Virginia contains over 2800 miles of trout streams in addition to numerous ponds, small lakes and reservoirs. The total includes over 2200 miles of wild trout streams and about 600 miles of water inhabited with stocked trout. Virginia's diversified trout habitat offers a wide range of trout fishing opportunities.

Virginia's warm climate and topography generally limit trout habitat to the westem portion of the state.

The Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains provide the elevation to maintain low water temperatures year-round, while the valley between these ranges contains the unique limestone formations necessary to produce highly productive spring creeks.

Trout management in Virginia consists of three basic programs. The catchable stocking program is the best known and most popular. Such waters are stocked from October through May with catchable-sized trout. See the following Trout Stocking Plan on pages 12-13 for the streams and lakes stocked and their stocking schedule.

The wild trout program includes the management of reproducing populations of brook, rainbow and brown trout. Efforts are directed primarily at habitat preservation and proper regulation for protection of spawning stocks.

The fingerling stocking program involves sublegal trout stockings. This relatively small program is rapidly growing in size and popularity due to the high quality trout fishing provided.

Restrictions have been applied to certain wild trout waters as well as several types of stocked trout streams to provide anglers with the opportunity to catch more and larger trout throughout the fishing season. These special regulation areas include some of the state's best trout waters and are described in detail in this guide.

For the first time in Virginia, the trout season will be open year-round in 1996. Fishing success for both wild and stocked trout should be very high through the spring, fall and mild winter periods. From June through September, normally low stream flows and warming water temperatures makes trout fishing more difficult. However, experienced trout anglers can find good trout fishing opportunities throughout the year.

All stocked, special regulation, and larger wild trout waters are featured on the five maps beginning on page 25 in this special issue.

he Department adopted a number of regulation changes that became effective in 1995, significantly altering the trout program for this year. Most notable is the year-round season which officially became effective last July. A new stocking program has been developed which allows the Department and Virginia's anglers to fully utilize the cool weather months for trout fishing. Trout will be stocked continuously from the first of October through the last of May according to the Trout Stocking Plan included in this article. With the increased fall and winter stockings and the expected dispersal of fishing pressure, both angling success and the quality of the angling experience should be enhanced.

Another significant change eliminates the requirement to have a trout license from June 16th through September 30th in designated stocked trout waters. This allows anglers interested in certain stocked trout waters the opportunity to fish for warmwater species without the additional license during the period of the year when no trout are stocked. Legal-sized trout caught during the warmer months may be creeled whether an angler has a trout license or not.

Finally, the Department has provided a telephone number to call for trout stocking information. This recording is updated each day at 4 p.m. during the stocking season. The number is 1-804-525-FISH.

As in most states, put-n-take trout fishing draws the most interest and attention in Virginia, probably because of the availability of catchable-sized trout and ease of capture. Virginia's catchable program is supported by hatcheries located at Marion, Paint Bank and Wytheville. Three rearing facilities are located at Marion, Williamsville, and Montebello.

Trout eggs are collected from large brood stock in early fall at the hatcheries, and placed in hatching jars which maintain an even flow of well-oxygenated water through the eggs. Jars must be constantly cleaned and dead eggs removed to control disease. After 25 to 30 days the trout begin to hatch. The small "fry," as they are called, remain attached to their egg sacs for about 14 days, and draw their food from it. The fry are kept indoors in small troughs until their sacs are absorbed and they begin taking smah pelleted food. When they reach a suitable fingerling stage (2-3 inches) they are transported to rearing facilities where they are placed in raceways.

The fish are fed several times daily for at least a year until they reach catchable size (9-11 inches). During this rearing period, it is necessary to clean raceways daily to control disease and occasionally grade fish to ensure that the larger trout will not eat smaller ones.

The program is covered primarily from the sale of trout licenses. In addition to a valid state fishing license, a trout license is required to fish legally in designated stocked trout waters. Annual output from the program is approximately 1,250,000 catchable trout in addition to variable numbers of fingerling and subcatchable trout used in other programs.

The 1996 trout fishing season will be the first without an opening day All streams on the stocking list have already received at least one stocking and will continue to be stocked into May. Stockings will be discontinued after late May or early June and will resume after October 1. The Department has included a number of biweekly streams this year. These streams will be stocked every other week from March through May and monthly during the fall. Other streams will be stocked at various intervals depending on their potential to hold trout during the late spring and fall. Fishermen should find that most streams have good numbers of trout throughout the season.

Waters to be stocked are listed by county in the following Trout Stocking Plan. The plan indicates the frequency of stocking and the specific stocking periods for each stream. Call your local VDGIF office for more information or 1-804-525-FISH for daily trout stocking updates during stocking season.

Stocked trout streams are marked with appropriate signs which identify the portion of stream stocked. Marked sections are open to public fishing in accordance with agreements between the Department and private landowners. This is the only case where anglers are not required to have landowner permission before fishing on private water.

The Department's Urban Fishing Program was launched in December of 1993. This program is designed to provide high-quality fishing opportunities for anglers in urban areas of the state. Currently, the program includes the stocking of four lakes: Dorey Park Lake in Henrico County, Shields Lake (Byrd Park) in Richmond, Locust Shade Park in Prince William, and Northwest River Park in Chesapeake. Catchable trout are stocked from November through April At all locations except Northwest River Park, channel catfish are stocked during the remaining warm weather months. This program is co-sponsored by the Recreation Department in each locality.

Fee Fishing Areas

The fee fishing areas offer put-n-take trout fishing with the added advantage that trout are stocked several times weekly throughout the season. The fee fishing program operates from the third Saturday in March through Labor Day at Clinch Mountain and Crooked Creek and through September 30th at Douthat. During the fee fishing season, a daily permit is required in addition to a valid Virginia fishing license. After the fee fishing season, these areas revert to designated stocked trout waters and a trout stamp is required instead of the daily permit. The creel limit at these areas is six fish per day

Clinch Mountain Fee

Fishing Area:

The Clinch Mountain Fee Fishing Area is located in southwest Virginia, about 7 nyiles west of Saltville. The area consists of the 330-acre Laurel Bed Lake and approximately seven miles of Big Tumbling Creek and its two major tributaries, Briar Cove Creek and Laurel Bed Creek. Big Tumbling Creek is a large, steep gradient stream with numerous small waterfalls and large, deep rocky pools. The two tributaries are much smaller with a more moderate gradient. The lake provides a good trout fishery and is used to regulate summer flow in the streams. Trout are stocked daily (except Sunday) throughout the fee period in the streams, and fishing must cease at 7 p.m. to allow for restocking. Camping is available at the area and the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries owns and manages the surrounding land.

Crooked Creek Fee Fishing Area

Crooked Creek is located in Carroll County, five miles east of Galax. The area consists of five miles of stream which is stocked. In addition, approximately two miles of stream are managed as a wild trout fishery. Crooked Creek is a wide, fairly low gradient stream with a gravel bottom. Surrounding land is mixed fields and woodlots not characteristic of the more common mountain stream drainages. As at the Clinch Mountain Area, fishing must cease at 7 p.m. to allow for restocking. No facilities are available at Crooked Creek for camping, but private facilities are available nearby.

Douthat Lake Fee Fishing Area

The Douthat Fee Fishing area was expanded in 1994 to include about four miles of Wilson Creek along with the stocking of 60-acre Douthat Lake. In addition, the fee fishing season was extended through September 30th and a children-only fishing area was established. The lake provides fishing for bass, bluegill, pickerel, and catfish in addition to trout which are stocked twice weekly The lake, stream and surrounding land are located within Douthat State Park and are administered by the Virginia Division of Parks. Available recreation includes camping, hiking and swimming in addition to fishing. Cabins are also available for rent if application is made well in advance. The park is located in a beautiful mountain setting with most of the surrounding land within the George Washington National Forest.

Delayed Harvest

Trout Streams

In 1989, the Department initiated this management program with establishment of Virginia's first "delayed harvest" trout fishery. This program incorporates aspects of both fish-for-fun and put-n-take trout fishing. Catchable-sized trout are stocked in the fall, winter and spring. From October 1st through the following May 31st, only single hook artificial lures may be used and all fish must be returned unharmed. From June lst through September 30th, general trout regulations are in effect and trout may be creeled. This management approach appears to have considerable potential to provide high-quality fishing to a large number of fishermen.

Back Creek (Bath County)

The rugged mountains that form the backdrop to the Back Creek special regulation area is one of the area's most appealing features. The stream is about 25 feet in width with moderate gradient and excellent flyfishing opportunities. The stream has been extensively reconstructed to improve trout habitat by Virginia Power who constructed a pump storage facility just upstream. The land adjacent to this stream section is managed for recreation by Virginia Power. In addition to trout fishing, the area offers a campground, picnic pavilion, outdoor games and two warmwater lakes for fishing and swimming. Take Route 39 west from Warm Springs to Mountain Grove then right on Route 600 for six miles.

North River (Augusta County)

The delayed harvest section of the North River extends from the base of Elkhorn Dam downstream 1.5 miles to the head of the Staunton City Reservoir. This is a remote section of stream that can only be reached by foot trail. Access is available by parking at Elkhom Lake and following the trail along the lake to the spillway This area provides a remote, scenic fishing opportunity during the winter and spring months. Stream flow in the North River is usually low during summer and fall.

South River (Augusta County)

The delayed harvest section extends from the Second Street bridge in Waynesboro upstream 2.4 miles to the base of Rife Loth Dam. This stream section runs through the citv of Waynesboro and is in an urban setting. South River is a relatively large, wide stream with shallow runs and riffles. The stream provides outstanding fly-fishing opportunities because of its size and its abundance of aquatic insects. The stream is open winter fishing.

Jackson River (Bath County)

The special regulation area of the Jackson River in Bath County is stocked several times a year with catchable-sized trout. Only singlehooked, artificial lures may be used and all trout less than 12 inches must be released. The special regulation section extends from the USFS swinging bridge located just above the mouth of Muddy Run, upstream 3 miles to the last ford on FS 481D. This section can only be reached by foot travel, either from the Hidden Valley area or off of Route 623 and FS Road 481. The area provides a remote fishing opportunity on a relatively large, productive stream. A trout license is required to fish.

HTML © Virginia's Fisheries Updated:March 21, 1996.

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