Southern Appalachians
Fly fishing in West Virginia
Short answer
West Virginia fly fishing is mountain stream and wilderness fishing, with native brook trout in the high country, stocked rainbows and browns in the bigger rivers, and the state's own golden rainbow trout. The Cranberry, the Williams and the Elk are the headline waters. A licence is required from age 15, and trout needs a separate stamp.
What makes West Virginia different
West Virginia stocks a trout that exists nowhere else as a wild fish. The golden rainbow — a bright yellow-gold mutation found in a state hatchery in 1955 and bred into a strain released for the state's centennial in 1963 — is a West Virginia invention, and you will see them in stocked water all spring looking like someone dropped a goldfish in the river. The serious fishing is elsewhere and quieter. The Cranberry and the Williams run through the Monongahela National Forest with catch-and-release stretches and genuine wilderness around them, the Elk has a limestone-fed section that behaves like a spring creek, and the high headwaters across the Alleghenies hold native brook trout in streams with no names on the map. A state where the best water takes a forest-road drive and a walk tends to stay uncrowded, and this one has.
What trout and other fish are in West Virginia?
- Brook trout
- Native, the state fish, and wild in hundreds of high Allegheny headwater streams.
- Brown trout
- Wild in the limestone-influenced sections of the Elk and the South Branch Potomac.
- Rainbow trout
- Stocked widely, with holdover fish in the bigger and colder rivers.
- Golden rainbow trout
- A West Virginia strain bred from a 1955 hatchery mutation and released for the 1963 centennial.
- Smallmouth bass
- The New, the Greenbrier and the Potomac branches — excellent, and the right call in summer.
Where to fly fish in West Virginia
- Cranberry River
- Monongahela National Forest. Catch-and-release water reached by a gated forest road, and worth the walk.
- Williams River
- Beside the Cranberry and just as good. Wild and stocked fish, and plenty of room.
- Elk River
- The limestone section near Slatyfork fishes like a spring creek, with wild browns and real hatches.
- Seneca Creek
- A wilderness brook trout stream in the Spruce Knob backcountry.
- South Branch Potomac
- Through Smoke Hole Canyon. Trout up top and smallmouth below.
- New River
- Not trout. One of the best smallmouth rivers in the eastern United States.
When to fly fish in West Virginia
| When | What is happening |
|---|---|
| January – February | Winter stocking begins on some waters. Cold, quiet, and midges on the tailwater sections. |
| March – April | Heavy spring stocking, including the golden rainbows, and the first real hatches. |
| May – June | The best weeks. Caddis and mayflies on the Elk, and the backcountry brook trout waking up. |
| July – August | Low warm water. Fish the high headwaters early, or switch to the New for smallmouth. |
| September – December | Cooling water, brook trout in spawning colour, and autumn stocking on the bigger rivers. |
Do you need a license to fly fish in West Virginia?
Yes. Licenses are issued by West Virginia Division of Natural Resources.
| License | Price |
|---|---|
| Resident, annual | $33 |
| Non-resident, annual | $63 |
West Virginia sells trout fishing in three parts. Resident: the $18 Class B fishing licence, a $5 conservation stamp and the $10 Class O trout stamp. Non-resident: the $35 Class F licence, a $13 conservation stamp and the $15 Class OO trout stamp. The licence and trout stamp figures are the fees set in West Virginia Code; the agency does not publish a consolidated fee table, so confirm the total in the purchase system before you buy.
Rules worth knowing before you go
- A fishing licence is required from age 15, and a trout stamp is required in addition to fish for trout.
- A conservation stamp is also required alongside the licence. Budget for three separate purchases, not one.
- The Cranberry, the Williams and several other stretches carry catch-and-release and artificial-only rules, marked on the ground.
- A great deal of the best water sits inside the Monongahela National Forest, where some access roads are gated seasonally.
- Rules are set water by water in the annual fishing regulations summary, which takes effect on 1 January.
Regulations change every year and vary water by water. The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources rule book is the only authority — this page is a starting point, not a legal reference.
Flies that matter in West Virginia
Each of these is a card in the deck, and each has a full page in Our Fly-brary.
Keep reading
- Do I need a fishing license? — how licensing works across states
- How to read water — where trout hold, anywhere
- Best time of day to fly fish — the seasonal logic behind the table above
- Our Fly-brary — every fly in the deck, explained
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The deck
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