If you wanted to know which lakes in Virginia are the best to visit especially for fishing this is the list for you. The US News Travel just released this list of the top 21 lakes in the beautiful state of Virginia in no particular order:
1. Smith Mountain Lake
2. Lake Anna
3. Hungry Mother Lake
4. Lake Drummond
5. Buggs Island (John H. Kerr Reservoir)
6. Lake Chesdin
7. Occoquan Reservoir
8. South Holston Lake
9. Lake Gaston
10. Lake Fairfax
11. Bear Creek Lake
12. Sherando Lake
13. Claytor Lake
14. Philpott Lake
15. Douthat Lake
16. Fairy Stone Lake
17. Burke Lake
18. Lake Keokee
19. The Mariners’ Lake
20. Lake Moomaw
21. Cave Mountain Lake
For myself as an avid angler born and raised in central Virginia this list is very cool because it has several obvious choices and new to me lakes. I will however add a few missing gems to the end of this article to make it a solid 25 list.
Let’s start the breakdown of this list by sharing my obvious choices. The obvious choices would include the first two on the list for sure. Smith Mountain Lake and Lake Anna have no shortage of tournament limits weighing over 20 pounds each and every weekend. From great baitfish populations to world class stocking programs these lakes have made a name for themselves in the tournament fishing circles. Some other honorable mentions for obvious choices would be Buggs Island, Lake Gaston, and Claytor Lake. All of which have all three species of Largemouth, Smallmouth, and Spotted Bass as well as produce plenty of great tournament sacks annually. One lake that I feel should be an obvious choice for smallmouth enthusiast is South Holston. Straddling the border of Virginia and Tennessee it is a well kept secret of the locals. Producing some monster smallmouths South Holston is one to visit.
As for the new to me lakes they are plentiful on this list. In my opinion that makes this list a great place to start seeking an adventure even for the locals like myself. Let’s take Cave Mountain Lake for example. I had never heard of it before this list came out. Sounds cool enough for a visit just by its name alone. If you have any information on Cave Mountain Lake please share it in the comments below. Another lake not ringing a bell to me is Lake Drummond. Fun Fact Virginia happens to have only 2 natural lakes and Lake Drummond is one of them.
Obviously this list is not exclusive to bass tournament lakes. Some are even great trout fisheries. But several of the lakes on this list are regularly found on the Major League Fishing schedules as well as hold several local bass tournaments each year.
My picks for the few missing gems would have to start with Briery Creek Lake. This is where I caught my personal best largemouth of 13 pounds 10 ounces and through the years I’ve caught my fair share of fish over 8 pounds out of there. Three more to make the list a solid 25 would have to be Sandy River Reservoir, Leesville Lake, and Lake Burton. Trust me on these.
If you have any you’d like to share and brag on please comment below.