If you are a serious, trophy-hunting angler you know that it’s about the time to get out on an area lake or river and start putting that new fishing license to work. All across the region waters are approaching that magic 60-degree mark when fish move shallow and spawning occurs and that desk chair is definitely less comfortable than the leanin’ post on the front deck of your rig or padded seat on the kayak.
With limited time between tasks from the boss you need to fish in the very best places for big fish. With the 2024 numbers just in from Virginia Department Wildlife Resources’ (VDWR) Director of the Virginia Angler Recognition Program, Meghann Rothgeb, we have some suggestions for you.
Remember, if you do land a trophy, you must obtain photographic evidence of weight or length and then we would urge you to consider releasing it. For a length citation, anglers must lay the fish on top of or next to a ruler and the photo must be clear and legible. Do not lay the ruler over the curvature of the fish’s body. For a weight citation, the photo must show the entire fish on the scale. The scale needs to be clear and legible. Anglers can submit numerous photos in their application if need be.
Once you have the photos, you submit your angler recognition applications through your Go Outdoors Virginia customer profile. Just log into your account and click on the “Add Catch” tile. Enter the details of your catch and checkout.
Once the photos and info are uploaded into your Go Outdoors Virginia account, Rothgeb and the staff at VDWR will examine the application and if qualifies, a fine certificate will be generated on your account and arrive about a month after you submit the citation form and the $5 processing fee.
You can also submit a photo of your big catch to Woods & Waters Magazine, and you’ll be entered our annual Big Fish Contest, winners to get a coveted W2 truck/boat sticker. Winner of the Country Chevrolet Big Bass award will receive some Chevy swag and a $50 Green Top gift card.
Interesting to note that based on Rothgeb’s data there were 2,436 Angler Recognitions recorded for 2024 – up from 1,663 in 2023 and 1,547 in 2022.
And now on to those big fish waters!
We’ll start with Virginia’s most popular fish – the largemouth bass. Anglers spend more time fishing for them than any other species. Knowing where to go to catch a trophy is helpful, right? To qualify as a trophy largemouth bass the fish must weigh at least eight pounds or measure 22 inches long.
According to DWR statistics, the best place to catch a trophy largemouth is a private pond (83 trophies with the largest at 11-6 pounds caught in early March).
Now, as far as public waters, based on last year’s numbers you’ll want to start with Smith Mountain Lake, which produced a certified 24 trophy largemouth bass. 845-acre Briery Creek gave up 11 lunkers (the largest 26.25 inches and caught in August!). At 946 acres Lake Prince in Norfolk surrendered 10 trophy bass. Newcomer Lake Burton (76 acres) in Pittsylvania County produced eight citations including an 8-10, followed by 740-acre Sandy River Reservoir with seven and Lake Anna with six.
The effect of stocking F1/N1 hybrid largemouth bass into Smith Mountain has been to increase the rate of big bass caught. While we think that trend for SML will continue, W2 predicts Lake Anna will be the top trophy bass lake in 2025, especially if anglers certify them with DWR. The nearly 10,000-acre lake in central Virginia is off to a good start already with several bass over eight pounds weighed, including a bonafide 10+ in an early February tourney. Many six and seven pounders have also been weighed by tournament anglers that would qualify as length citations.
Brown bass anglers continue to have a number of good fisheries to target a trophy (five pounds or 20”) and we have a new annual leader. In 2024 the James River lead all waters in smallmouth bass citations with 60 (up from 41 in 2023) and the overall biggest smallie at 6-0 caught May 3). This is a good trend. Falling to second was the New River with 49 citations (down from 53 in 2023), the largest of which was 5-9 pounds and caught April 17. All of the Shenandoah River gave up 24 trophy smallmouth (up from 14 in 2023), including the main stem, South Fork and North Fork. It appears the Shenandoah is trending upward for big smallmouth. The little Maury River (a tributary of the James) showed well with nine trophy smallmouth bass. Claytor Lake was next in line with seven.
The quest for a trophy crappie changed a bit recently when DWR split white crappie and black crappie into separate categories. Regardless of the subspecies, one lake is the best to target both – Buggs Island/Kerr Reservoir. This 50,000-acre lake that straddles the border of Virginia and North Carolina and produced 21 certified trophy crappie in 2024 (up from 13 in 2023) and probably quadruple that with uncertified catches. The largest freckle was 3-4, 17.25” and caught by an angler fishing Buggs November 11.
Now the leading producer of registered trophy black crappie in 2024 (all black) was Little Creek Reservoir with 24 paper fish (up from 18 in 2023). This 996-acre water supply reservoir near Williamsburg was created by damming a portion of a Chickahominy River Creek. Its biggest speck weighed 2-11 and was caught in early December.
Other decent places to find a trophy crappie include 384-ace Fort Pickett Reservoir (produced a four-pounder), Lake Anna (8) and 350-acre Beaver Dam Creek Reservoir (5) in Loudoun County.
Musky hunters can be a secretive lot and it’s not clear how many fish caught are actually registered with Virginia’s Angler Recognition Program. However, based on DWR data, you’ll want to fish either the James River (15) or New River (7) for the best chance at a trophy muskellunge. The Shenandoah River is another place to musky hunt with three citations recorded. The numbers for the James last year surpassed 2023 while the New’s numbers dropped. The largest certified fish of 2024 was 26 pounds, taped 49” and was caught by an angler fishing the James River on June 8.
Blue catfish on your list of trophy fish? Look no further than the tidal James River for your quarry as anglers found at least 34 over 30 pounds last year based on registered citations. The largest blue caught in 2024 was 68 pounds even. The tidal Rappahanock was a distant second in the trophy blue cat count with 14 fish.
Catching a trophy landlocked striper is not an easy task. They need to be 20 pounds or 37” – a hefty fish for Virginia lakes, not so much for a tidal river, though. But, we wonder if catching a tidal river striper is really the same as landing a land-locked striper?
By far the best place to target such a beast is Smith Mountain Lake. Anglers registered 14 such monsters in 2024 (up a bit from 2023), the largest of which was 22-5 and caught in March. The largest trophy striper weighed last year was a 41-8 caught from the tidal James, also in March. Claytor Lake continues to impress with big stripers. Last year’s largest was 27-12 and Claytor produced two out of the five heaviest fish for a total of six. Interestingly the two big striper from Claytor were caught in July and August.
Walleye don’t do that well in most Virginia waters. The exception is the New River and Flannagan Reservoir. The former actually has a reproducing, native species. Still, catching one five pounds or 25 inches isn’t easy.
The New produced seven trophy walleye in 2024. Other places to seek your trophy walleye include the Appomattox River below Lake Chesdin (right now!) and Claytor Lake, where the New River walleye often go after spawning.
Other species gaining popularity among resident and visiting anglers include hybrid striped bass (wiper) and saugeye. Trophy saugeyes (four pounds or 23 inches) can be found in the Appomattox River and Lake Anna. The Appomattox lead last year’s citation count with eight and Anna had four. The largest was a 5-3 caught by angler fishing the Appomattox in late February. Anna is off to a good start this year with six already caught by McCotter’s Lake Anna Guide Service, the largest weighing 6.06 pounds and measuring 24-1/4 inches.
Most trophy Virginia saugeye are caught in February and March. They are stocked in Virginia waters and gaining popularity with anglers. There’s no real proof they are reproducing but it’s not impossible given the right conditions according to DWR biologist John Odenkirk. The state record is 6-8 from Lake Gaston.
Trout species on your trophy bucket list? Head to Cedar Springs Trout Farm for rainbow trout which produced an astounding 117 trophy bows last year (up from 60 in 2023). Cripple Creek gave up 87 rainbows while Crooked Creek produced 22 for anglers. A trophy rainbow must be four pounds or 22 inches. Brook trout trophies are best pursued in the upper Roanoke River near Salem and Crooked Creek, which produced a beautiful 4-3 in 2023. A trophy brook trout is two pounds or 16 inches.
Other places to seek out big brookies include Jennings Creek and Hearthstone Lake (a seven-acre lake near Stokesville). Jennings Creek is a trout-stocked stream in Botetourt County, Virginia near Arcadia and Buchanan.
Western Branch Reservoir, Burnt Mills Lake and Lake Prince are worth serious angling effort if you are looking to catch a citation red ear (shellcracker). Burnt Mill, Diascund Reservoir, Ragged Mountain Reservoir (new and near Charlottesville), the Pamunkey and Mattaponi Rivers are where to go (this month!) to catch a trophy yellow perch. The South River is the place to catch a citation fall fish.
The overall top 10 Virginia citation producing waters in 2024 were: 1) Western Branch Reservoir, 2) private ponds, 3) the James River, 4) Smith Mountain Lake, 5) Cedar Springs 6) Cripple Creek 7) Burnt Mill Reservoir, 8) the New River, (9) Buggs Island/Kerr Reservoir 10) The Roanoke River.
We hope you have a great spring, and this article helps you check a box or two on your fishing wish list. If you catch a trophy, be sure and post a pic to our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/woodsandwatersmagazine or email us at woodsandwatersmagazine@gmail.com.
Our annual Big Bass Contest runs through December 31 and was won last year by a 10.61 caught by Noah Peters fishing the Chowan.
