Is Laurel Creek good for rainbow trout?

Yes, on the classification rather than on a thermometer. VDWR's trout-water designation on Laurel Creek names rainbow trout as a species it is managed for, and this site reads the water as cold-transitional 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 55–65 °F band this fish wants. Fish of 7–14 inches are what Virginia reports as typical.

Open Laurel Creek on the map See Laurel Creek 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: Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
In Virginia: introduced
Record here: named in VDWR's trout-water designation for this reach — a management record, not a catch record
Holds in: 55–65 °F, stops feeding above 75 °F
Typical: 7–14 inches
Spawns: Spring — March into May — on gravel, which is what separates it from the two autumn spawners above.

Introduced. Wild populations sit in the steeper, faster mountain water, and stocked fish carry most of the put-and-take season.

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-transitional 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, Class VI. The management tier on those reaches is stocked holdover, wild. Species Virginia DWR records in the classified water: brown trout, rainbow 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 Laurel Creek

Laurel Creek — live water temperature, regulations and access