The Bay's fall striped bass season and the black sea bass season both end on December 31, while the coast stays open to striped bass until the end of March, and summer flounder drop to a 16-inch minimum on New Year's Day. A long freeze can kill the fish wintering in the southern creeks, and the Commission has closed speckled trout after one before. Delayed Harvest trout water is catch and release from October 1, and the Department keeps stocking until May.
What to fish for in early November
Three winters in one state. At the mouth of the Bay the big striped bass feed around the Bridge-Tunnel into January and the tautog hold on its rock; up the tidal rivers the blue catfish feed in every week of it; and inland the Piedmont lakes keep their crappie and bass on the brush while the Department stocks the Valley and mountain trout water right through the cold. It ends with the yellow perch pushing up the tidal creeks in late February.
Striped Bass
Big migrants feed through the lower Bay and along the ocean front from late fall into January, mostly on eels and big baits around structure, in the winters they come this far south.
Where. The Bridge-Tunnel's islands and pilings, the southern tip of the Eastern Shore and the ocean front off Virginia Beach.
The striped bass waters we forecast Water Usual water now Forecast Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel not modeled Best Wed, Nov 11, A+Today's forecast Smith Mountain Lake about 62F Best Thu, Nov 5, A+Today's forecast Spotted Seatrout
Leaves the open water for the deep creeks and residential canals as it cools, and in a long freeze it is the fish that gets stunned.
Where. The branches of the Elizabeth and the Lynnhaven, and the deep holes of the backwaters off Hampton Roads.
Blue Catfish
Grows huge in the tidal rivers and feeds through the coldest weeks, the big fish holding in the deepest channel bends.
Where. The tidal James from Richmond down, the Chickahominy, the Pamunkey, the Mattaponi and the Rappahannock.
Crappie
Schools on brush and bridge pilings in the big lakes and bites slowly through the cold, picking up on the mild spells.
Where. Lake Anna, whose warm side stays open water through the cold, Kerr on the North Carolina line, Chesdin and the Occoquan.
Rainbow Trout
Stocked again and again through the winter on the designated water, so a stream fishes best in the days after a truck, while the Delayed Harvest stretches hold fish to catch and release until spring.
Where. The Valley's stocked streams and spring creeks, the Delayed Harvest water, and the brook trout streams of Shenandoah National Park for anyone after wild fish.
Usual water now is that water's normal for this point in the season: a lake's modeled seasonal curve or a river gauge's long-run average, not this year's reading. The forecast link reads this week's.
What changes soon
Nothing on this report's calendar for Virginia in the next six weeks.
In the last two weeks
- Sun November 1Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia goes to two striped bass a day, with none from 30 to 40 inches.
- Sun November 1Delayed Harvest streams turn catch and release in Georgia, South Carolina and West Virginia, and on Big Soddy Creek in Tennessee; those in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Kentucky have been catch and release since October 1.
Every date for Virginia from November to February (5)
- Sun November 1Delayed Harvest streams turn catch and release in Georgia, South Carolina and West Virginia, and on Big Soddy Creek in Tennessee; those in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Kentucky have been catch and release since October 1.
- Sun November 1Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia goes to two striped bass a day, with none from 30 to 40 inches.
- Thu December 31Last day of Virginia's fall striped bass season in the Bay and of its black sea bass season.
- Fri January 1Summer flounder must be at least 16 inches in Virginia and Delaware.
- Sun February 28In Virginia, last day of the muskellunge slot on the New River below Claytor Dam.
This week's fishing reports
This report covers the season. For what was caught this week, read the people who report on this water.
Virginia is covered every week all winter from three directions. FishTalk's Way South page reported the lower Bay every week from November 7 to February 27, Green Top in Ashland reports the tidal rivers, Lake Anna and Kerr every week but Christmas, and Murray's Fly Shop wrote thirteen trout stream reports for the Valley. The seaside of the Eastern Shore, the southwest's trout water, and Claytor and Leesville have no winter reporter.
Where to fish in Virginia, area by area
Each water links to its live forecast. The engine outlook in these areas was generated November 3, 2026, for the 14 days from that date; good hours are the hours at or above a B+.
The lower Bay and Virginia Beach
Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel · Lynnhaven Inlet · Rudee Inlet · Virginia Beach · Cape Charles
The mouth of the Chesapeake, from Hampton Roads and the Elizabeth River across the Bridge-Tunnel to Cape Charles, with Lynnhaven and Rudee inlets on the Virginia Beach side. Ocean and Bay water meet here, so the Bridge-Tunnel islands and pilings, the inlets and the deep channels hold fish moving between the two.
Who reports here. FishTalk's Way South page posted a dated update every week from November 7 to February 27 last winter: big striped bass on eels along the crossing's islands and the southern tip of the Eastern Shore into January, speckled trout and red drum holding in the creeks, and the weeks the cold kept every reader home.
Engine outlook
- Best: Wed, Nov 11, A+14 good hours63F measured Nov 3 at Thimble Shoalbest run 14h
The seaside of the Eastern Shore
Chincoteague · Wachapreague · Virginia seaside bays · barrier islands
The ocean side of the Eastern Shore, a chain of mostly undeveloped barrier islands from Chincoteague to Fisherman Island, with shallow bays, marsh and inlets behind them, fished from small harbors like Wachapreague.
Who reports here. Nobody reports this shore in winter. FishTalk's weekly page for the coast is written from Ocean City and Delaware, and last winter it touched this side in only two months, at its northern end.
Engine outlook
- Best: Wed, Nov 11, A+10 good hours62F measured Nov 3 at Wachapreague tide stationbest run 10h
The tidal rivers
James River · Chickahominy River · Pamunkey River · Mattaponi River · Rappahannock River
The rivers below the fall line at Richmond and Fredericksburg: the James and its Chickahominy, the Pamunkey and Mattaponi that make the York, the Rappahannock, and the Virginia shore of the Potomac. Fresh at their heads and brackish lower down, they hold blue catfish, largemouth, crappie and yellow perch, and shad and striped bass run up them in spring.
Who reports here. Green Top in Ashland posted every week last winter but Christmas, on one long page of dated entries, and the James turned up in 14 of the 16. The shop writes it as a statewide digest, so a given river can go weeks without a line.
The Shenandoah Valley and the park
Shenandoah River · North Fork Shenandoah River · South Fork Shenandoah River · Shenandoah National Park streams · Valley trout streams
The Shenandoah Valley and the Blue Ridge above it: the North and South Forks and the main Shenandoah with their smallmouth, limestone spring creeks on the valley floor, and the brook trout streams of Shenandoah National Park.
Who reports here. Murray's Fly Shop in Edinburg wrote thirteen trout stream reports from November 6 to February 25, about one a week with gaps at Thanksgiving, New Year and from late January to mid-February, and three on the smallmouth rivers. The Department's daily stocking page is the record of where trout went.
Southwest Virginia
Whitetop Laurel Creek · Mount Rogers streams · South Holston tailwater · Clinch River · Powell River
The mountains around Mount Rogers and the Tennessee line: Whitetop Laurel and the Mount Rogers streams, the South Holston below its dam, and the Clinch and the Powell, rivers of the Tennessee drainage that run west to Tennessee rather than east to the Bay.
Who reports here. Nobody reports the southwest's trout water in winter: no Abingdon or Damascus shop publishes a dated report. The Department's stocking page is the one current source, and this season it has Beartree Lake refilling after dredging, stocked only when the water allows.
The Piedmont lakes
Buggs Island Lake · Lake Gaston · Smith Mountain Lake · Leesville Lake · Lake Anna
The big reservoirs of the Piedmont and the Roanoke and New valleys: Smith Mountain and Leesville, Kerr (Buggs Island) and Gaston on the North Carolina line, Lake Anna with its warm side fed by the power station, and Claytor on the New River. Striped bass, largemouth, crappie and catfish.
Who reports here. Green Top's weekly report named Lake Anna in 15 of its 16 winter entries and Kerr in 10, mostly bass tournament weights and crappie. Claytor and Leesville have no winter reporter.
Engine outlook
- Best: Thu, Nov 5, A+12 good hours64F modeled from this lake's own seasonal curvebest run 6h
Northern Virginia and the upper Potomac
Occoquan Reservoir · Burke Lake · Lake Brittle · Potomac River above Great Falls · Lake Orange
The lakes and river of northern Virginia, Occoquan Reservoir and Burke Lake in Fairfax County and Lake Brittle in Fauquier, and the Potomac above Great Falls, smallmouth water shared with Maryland, past Leesburg and Point of Rocks to Harpers Ferry, bass, crappie, walleye and catfish through the cold months.
Who reports here. No dated winter report could be found for these lakes, and FishTalk's freshwater report reached the big river last winter only below the falls, in the city. The DNR report across the river, which carries the upper river from its own biologist, stopped on December 10.
Engine outlook
- Its best day in this outlook has passed.
The rules from November to February
What changed this time
- The Marine Resources Commission closed speckled trout from April 1 to June 30, 2026, after a cold-stun winter, by a rule that named 2026 only, so nothing is closed now. Check the Commission before keeping a speckled trout after a hard freeze.
- The Department of Wildlife Resources stocks its designated trout waters from October through May: Category A waters eight times, Category B five, Category C three, and the catch-and-release and Delayed Harvest waters three times.
- Off the stocking list this season: the Raven Cliff section of Cripple Creek until construction there is done, with its fish going to the lower section at Collins Cove; Little Stony Creek in Scott County until its roads reopen; and Lovill's Creek in Carroll County for good. Beartree Lake is refilling after dredging and will be stocked only when the water allows.
Read on October 19, 2026, from the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (its licenses, freshwater regulations, creel and length limits, trout stocking plan and stocking page) and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (its recreational fishing rules and regulation chapters).
Licenses, and which state's rules apply
- Fresh water takes a Virginia freshwater license: $28 a year for residents, and for visitors $72 a year, $20 for a day or $36 for five days. A combined freshwater and saltwater license is $44.50 for residents and $96 for visitors. Anglers under 16, resident or not, need no license.
- Designated stocked trout waters also take a trout license from October 1 through June 15, $28 for residents and $48 for visitors. Fishing on most National Forest land takes a National Forest Permit as well, except on the waters the rule names, among them the James, the Shenandoah forks and Lake Moomaw; residents under 16 or over 65 and visitors under 16 are exempt.
- The Chesapeake Bay, its tidal rivers below the freshwater-saltwater lines and the ocean take a saltwater license from 16 to 64, unless you fish from a licensed pier, charter boat or licensed private boat. Anglers 65 and older need no license, but they, and anyone else fishing salt water under an exemption, must register free in the Fisherman Identification Program (FIP) every year, as must unlicensed anglers fishing fresh water for striped bass or other marine species.
- On the tidal rivers a freshwater license is needed above the lines and a saltwater license below them: the Great Bridge Locks on the Elizabeth, Hog Point to College Creek on the James, the Route 301 bridge on the Potomac, the Route 360 bridge on the Rappahannock and the Route 33 bridges on the York, Mattaponi and Pamunkey. Below the lines either license is good on the tidal tributaries. The Meherrin, Nottoway, Blackwater, Northwest and North Landing rivers and Back Bay are fresh water throughout.
- A Maryland saltwater license is good in Virginia's part of the Bay, its tidal rivers, the seaside bays and the ocean, with a free FIP registration. A Potomac River Fisheries Commission license is good on the Potomac mainstem, where that Commission's rules apply, and the river between the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and Little Falls takes a D.C. license.
- In fresh water, a Virginia or North Carolina license is good from boat or bank on Kerr (Buggs Island) and Gaston and the Dan below Union Street Dam, on the New River from the North Carolina forks to the Little River, and on every Blue Ridge Parkway water. A Virginia or Maryland resident freshwater license is good on the upper Potomac above Little Falls, and South Holston Reservoir takes its own reservoir license on top of a Virginia or Tennessee resident license.
Bait, gear and fish you cannot keep
- Herring may be used as bait without restriction in the Roanoke, New and Tennessee river drainages, but may not be possessed at all in the coastal rivers of the Chesapeake Bay, the Meherrin, Nottoway, Blackwater, North Landing and Northwest rivers or Back Bay. River herring may never be kept from salt water.
- Bait you catch yourself is limited to 50 minnows, chubs, madtoms, crayfish and hellgrammites together, taken with a seine no larger than 4 by 10 feet, minnow traps with openings of an inch or less, a cast net or the other gear the rule lists, and never from designated stocked trout waters between October 1 and June 15. Crayfish may be used only in the water they came from, and only farm-raised trout may be used as bait.
- Leaving any water, every plant must be removed from the boat, trailer and gear, and the bilge drain plugs pulled. On Blue Ridge Parkway waters no live or dead fish or fish eggs may be used as bait and there is no fishing at night, and in Shenandoah National Park only single-point hook artificial lures are allowed.
Lakes, ponds and rivers
- Statewide, trout are open all year at six a day of at least seven inches. Delayed Harvest waters are catch and release from October 1 through May 31, artificial lures only, with no trout or bait in your possession. In Shenandoah National Park the harvest streams allow six trout a day, brook trout of at least nine inches, and any brown trout caught must be kept.
- Lake striped bass and hybrids are four a day of at least 20 inches statewide. From October 1 through May 31, Kerr (Buggs Island) with the Staunton and Dan allows two, from 20 to 26 inches, and from November 1 Smith Mountain Lake allows two with none from 30 to 40 inches. Striped bass may not be kept from the Meherrin, Nottoway, Blackwater, North Landing or Northwest rivers or Back Bay, and in the Chesapeake rivers above the fall line they follow the Marine Resources Commission.
- Largemouth and smallmouth bass are five a day together with no statewide size limit. Walleye are five a day of at least 18 inches; on Claytor Lake and the New River up to Fries Dam two a day, none from 19 to 28. Muskellunge are one a day of at least 40 inches, and on the New River below Claytor Dam none from 40 to 48 inches may be kept through the last day of February.
- American shad are catch and release only, and yellow perch in the tidal rivers below the fall line must be at least 9 inches.
Salt water
- In the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries the fall striped bass season runs through December 31, one a day from 19 to 24 inches, and then closes until the spring season opens on May 16. On the seaside and in the ocean to three miles striped bass are open through March 31, one a day from 28 to 31 inches; beyond three miles they are closed all year. Bait must be fished on a non-offset, non-stainless circle hook, and no striped bass may be gaffed.
- Speckled trout are five a day of at least 14 inches, only one of them 24 inches or longer. After a cold-stun winter the Commission has closed recreational speckled trout through the spring spawn, so check its rules before keeping one. Red drum are three a day from 18 to 26 inches.
- Summer flounder are open all year, four a day, at least 17.5 inches through December 31 and 16 inches from January 1. Tautog are open all winter, four a day of at least 16 inches, and close only from May 16 to June 30. Black drum are one a day of at least 16 inches, gray trout (weakfish) one of at least 12, sheepshead four, and bluefish five.
- Black sea bass are open through December 31, 15 a day of at least 13 inches, then closed until May 11. Cobia are closed until June 15. American shad, river herring and sturgeon may not be kept at all.
Read on these agency pages: Virginia DWR: Fishing License Information & Fees, Virginia DWR: License Requirements for Trout Fishing, VMRC: Virginia's Recreational Fishing Regulations for Marine Waters, VMRC: Virginia Saltwater Recreational Fishing Licenses, VMRC: Virginia Fisherman Identification Program (FIP), Virginia DWR: Freshwater/Saltwater License Lines on Tidal Waters, Virginia DWR: Reciprocal Licenses, Virginia DWR: Fish Bait Information, Virginia DWR: General Freshwater Fishing Regulations, Virginia DWR: Special Trout Areas, Shenandoah National Park and Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia DWR: Trout Season and Limits, Virginia DWR: Delayed Harvest Waters, Virginia DWR: Creel and Length Limit Table (from the 2026 Freshwater Fishing digest), Virginia Administrative Code 4VAC20-280-30: speckled trout size and possession limits.
The season at a glance
What these months usually do
Each lake's own seasonal curve, the one the engine scores the lake on: what these dates usually do, modeled rather than measured, and not a forecast for this year.
| Water | Nov 1 | Dec 1 | Jan 1 | Feb 1 | Feb 28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smith Mountain Lake | 63F | 53F | 46F | 43F | 46F |
Each river's own gauge: its average for these dates across the years it has recorded, measured, and not a forecast for this year.
| Water | Nov 1 | Dec 1 | Jan 1 | Feb 1 | Feb 28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potomac River at Point of RocksPOTOMAC RIVER AT POINT OF ROCKS, MD, 2021 to 2026 | 57F | 41F | 41F | 37F | 44F |
The moon from November to February
| Month | New moon | Full moon |
|---|---|---|
| November 2026 | Mon, Nov 9 | Tue, Nov 24 |
| December 2026 | Tue, Dec 8 | Wed, Dec 23 |
| January 2027 | Thu, Jan 7 | Fri, Jan 22 |
| February 2027 | Sat, Feb 6 | Sat, Feb 20 |
The U.S. Naval Observatory's dates, on local time.
Daylight in each area from November to February
Worked out for one place in each area, on its own clock.
| Area | Shortest day | Earliest sunset | Latest sunrise |
|---|---|---|---|
| The lower Bay and Virginia Beachat Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel | 9h 37m, Dec 21 | 4:49pm, around Dec 6 | 7:19am, around Jan 5 |
| The seaside of the Eastern Shoreat Wachapreague | 9h 34m, Dec 21 | 4:46pm, around Dec 7 | 7:19am, around Jan 5 |
| The tidal riversat James River at Hopewell | 9h 35m, Dec 21 | 4:53pm, around Dec 7 | 7:25am, around Jan 6 |
| The Shenandoah Valley and the parkat South Fork Shenandoah River at Front Royal | 9h 26m, Dec 21 | 4:52pm, around Dec 7 | 7:33am, around Jan 5 |
| Southwest Virginiaat Damascus | 9h 39m, Dec 21 | 5:13pm, around Dec 6 | 7:41am, around Jan 6 |
| The Piedmont lakesat Smith Mountain Lake | 9h 36m, Dec 21 | 5:03pm, around Dec 6 | 7:34am, around Jan 5 |
| Northern Virginia and the upper Potomacat Potomac River at Point of Rocks | 9h 24m, Dec 21 | 4:48pm, around Dec 7 | 7:31am, around Jan 5 |
The lowest tides from November to February
| Station | Lowest, Nov | Lowest, Dec | Lowest, Jan | Lowest, Feb | Biggest range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel | -0.4 ftThu, Nov 26, 2:31am | -0.7 ftFri, Dec 25, 2:20am | -0.9 ftSat, Jan 23, 2:11am | -0.8 ftSun, Feb 21, 2:00am | 3.9 ftJan 23 |
| Wachapreague, Wachapreague Channel | -0.4 ftThu, Nov 26, 2:53am | -0.8 ftFri, Dec 25, 2:40am | -1.0 ftSat, Jan 23, 2:27am | -0.8 ftSun, Feb 21, 2:13am | 5.8 ftJan 23 |
NOAA's predictions, in feet above the average of each day's lower low tide, so a minus tide falls below it. Wind and air pressure move the water off the prediction.