Delaware fall trout stamp season is open through Nov. 30 on designated streams

Delaware’s put-and-take trout program is back in fall mode. The Division of Fish and Wildlife requires a trout stamp on designated trout streams from the first Saturday in October through Nov. 30 (and again in the spring window). White Clay Creek still gets the agency’s supplemental fall stocking each year; the 2026 tentative schedule marks a mid-October plant there.

Designated New Castle County waters include White Clay Creek (fly-fishing only from near Thompson Bridge up to the Pennsylvania line), Mill Creek, Pike Creek, Christina Creek, Beaver Run, Wilson Run, and Red Clay Creek sections. Daily possession is six trout on most streams and four on restricted fly-fishing reaches. Fishing runs from a half-hour before sunrise to a half-hour after sunset.

DNREC notes 2026 plants are rainbows only after a supplier change — roughly half 10- to 12-inch fish and half 14- to 17-inch fish, with some trophies over three pounds. Fees from trout stamps buy the fish; summer stream temperatures are too warm for carryover, so stocked trout are meant to be harvested. Confirm the current PDF schedule before you drive north.

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

Source: DNREC Freshwater Trout Fishing and 2026 Tentative Trout Stocking Schedule PDF.