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Fly fishing near Roanoke, Virginia
61 waters with a page on this site lie within 30 miles of Roanoke, Virginia — Craig Creek, Catawba Creek and Sinking Creek among them. May, June and July carry the most recorded hatches, 22 insects in May, 26 insects in June and 22 insects in July. In range: 8 blocks of public land with a page of their own and 3 fly shops. Everything below is measured or published — no ranking on this page is ours.
The water
| Water | Distance | Miles | July mean |
|---|---|---|---|
| Craig Creek | 14.2 mi | 65.3 | — |
| Catawba Creek | 10.7 mi | 44.3 | — |
| Sinking Creek | 27.0 mi | 40.6 | — |
| Johns Creek | 21.9 mi | 39.7 | — |
| Tinker Creek | 6.3 mi | 21.8 | — |
| Pigg River | 27.2 mi | 20.4 | — |
| Barbours Creek | 28.4 mi | 18.1 | — |
| North Fork Blackwater River | 10.1 mi | 12.5 | — |
| Bottom Creek | 13.3 mi | 12.2 | — |
| Glade Creek | 6.3 mi | 11.5 | — |
| Mill Creek | 10.9 mi | 11.5 | — |
| Jennings Creek | 14.3 mi | 10.9 | — |
| Stony Creek | 14.1 mi | 9.2 | — |
| Purgatory Creek | 28.3 mi | 9.0 | — |
| Lick Fork | 13.5 mi | 8.9 | — |
| Meadow Creek | 14.8 mi | 8.7 | — |
| Otter Creek | 28.9 mi | 8.6 | — |
| Spring Branch | 15.4 mi | 7.8 | — |
| Middle Creek | 14.4 mi | 7.4 | — |
| Green Creek | 11.3 mi | 7.1 | — |
| North Creek | 16.0 mi | 7.1 | — |
| South Prong Pigg River | 28.3 mi | 6.6 | — |
| Crush Run | 9.4 mi | 6.4 | — |
| South Fork Blackwater River | 25.2 mi | 6.4 | — |
| Big Run | 15.1 mi | 6.3 | — |
| Day Creek | 9.0 mi | 6.0 | — |
| Cove Branch | 29.6 mi | 6.0 | — |
| Rocky Branch | 9.8 mi | 5.9 | — |
| Trout Creek | 13.4 mi | 5.6 | — |
| Trout Branch | 29.5 mi | 5.4 | — |
| Borden Creek | 11.0 mi | 5.3 | — |
| Daniels Run | 26.9 mi | 5.3 | — |
| Big Laurel Creek | 12.0 mi | 5.2 | — |
| Little Stony Creek | 13.2 mi | 5.2 | — |
| Roaring Run | 29.5 mi | 5.2 | — |
| Overstreet Creek | 15.8 mi | 5.1 | — |
| Spreading Spring Branch | 11.7 mi | 5.0 | — |
| McFalls Creek | 13.0 mi | 4.7 | — |
| Camp Creek | 29.1 mi | 4.7 | — |
| Paint Bank Branch | 17.0 mi | 4.6 | — |
| Ewin Run | 17.6 mi | 4.6 | — |
| Purgatory Creek | 15.5 mi | 4.5 | — |
| Paxton Branch | 28.2 mi | 4.5 | — |
| Lees Creek | 8.9 mi | 4.2 | — |
| Ellis Run | 10.3 mi | 4.1 | — |
| West Branch Grannys Creek | 17.1 mi | 3.6 | — |
| Boothe Creek | 27.5 mi | 3.5 | — |
| Payne Creek | 28.3 mi | 3.5 | — |
| Meadow Creek | 29.8 mi | 3.3 | — |
| Gunstock Creek | 16.1 mi | 3.0 | — |
| Grannys Creek | 16.8 mi | 3.0 | — |
| Fallingwater Creek | 13.5 mi | 2.7 | — |
| Cornelius Creek | 14.9 mi | 2.7 | — |
| Silverleaf Branch | 29.6 mi | 2.4 | — |
| Black Branch | 16.5 mi | 2.0 | — |
| Chestnut Run | 13.5 mi | 1.6 | — |
| Healing Branch | 16.7 mi | 1.5 | — |
| Pickles Branch | 12.1 mi | 1.3 | — |
| Georges Swamp Branch | 17.0 mi | 1.3 | — |
| Kale Branch | 16.9 mi | 1.0 | — |
| North Creek Catch-and-Release — named stretch | 27.6 mi | — | — |
Straight-line distance from the middle of town to the middle of the water. The roads are not mapped here, so this page does not give you a drive time it did not measure.
A 3-day plan
Craig Creek
No site in the state's access file falls within twelve miles of this water's centre, so the way in is public ground and road crossings.
Catawba Creek
No site in the state's access file falls within twelve miles of this water's centre, so the way in is public ground and road crossings.
Sinking Creek
No site in the state's access file falls within twelve miles of this water's centre, so the way in is public ground and road crossings.
Assembled, not written: the days are the largest waters in range, longest first, and each one carries the nearest site in Virginia's own access file — measured from the middle of the water, so it is a place to start looking rather than a landing on that river. Fish them in whatever order the weather gives you.
Hatches to hit
The months with the most recorded hatches in the Virginia mountains: May (22), June (26), July (22).
| Insect | Months | Hook |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Green Rock Worm / Green Weenie | April–June and September–October | #10–14 |
| Hendrickson | April–May | #12–14 |
| Little Black Caddis | April–May | #16–20 |
| Alderfly | May–June | #10–14 |
| Caterpillar | May–September | #8–14 |
| Crayfish | May–October | #4–8 |
Recorded from the Virginia mountains, earliest first. The year-round records sit at the bottom because they are true and they are not news.
Public land in range
- Havens Wildlife Management Area — 10.4 mi
- Havens — 13.5 mi
- Brush Mountain East Wilderness — 17.6 mi
- Brush Mountain Wilderness — 21.5 mi
- Shawvers Run Wilderness — 25.7 mi
- Smith Mountain Cooperative Wildlife Management Area — 26.8 mi
- Thunder Ridge Wilderness — 31.3 mi
- Turkeycock Wildlife Management Area — 33.8 mi
Blocks of ground with a page of their own, nearest first. Ownership from PAD-US as Virginia publishes it.
Camping and lodging
We have campground records for Michigan and for no other state, so there is nothing to list here rather than a list somebody guessed. The public land above is where the dispersed camping is, where the state allows it.
Fly shops
- Blue Ridge Fly Fishers — 0.0 mi, Roanoke
- Bob's Up The Creek Outfitters — 18.8 mi
- Walkabout Outfitter — 25.6 mi, Blacksburg
From OpenStreetMap and a curated list, across all five states on this site. Call before you drive — a shop in a file is not a shop that is open.
Before you go
- Virginia regulations
- Virginia fishing report
- Craig Creek
- Catawba Creek
- Sinking Creek
- Johns Creek
- Tinker Creek
- Pigg River