Day Fishing Trip Ideas in VA

[paul spica]

Hi Guys this is my first post on TPFR since joining the group last year.  I have used this group to research destinations, species and other information on fishing in the area since moving here.  I have found TPFR to be a great resource and very wide reaching in the fishing community around DC.  I wanted to contribute a little to the forum for other anglers to use to plan day trips around the area.  Some of these are pretty popular spots and probably nothing new to most, but if you're new to the area or sport it might give some insight.

 

Leesylvania State Park:  This park is in the Woodbridge area it offers two large boat ramps, day camping activities and the like.  There is also a fishing pier set up as well for casting, bait fishing ect..  I wade fish the rock break-waters that adjoin the boat ramps and have had pretty decent catch rates there.  Its the kind place were you can easily pick up a mixed bag of large mouth and the occasional catfish.  The best producing flies that I have found are chartreuse clousers sz 4-6 and any crawfish imitation worked on the rock.  Its pretty busy on the weekends and there are a lot of bass fishing trny's that use the facitlity.  During the week its pretty quiet and an easy spot to wet a line.

 

Passage Creek:  Stocked trout stream just west of Front Royal on I-66.  Great stream for a spot thats about an hour from 495 and 66.  The stream is delayed harvest in some sections and general stocked trout water in other areas.  There is very easy access to the stream from SR 678 in the George Wash. Nat'l Forrest.  The best fishing that I have found was in deeper sections of pools before riffels in areas that are a little farther from easy road access, bead head buggers in darker patterns seemed to produce fairly well each time I visited.  Also terrestrial patterns gave up some fish under low banks.  There are also some large stocked trout in the stream, even as of late June, ( heat takes over I am told),  I have seen two browns that were solid fish somewhere in the range of 20" and one very large rainbow that I would like on the wall.  There are also abundant smallmouth bass, (little) and some rockbass as well.  Not a bad place to make a trip to if you would like to fish for trout with in an hour of NOVA.  

 

James River:  One of the most well known, or at least spoken of, smallmouth rivers in the area. I have heard that the river has fallen on hard times due to some fish kills in the past few years making some year classes of fish weak in reproduction.  I rented a canoe at Hatton Ferry from James River Runners, (excellent outfitter would recommend) and did an 8 or 9 mile stretch.  Brought in around 30 bass mostly on crawfish imitations fished close to shaded banks and under trees.  There is a ton of water to cover and it would be easy to spend a couple of days fishing that stretch if you fished every area that looks fishy.  I have mixed opinions about the river, part of me thinks that there are probably a lot of quality fish that I simply missed, or passed over due to the size of the river and time.  The other part of me thinks that I would have seen a few more fish if that were sole the case.  I saw two good sized fish that day (6/25/12) probably in the 17'-18' range, but didn't bring anything over 15' in.  I am not saying that it wasn't worth the trip or that there are not major fish to be caught, I just felt like I saw the potential of the river and it wasn't anything to write home about.  Someone with greater experience with smallmouth or the river probably could have gotten more out of the day.  A guide might also be a great idea given the size of the river and honestly how great every spot looks at every turn.   

 

South Fork Shenandoah River:  I have hit this river a few times over the past 6-8 mo.  Andy Guest Shenandoah River State Park offers access year round access for wade fishing.  The few times I fished the area in the winter months, December / Jan. , I left without a bite but didn't go in expecting too much.  I rented a canoe at Front Royal Canoe Co. and did an 8 +/- trip.  I was very impressed by the numbers of fish sighted, and was honestly taken back by the quality of some of the fish I got a look at.  I spotted two fish that I would be very surprised if they were not citation worthy.  Caught a lot of numbers, and a couple of decent sized fish including a surprisingly big largemouth.  This river is a lot of fun to sight fish, its not super wide in the sections that I have fished, and was much easier to cover, (for me), than the James.  I will definitely be fishing this stretch of the river in the near future.  Highly recommended area to fish, I think it gets written off as a numbers only fishery but there are some good sized fish to be had as well.  

 

Tidal Potomac at Fletcher's:  Not going to beat a dead horse as this might be the number one spot mentioned on TPFR, if you haven't fished here do it.  Great opportunity that is unique to the area and worth fishing.

 

Holmes Run:  Urban trout fishing, nothing that you would or wouldn't expect here.  It is pretty cool that the state DFG puts on "events"  that allow people to access fishing in an urban environment.  If you can get over the urban setting you will most likely have a great afternoon that would have been otherwise wasted sitting on the couch or something.  

 

Rapidan:  Fished the Rapidan a couple of times in March or April of this year.  This was my first experience catching or fishing for Brook trout, (Missouri transplant), and was really taken back by the overall beauty of the scenery that the river had to offer.  I took SR 642 up to the Rapidan WMA and the Shenandoah NP.  The road gets rough so take it easy.  I parked and hiked for the day, fishing about 2-3 miles of the river.  From the area that I parked there was a well maintained trail that roughly ran the course of the river.  I didn't see another person on either trip it really was a nice get-away. From what I experienced and what I have read Brookies are not all that picky about what they hit, but they are easily spooked.  I used a couple of parachute patterns and the Mr. Rapidan with 7x for tippet.  I would recommend the lightest smallest set up that you have available because the conditions are tight and a monster is a foot long.  Fishing for these guys and this river is as much about the experience as it is about the fishing, definitely a worth while trip. 

 

Jackson River:  Nice to see a tail water fishery in VA.  The constant cool water flow, habit, and depth make a great combination for trout fishing.  Access is pretty easy from the Jefferson Nat. Forrest below the spillway the feeds the river.  I didn't see much feeding surface level, through a ton of searching patterns and had the majority of my success on terrestrials placed under limbs.  I also met Trent Jones and Dan Davala while I was there, thanks to both of you guys for your work with this group.  They both offered some much needed pointers on the river and how to fish it.  There is a lot of talk about Kings Grants, trespassing ect on the river, I stuck to the first 1/8th-1/4 mile below the dam and it was pretty well marked, I think the area that is restricted is a little bit farther down stream.  I didn't want to really find out if you get a ticket for fishing so I didn't really explore much of the area farther down.  After landing a really nice brown I decided to push my wading a little too deep and fill them up with water.  This river is almost at the limits of the day trip for me, although it was an excellent excursion.  Oh and the stories are true about the monster trout.  If you fish this area you are going to have an opportunity to hook up with something big.

 

Potomac- Point of Rocks:  I fished this area of the Potomac in February, concentrated on the area immediately below, ( underneath ), the Hwy 15 bridge crossing the river.  There is a boat launch and parking to the left of the bridge.  The pilings make for great ambush points and I picked up a couple of smallies in the cold.  I fished clouser's and crawfish imitations on a slow sink tip.  Its not too far of a drive maybe a little over an hour and offers wade fishing for anyone who wants to give it a shot.

 

Shenandoah- RT 7 and RT 17:  I used both of these hwy boat ramps for access to the river.  Both places offered good wading if you picked your route well.  There is a good section of cover just up stream at the hwy 17 access and the pilings make for good eddies to fish.  It sounds redundant but most of my success came from fishing crawfish imitations.  Didn't have or see much topwater action even going late into the evening but I am sure it happens.  I didn't fish either area for more than an hour or two any of the times I have made it out there, but it looks promising and makes for an easy quick trip at about 45 min or an hour from Tysons Corner.  

 

 

Again these are just quick ideas for guys, not a professional myself here, but if you have any questions please ask.  Again, thanks to everyone who works on TPFR and those who donate time and skills to the cause.  I have really enjoyed checking out what is going on in the fly fishing community and am looking forward to getting more involved in the future. 

 

***Also does anyone have any suggestions for a one night trip starting this coming sunday and returning monday night???***

                  

 

 

 

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Paul Spica

[peter odell]

Paul:  Great list!  Definitely one that I'll use.

[paul spica]

Thanks peter, hope it puts some ideas out there for people.  Still trying to decide on a trip for this coming sunday / monday if anyone has any suggestions.  

[Justin Schoop]

Paul,

 You can try Douthat State Park. It's down near the headwaters of the James and pretty close to the Jackson River. So if Douthat isn't working you can always jump on one of the Rivers. Or what about Roanoke and the streams surrounding that area of Southwest VA? Just some ideas.


-Justin

[paul spica]

i think i am going to fish the jackson river on sunday and monday.  going to leave sunday at 3 pm (working....) and coming back sometime monday evening. 

i really want to try for some large browns sunday night, camp and see what it looks like on monday. could fish a couple of different places on monday if the jackson for some reason wasnt cooperating. Being tailwater my thought is the jackson is going to be cooler than most streams in the area and should be a decent bet.  if anyone would like to join please let me know, im especially looking forward to the night fishing.  if anyone has any suggestions on patterns, techniques or whatever i'm all ears.      

[Danny Barrett]

I was down there floating feom molmaw down about 20 miles.  It was early june. Masssive heavy streamers ride after riffles. Broje off 3 nice size trout. Landed 2 little ones. Black/olive green and white wolly buggers were the trick in june.

Danny Barrett
dannyt...@gmail.com
(540) 222-8064

[Eric Y.]

 

***Also does anyone have any suggestions for a one night trip starting this coming sunday and returning monday night???***

                  

Check out Back Creek for some great year-round trout action. When I've gone, I camp in WV and fish in VA. Fishing is similar to the Jackson (my favorite river), but less pressure and there are usually larger fish.  

[Eric Y.]

I have fished the New River in VA and WV extensively. While I haven't fished the Shenandoah and claim absolutely no knowledge of the river, the New is the best SMB river I've fished around the region. It is full of deep holes (100'+) but also has a lot of shallow water. Unless you have one particular spot you plan to fish, you need to float it. I have routinely caught SMB in the 20+" range in the McCoy Falls area (Blacksburg/Radford) as well as up into the WV section. While you'll catch mostly little fish, the big boys are definitely in there. To prove it, the current VA SMB record is from the New River.

[Misha Gill]

It sounds awesome. I'll have to make a trip out there sometime. Too bad it's so far from NOVA. Are there any particular colors/flies they prefer there (that you'd be willing to share)? NBD if you prefer me to do my own experimenting. I'm just curious cause I've heard they have gigantic blue crayfish in there.

[Eric Y.]

In order of most used (by me, of course): crawfish patterns in any size and any color; a streamer made mostly of peach colored tinsel with a big beadhead (Orvis used to sell this under the name "The Peach," I think, but I don't see it online any longer); beadhead buggers in olive, black, brown; sinking hellgrammites; large bright blue poppers (don't know why, but always works the best); Rapala-style flies.