The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) will wait until November to stock Delayed Harvest Trout Waters. Impacts from an unusually hot summer, coupled with the ongoing drought conditions and damage from Hurricane Helene, have caused lethally high water temperatures flowing into the state’s mountain trout hatcheries, thus reducing the number of available fish to stock. As water temperatures cool, commission staff will be able to determine the number of trout available for stocking this fall and adjust the schedule as necessary.
Staff estimate that since June, they’ve lost around 70% of the fish at Armstrong State Fish Hatchery, which were being grown to catchable size for the upcoming Delayed Harvest trout stocking season.
Armstrong is currently the primary NCWRC state hatchery producing trout since the late-2025 closure of the Bobby N. Setzer State Fish Hatchery for major renovations. Prior to renovations, NCWRC announced that only 35% of the usual number of trout would be available for stocking until the project was completed.
In 2024, Armstrong sustained major damage from Hurricane Helene. NCWRC supplemented the numbers of trout stocked during the spring stocking season with fish purchased from private hatcheries. However, efforts to buy additional privately grown fish for this fall to offset this summer’s losses at Armstrong have proven unsuccessful.
Setzer remains on track to reopen at the end of 2027 with enhancements to improve water quality, lower temperatures, and utilize a more efficient use of water. Additionally, efforts to mitigate watershed damage upstream of Armstrong hatchery are underway through the NCWRC’s new Hurricane Helene Restoration Division.
Under Delayed Harvest Trout Waters regulations, only catch-and-release fishing for trout is permissible from program waters between Oct. 1, 2026, and June 5, 2027. No natural bait may be possessed, and anglers can fish only with artificial lures with one single hook. An artificial lure is defined as a fishing lure that neither contains nor has been treated with any substance that attracts fish by the sense of taste or smell.
Anglers should be aware that stocking locations along streams may be different than in the past due to hurricane damage impacting stocking and angler access.