Water Activities with Virginia Trophy Guides on the James River

Once You Book A Guide Will Be In Touch With You To Discuss Start Times!

Duration

Half Day Charters - Approximatley 5 Hours - $371 (Price includes 2 people)

Full Day Charters - 8 to 10 Hours - $503,50 (Price includes 1 person, 2nd person additional $50)

About

Floating the James River or New River puts you in some of the best Smallmouth Bass fishing opportunities the Mid-Atlantic has to offer. Come experience world-class Smallmouth Bass fishing both on the fly or with conventional gear. Float through scenic rural landscapes on the James River or the towering rock spires on the New River for some of the best fighting fish pound for pound in freshwater. With over 20 years experience guiding on both the New River and James River, we’re excited to share our experience with you, whether it be the fish of a lifetime or all day, rod bending fun!

Seasonal Information To Consider

Smallmouth Bass fishing in Virginia is very seasonal, and differs greatly throughout the season.

Mid March-Late April is our Pre-spawn season, and offers the best opportunity for a citation Virginia Smallmouth Bass, and it’s not uncommon to boat more than a few a day. The offerings that time of year are often large streamers on fly rods and jerk baits or spinner baits on conventional gear.

Mid May-Early June is the post-spawn period, and the beginning stages of our topwater season, the bass are hungry and on the prowl after an arduous spawn, and we’re often using deer hair frogs, streamers, and actively-retrieved poppers to trigger savage eats. On conventional gear we’re still running some jerkbaits and spinner baits, but the tackle options open up, and we start to get a little more diverse going into the summer months!

June-Early August is a mixed bag of approaches on both the fly rod and spinning gear, and this is when high number days of Smallmouth Bass are extremely common, some days boating 80-100 fish with two anglers in the boat. Average size commonly drops this time of year, but it’s not uncommon to work up a large smallie early in the morning on topwater or mid-day working deeper runs below ledge work. On conventional gear, it’s utilizing a lot of soft plastics popular in the bass fishing world, like the ned rig.

August-Mid October is some of our favorite fishing for Smallmouth Bass in Virginia, as the cicadas become the main thing on the menu! This is the prime topwater season, and we’re often working up large Smallmouth Bass on cork bugs made famous here in Virginia.

October-Mid November the Smallies go back on the baitfish bite, and it’s another good opportunity to strip up a citation Virginia Smallmouth Bass on a fly rod! It’s not for the faint of heart this time of year, but if you stick to the program the results are often bigger smallies!

What To Bring

Weather appropriate clothing/rain gear(waders and boots WITHOUT studs are optional), polarized sunglasses, sunscreen, valid Virginia fishing license.

Whats Provided

We provide clients with top of the line fishing equipment and tackle that is tried and true in our region. Coolers with cold water is provided on guide trips, clients are welcome to bring lunches for the day.