BirdTrout
The Jackson Tailwater — Jackson River, Virginia
Also called Lower Jackson, Jackson River tailwater.
337 NHD reaches, 99.7 miles of drawn channel — side channels and braids included, so more than the distance downriver. Nearest reporting gauge 12.4 miles away.
Open in BirdTrout
The line is the water this name refers to, drawn from the NHD reaches it resolves to; the
dots are the nearest gauges reporting water temperature, coloured by what they read now.
The mapped extent is the whole named Jackson River. The special-regulation tailwater runs from Gathright Dam to the Westvaco Dam at Covington.
What it is
The Jackson below Gathright Dam down to Covington — one of only two cold-release trout fisheries in Virginia, and eighteen miles of wild brown and rainbow trout that have seen every fly in the box.
From Gathright Dam downstream to the Westvaco Dam at Covington: no rainbow trout between 12 and 16 inches, no brown trout under 20 inches, four trout per day of which only one may be a brown. Bait is allowed.
Where it is
This name covers a stretch whose boundaries are posted on the ground rather than held in any file this site reads, so the map draws the named stream and the boundaries are described in words above rather than guessed at with a line.
No access site in this state's file falls within 3 miles of the mapped reach.
Regulations on this stretch
From Gathright Dam downstream to the Westvaco Dam at Covington: no rainbow trout between 12 and 16 inches, no brown trout under 20 inches, four trout per day of which only one may be a brown. Bait is allowed.
Rules change every year and the posted signs are the authority, not this page. Check the current Virginia regulations before you fish. Where this stretch sits inside a larger river, that river's general regulations apply everywhere this stretch's do not.
Best times
Fishes all year on dam release. Small flies and long leaders at low flow; streamers above 400 cfs.
Live water temperature
| Gauge | Distance | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Jackson River Bl Gathright Dam Nr Hot Spgs, Va | 12.4 mi | 59.4 °F |
| Jackson Riv At Filtration Plant At Covington, Va | 21.7 mi | 60.4 °F |
Live from USGS — the number above is current rather than whenever the page was written. A gauge miles away is a gauge miles away: the distance column is there so you can discount it.
Fly shops nearby
- Casta Line Trout Farms — 24.1 mi
- Walkabout Outfitters — 29.6 mi
Straight-line distance from the centre of the mapped reach.
Sources for the name
BirdTrout did not name this water. 3 independent sources below use the name, and it ships only because more than one of them does.
- dnr Virginia DWR
- tu chapter Shenandoah Valley Trout Unlimited
- flyshop South River Fly Shop