to red stripe along each side.
Habitat: where it lives
- Needs water below about 70°F. Texas summers are too warm for it to breed or, usually, survive, so most Texas trout are stocked for winter fishing.
- Exceptions: the Guadalupe River below Canyon Lake, which often stays cool enough year-round, and a small wild population in McKittrick Canyon in the Guadalupe Mountains.
Habits: behavior, spawning and growth
- Stays active in winter, when bass and crappie slow down.
- Often nibbles rather than taking a bait in one bite.
- The Texas record is 8.24 lb, from the Canyon Reservoir tailrace.
Where and when
- TPWD stocks several hundred thousand into community fishing lakes each winter; for 2025–26 it planned 335,048 fish from Nov. 26 to March 6, in Neighborhood Fishin' lakes and dozens of city and county park ponds.
- Check TPWD's trout stocking schedule before going: dates and places change.
- Arrive early on stocking day; trout bite almost immediately after they're released.
- In a Texas state park you can fish without a license from the bank, a dock or a pier.
Bait and lures
Live and natural bait
- Dough baits such as PowerBait, molded to cover the hook
- Corn
- Small pieces of worm
- Salmon eggs
Lures
- Small inline spinners, 1/16–1/8 oz (olive, brown, black or white)
- Small spoons in gold or silver
- Small marabou jigs
- Flies: small nymphs and bead-head Woolly Buggers
Why these baits work
- Its diet is insects and crustaceans, so small lures and flies that look like them work.
- Scented dough baits sit on the bottom where a cruising trout finds them; it often nibbles, so wait for steady pressure before setting the hook.
Rod and reel setups
Grouped by lure fishing (artificial baits) and bait fishing (live or natural bait).
Bait fishing
- Rod
- 6–7 ft medium-light rod
- Reel
- Spinning reel
- Line
- 6–8 lb monofilament
- Hook & rig
- A size 6, 8 or 10 snelled bait-holder hook covered with PowerBait, a snap swivel, and a ¼ oz sinker in still water (½ oz in current).
Source: Oklahoma Dept. of Wildlife Conservation: How to catch trout
- Rod
- 6–6½ ft rod
- Reel
- Ultralight spinning reel with 4 lb line
- Line
- 4 lb main line; a 2 ft leader of 2 lb line on a snap swivel
- Hook & rig
- Treble hooks size 16–18 for cheese and dough baits, or single hooks size 10–16 for salmon eggs; a BB-size split shot 12–24 in above the hook.
Source: Missouri Dept. of Conservation: Trout fishing tips
Tips
- Set the hook with a medium pull, not a hard jerk.
- Land trout with a net: they can break the line when lifted out of the water.
On the table: cleaning and cooking
- Bring ice and get the fish on it soon after catching (TPWD).
Step-by-step cleaning, keeping fish fresh and eating safely are in the handbook.
Size and bag limits vary by state, species and lake. Current limits: Texas (TPWD); elsewhere, your state's fish and wildlife agency. Check before you keep a fish.
