Is Buffalo Branch good for brook trout?

Yes, on the classification rather than on a thermometer. VDWR's trout-water designation on Buffalo Branch names brook trout as a species it is managed for, and this site reads the water as cold from VDWR's management tier for it, which is an inference from how the fishery is managed and not a temperature VDWR publishes — but no USGS gauge on this river reports water temperature, so this site has no measured July mean to hold against the 53–61 °F band this fish wants. Fish of 5–9 inches are what Virginia reports as typical.

Open Buffalo Branch on the map See Buffalo Branch on the live map → Every reach coloured by water temperature, with the public land and access points along it.

What the state's records say

Species: Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)
In Virginia: native
Record here: named in VDWR's trout-water designation for this reach — a management record, not a catch record
Holds in: 53–61 °F, stops feeding above 68 °F
Typical: 5–9 inches
Spawns: October and November, on gravel in groundwater-fed shallows, often at the mouths of seeps rather than in the main current.

The only trout native to Virginia. Wild populations sit in the Appalachian headwaters, above the elevation brown and rainbow have reached.

Is the water cold enough

No USGS gauge on this river reports water temperature, so there is no measured July mean to put beside the species' band. VDWR publishes no temperature classification for this water; the Cold band above is inferred from its management tier for the fishery, and it is not a thermometer.

What you may keep

Virginia DWR classifies this water as Class II. The management tier on those reaches is wild. Species Virginia DWR records in the classified water: brook trout, brown trout. This is a designation of the fishery and not the season and creel rules.

VDWR trout waters and stocking → Virginia season and creel rules →

What to fish for it

Little Black Stonefly — January–April, #16–18
Little Brown Stonefly — February–April, #12–16
Blue-Winged Olive — March–May and September–November, #16–22
Quill Gordon — March–April, #12–14
Blackfly — April–June, #18–22
Blue Quill — April–May, #16–18
Cranefly — April–June and September–October, #6–10
Grannom — April–May, #14–16

The insects recorded from this river's region, earliest first. The full calendar →

More about Buffalo Branch

Buffalo Branch — live water temperature, regulations and access