If you’re anything like me you’ve been hunting for the last few months and might be getting a little burned out.

Getting up early and sitting in a deer stand every weekend can wear your out after a while.  Luckily Texas Parks and Wildlife provides you with an alternative to hunting with a fishing opportunity that is only available for a few months each year and there isn’t even a need to get up early to catch them.

Beginning in December and running through February, TPWD stocks around a quarter million rainbow trout in small community lakes and ponds throughout the state giving anglers a unique fishing opportunity.  No they’re not trophy trout but they are plentiful and bite just about anything which makes them ideal targets for kids and first time anglers.  Use ultra light gear because we’re talking about fish that are measured in ounces, not pounds.  Also, you can get fancy and throw dry flies but don’t be surprised when the five-year old next to you using a Snoopy rod and corn for bait catches more fish.  These are hatchery raised trout that grew up in concrete ponds eating food pellets, not wild fish living on insects.

The stocked lakes and dates can be found at the below link and it will be worth your time to throw an ultra light rod in the truck to hit one of these places after work.  These fish are only here for a short time since they cannot survive once the water warms up so take advantage of this while you can.  Be sure to remember these lakes later in the year as well when you are bass fishing.  These lakes can produce some large bass as well (Tyler State Park has produced Share A Lunker bass in the past) which theoretically gain wait in the winter eating the stocked trout.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/management/stocking/trout_stocking.phtml