I’m not sure how I found this book. I was browsing on some website and probably saw an obscure reference to it. Anyway, I popped over the Amazon and browsed the table of contents. As soon as I realized that this was a treasure trove of locations on the level of Harry Stone’s book ( Virginia Trout Streams) or Gelso and Coburn’s Guide to Maryland Trout Fishing, I knew I had to get it.
David Hart has assembled over 500 pages of very detailed guidance on all the water in Virginia for both bass and trout as well as the top waters in West Virginia.Most important, this book was updated in 2006. I immediately homed in on Region 5 – Northern Virginia – and quickly discovered a few lakes that I did not know of and will schedule for a visit. For example, I did not know that the Beaverdam Reservior was nearby and open for fishing. Not that it looks that great from the picture shown on the link, but it is close! While he has a good list of the lakes, the pearls in this book are the coverage of the streams. Each location has a map and directions on how to get to it.
The book is organized into regions and each region has a section on warmwater rivers, trout streams and stillwaters.At the end of the section, Hart provides listings of accomodations, restaurants, fly shops and hospitals. While you could get all that from the web, it’s nice to have it in the book to use at the edge of the water if you have a change of plans. He covers the hatch charts for each type of water with more detailed charts for specific focused streams in the region.
Now that I am pretty much done with Coburn’s book, I’ll move my focus back to Virginia next season and start working through the endless list of water covered in this book. Assuming, that is, that I do not get distracted and find myself on the road north to Pennsylvania. Why? We all know that the fishing just has to be better if you drive 3 hours to get there.
Finally, I was very happy to see that this book was not a one shot deal. It’s part of a series that covers many, many areas… there is a lifetime of fishing here. With all these books, I’ll never have to go back to the same place twice!
Unless stated otherwise, this article was authored by Steve Moore
