New Jersey fall trout trucks start Oct. 13 — with low-flow reallocations

New Jersey’s fall trout program is on the calendar, and low water is rewriting the map. NJDEP Fish & Wildlife’s 2026 fall schedule starts Tuesday, Oct. 13, and runs about two weeks. The hatchery will send roughly 29,000 two-year-old rainbows averaging 14–16 inches, with up to 1,000 broodstock (18–22 inches) mixed into the loads.

Because streams are still skinny, several stretches lose their plants. Big Flat Brook above Route 206 is too low — those fish go downstream of 206. The Black River is not stocked anywhere; that allocation moves to the South Branch of the Raritan between Red Mill Dam in Clinton Township and the North Branch confluence. Upper Rockaway north of Dewey Avenue is too low, so fish spread on the rest of the Rockaway. No Wallkill fish above the Passaic Street bridge — those get spread on the rest of the Wallkill.

This is not the black-sea-bass bag story already on the desk. Confirm the live NJFW fall schedule the morning of the truck; low-flow calls can still move.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: NJDEP Fish & Wildlife — 2026 Fall Trout Stocking Schedule.