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Brook trout in Virginia
Salvelinus fontinalis — native to Virginia, holding water between 53 and 61°F. Virginia's own fisheries records name 20 waters here, and the state stocks it into 20 more.
The brook trout is the only trout native to Virginia, and Virginia is the state on this map that says so in its own data: DWR's coldwater classification carries a brook column, and twenty waters here are named off it — Jeremys Run, the Hazel and Robinson and Rose rivers off the Blue Ridge, East Hawksbill Creek, Little Tumbling Creek away southwest in the Holston headwaters. Twenty more are designated stocked waters.
These are small fish in steep water, five to nine inches, holding 53 to 61°F and out of room above 68 — which in Virginia means elevation, since the brook trout here lives above the water the brown and the rainbow have taken. Virginia publishes no size limit by species; the class the water carries sets the rule, and the classes run from wild and self-sustaining downward.
- 53–61°FWater, preferred
- 5–9"Typical length
- NativeIn Virginia
- 20Waters listed here
What it is
Salmonidae — char, genus Salvelinus · Salvelinus fontinalis
- Dark olive-green back carrying pale, worm-like vermiculations — the marbled pattern no other trout in these states has, and the single field mark that settles it.
- Flanks scattered with red spots ringed in blue.
- Lower fins edged in white with a black line behind it.
- Tail square, or very nearly — the name squaretail is the old one and it is a description.
Typical length in Virginia is 5 to 9 inches. That is a curated range for water of this kind, not an average of any survey: MDNR's abundance file counts fish per acre and per mile and records no lengths at all, and no other state on this site publishes lengths either.
Native or stocked
The only trout native to Virginia. Wild populations sit in the Appalachian headwaters, above the elevation brown and rainbow have reached.
Where to find it in Virginia
Waters VDWR records this species from, off the coldwater classification layer that rides on every reach in this map's Virginia footprint. Miles are of classified reach carrying the species, and the watershed is named because Virginia has five Mill Creeks and eleven Dry Runs.
| Water | Watershed | Classified miles | Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dry Run | Upper James and Maury | 18.7 | Class ii — wild |
| Jeremys Run | Shenandoah River basin | 11.7 | Class ii — wild |
| Little Tumbling Creek | Holston River headwaters | 11.0 | Class iii — wild, limited |
| Hazel River | Rapidan-Upper Rappahannock | 10.9 | Class ii — wild |
| East Hawksbill Creek | Shenandoah River basin | 9.4 | Class ii — wild |
| Dry Run | Shenandoah River basin | 9.3 | Class iv — put-and-grow |
| Robinson River | Rapidan-Upper Rappahannock | 9.2 | Class i — wild, self-sustaining |
| Rose River | Rapidan-Upper Rappahannock | 8.8 | Class i — wild, self-sustaining |
| Laurel Fork | Virginia Potomac highlands | 8.4 | Class ii — wild |
| Jennings Branch | Shenandoah River basin | 7.6 | Class iv — put-and-grow |
| Crab Run | Upper James and Maury | 7.5 | Class ii — wild |
| Big Reed Island Creek | New River basin | 7.3 | Class ii — wild |
| Laurel Creek | New River basin | 7.3 | Class ii — wild |
| Briery Branch | Shenandoah River basin | 7.2 | Class iii — wild, limited |
| Piney River | Rapidan-Upper Rappahannock | 7.2 | Class ii — wild |
| Snake Creek | New River basin | 7.2 | Class iii — wild, limited |
| Cub Run | Shenandoah River basin | 7.0 | Class ii — wild |
| Mare Run | Upper James and Maury | 7.0 | Class ii — wild |
| Little Stony Creek | Shenandoah River basin | 6.9 | Class ii — wild |
| Smith River | Roanoke and Dan headwaters | 6.9 | Class ii — wild |
Waters Virginia stocks it into
VDWR's designated stocked-trout waters, with the designation each one carries.
- Ararat River put-and-take
- Back Creek put-and-take
- Back Creek put-and-take
- Barbours Creek put-and-take
- Big Wilson Creek special regulation
- Buffalo River, NF special regulation
- Bullpasture River put-and-take
- Cabin Creek special regulation
- Chestnut Creek, EF special regulation
- Clarks Creek put-and-take
- Conway River special regulation
- Cowpasture River put-and-take
- Crooked Creek, EF put-and-take
- Cub Run put-and-take
- Dan River put-and-take
- Dan River (Below Powerhouse) put-and-take
- Devil's Ditch special regulation
- Dismal Creek put-and-take
- Dry River put-and-take
- Falls Hollow put-and-take
Where that is on the map
Every subwatershed this site covers in Virginia as a faint dot, and the ones holding the waters listed above lit. A coverage map with this species on it — the map on the front of the site is the map.
When to fish for it
Brook trout hold 53–61°F water and are under real stress above 68°F. On this map's own colours that band is cold, cold-transitional water, which is what the river pages and the live map are painting when they run green and blue. The season follows the temperature rather than the calendar: the water is in the band early and late in the day through the summer, and all day either side of it.
Spawning: October and November, on gravel in groundwater-fed shallows, often at the mouths of seeps rather than in the main current.
What is hatching in Virginia, month by month, from the same seed the app's hatch panel reasons from. These are the state's recorded hatches, not this species' — trout eat what is in the water.
| Month | Peaking |
|---|---|
| January | Aquatic Worm, Damselfly, Dragonfly, Hellgrammite, Leech, Little Black Stonefly and 5 more |
| February | Aquatic Worm, Damselfly, Dragonfly, Hellgrammite, Leech, Little Black Stonefly and 6 more |
| March | Aquatic Worm, Blue-Winged Olive, Damselfly, Dragonfly, Hellgrammite, Leech and 8 more |
| April | Aquatic Worm, Blackfly, Blue Quill, Blue-Winged Olive, Cranefly, Damselfly and 15 more |
| May | Alderfly, Aquatic Worm, Blackfly, Blue Quill, Blue-Winged Olive, Caterpillar and 26 more |
| June | Alderfly, Aquatic Worm, Black Ant, Blackfly, Caterpillar, Cranefly and 30 more |
| July | Annual Cicada, Aquatic Worm, Black Ant, Caterpillar, Crayfish, Cream Cahill and 26 more |
| August | Annual Cicada, Aquatic Worm, Black Ant, Caterpillar, Cinnamon Flying Ant, Crayfish and 24 more |
| September | Aquatic Worm, Black Ant, Blue-Winged Olive, Caterpillar, Cinnamon Flying Ant, Cranefly and 21 more |
| October | Aquatic Worm, Blue-Winged Olive, Cranefly, Crayfish, Cricket, Damselfly and 12 more |
| November | Aquatic Worm, Blue-Winged Olive, Damselfly, Dragonfly, Hellgrammite, Leech and 6 more |
| December | Aquatic Worm, Damselfly, Dragonfly, Hellgrammite, Leech, Midge and 4 more |
How to catch it
The coldest and smallest water available: spring-fed headwaters, groundwater seeps, beaver flowages and the shaded upper reaches above where brown trout take over.
Patterns from this site's book, chosen by the insects recorded from Virginia's own regions and filtered to the kinds worth putting in front of this fish. Each one has its tying recipe.
- Hare's Ear Nymph nymph · #10–18 — Alderfly, Black Ant, Cream Cahill
- Pheasant Tail Nymph nymph · #12–22 — Blue Quill, Blue-Winged Olive, Damselfly
- Parachute Adams dry fly · #12–20 — Blue Quill, Blue-Winged Olive, Hendrickson
- Chubby Chernobyl dry fly · #8–14 — Annual Cicada, Giant Black Stonefly (Salmonfly), Golden Stonefly
- Foam Beetle terrestrial · #12–18 — Black Ant, Cricket, Grasshopper
- Prince Nymph nymph · #10–18 — Green Sedge, Isonychia / Slate Drake, Little Black Stonefly
- Elk Hair Caddis dry fly · #12–20 — Grannom, Green Sedge, Little Black Caddis
- RS2 emerger · #16–24 — Blue Quill, Blue-Winged Olive, Midge
- Rusty Spinner dry fly · #14–20 — Cream Cahill, Isonychia / Slate Drake, Light Cahill
- Stimulator dry fly · #8–16 — Golden Stonefly, Green Drake, June Bug / Beetle
- Griffith's Gnat dry fly · #18–24 — Blackfly, Midge, Cinnamon Flying Ant
- Partridge & Orange Soft Hackle wet fly · #12–18 — Alderfly, Little Black Caddis, Little Sister Caddis
Rules for brook trout in Virginia
Virginia does not publish its limits split by species: the bag and the season apply to trout as a group, by the class or category the water carries. So what follows is that, and not a brook trout rule dressed up as one. Snapshot taken 2026-08-16.
| Class | Bag | Season | Waters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class i — wild, self-sustaining | — | — | 31 |
| Class ii — wild | — | — | 360 |
| Class iii — wild, limited | — | — | 169 |
| Class iv — put-and-grow | — | — | 72 |
| Other trout water | — | — | 2 |
| Class v | — | — | 33 |
| Class vi | — | — | 115 |
| Class vii | — | — | 8 |
| Class viii | — | — | 11 |
The full Virginia regulation page →
Habitat notes
The coldest and smallest water available: spring-fed headwaters, groundwater seeps, beaver flowages and the shaded upper reaches above where brown trout take over.
- 53–61°F preferred
- 68°F upper limit
- cold, cold-transitional on this map's colours
The four thermal classes named there are the ones every river on this site is painted with, at breaks of 58, 64 and 70°F. A river page showing cold water is showing water inside this fish's band; that is the whole point of the colour.
The other trout in Virginia
Brook trout in the other states
The same fish, on different water and under different rules. Michigan's sand-bottomed rivers, Wisconsin's driftless springs, Minnesota's North Shore, Virginia's mountain brook water and North Carolina's tailwaters and freestone gradient are five fisheries, and the limits differ with them.
Open the trout map →Every trout stream near you, coloured by today's water temperature.