Virginia

Virginia trout fishing splits cleanly into two worlds: cold, technical tailwaters below Army Corps dams, and the native brook trout and limestone spring creeks that made the state's reputation. The Jackson River below Gathright Dam and the Smith River below Philpott are the marquee tailwaters — bottom-release cold water that holds wild browns and rainbows year-round, both under special regulations with size limits meant to grow big fish. Both run on power and flood-control generation schedules, so the gauge matters as much as the sky; the Jackson also carries the East's most famous river-access dispute, where colonial-era crown grants leave stretches of the streambed in private hands. Off the tailwaters, the Blue Ridge holds hundreds of miles of native brook trout water — the Rapidan in Shenandoah National Park is the crown jewel, a small, tight catch-and-release freestone that Herbert Hoover built a camp on. Down in the Valley, limestone spring creeks like Mossy Creek run cold and clear all year, growing surprisingly large wild browns in water you can step across.

This is wade fishing, small flies, and light tippet — a world away from the big Western floats. Elevation and water source drive the calendar: spring-fed creeks and high brookie streams fish through the summer heat, while the tailwaters run year-round on dam-cold water, and lower stocked freestones turn on in the cooler shoulder seasons. Virginia DWR sets the regulations, and you have to know the water's designation before you go — Stocked Trout Waters (fee-stocked October through spring, trout license required), Wild Trout Waters (native and wild fish, single-hook artificials, often catch-and-release), Special Regulation tailwaters (the Jackson and Smith slot and size limits), and Delayed Harvest reaches that fish catch-and-release through the cold months. Many of the best brookie streams sit on National Forest or Park land; the best spring creeks, including Mossy, are private and need a permit and landowner cooperation to fish.