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Rainbow trout in Virginia
Oncorhynchus mykiss — introduced to Virginia, holding water between 55 and 65°F. Virginia's own fisheries records name 20 waters here, and the state stocks it into 20 more.
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Virginia's rainbows are introduced and they sit in the steepest, fastest water the classification covers. DWR's coldwater layer carries a rainbow column, and the waters named from it here run from Rock Castle Creek and the Smith River to Crab Run, Redbud Run, Pass Run, Muddy Run and Helton Creek away in the southwest. Twenty more are designated stocked waters, which is where most of the put-and-take season happens.
Seven to fourteen inches, holding 55 to 65°F and tolerating 75 — a band that overlaps the brown trout's almost exactly and sits above the native brook trout's, so the three sort themselves by gradient and elevation rather than by county. Virginia does not set a size limit by species: the class on the water is the rule.
- 55–65°FWater, preferred
- 7–14"Typical length
- IntroducedIn Virginia
- 20Waters listed here
What it is
Salmonidae — Pacific trout, genus Oncorhynchus · Oncorhynchus mykiss
- A pink to magenta band down the lateral line, brightest on a fish in spawning condition and faint on a fresh-run lake fish.
- Heavy black spotting scattered over the back, the dorsal fin and — the mark that separates it — the whole of the tail, in rows that radiate outward.
- Silver-olive ground colour, white belly, no red spots and no vermiculations.
- Tail squared and clearly spotted.
Typical length in Virginia is 7 to 14 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
Introduced. Wild populations sit in the steeper, faster mountain water, and stocked fish carry most of the put-and-take season.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rock Castle Creek | Roanoke and Dan headwaters | 10.7 | Class i — wild, self-sustaining |
| Smith River | Roanoke and Dan headwaters | 8.9 | Class ii — wild |
| Crab Run | Upper James and Maury | 7.5 | Class ii — wild |
| Redbud Run | Virginia Potomac highlands | 6.4 | Class iii — wild, limited |
| Helton Creek | New River basin | 6.1 | Class ii — wild |
| Pass Run | Shenandoah River basin | 5.9 | Class ii — wild |
| Muddy Run | Upper James and Maury | 5.4 | Class ii — wild |
| Hunting Camp Creek | New River basin | 5.0 | Class iii — wild, limited |
| Tract Fork | New River basin | 5.0 | Class iv — put-and-grow |
| Bluestone River | New River basin | 4.6 | Class iii — wild, limited |
| Little Laurel Creek | Holston River headwaters | 4.6 | Class ii — wild |
| Rhody Creek | Roanoke and Dan headwaters | 4.4 | Class ii — wild |
| Ponding Mill Creek | Upper James and Maury | 4.3 | Class ii — wild |
| Mine Run | Shenandoah River basin | 4.0 | Class iii — wild, limited |
| Dry Fork | Holston River headwaters | 3.9 | Class ii — wild |
| Back Creek | Upper James and Maury | 3.8 | Class ii — wild |
| Middle Creek | Upper James and Maury | 3.8 | Class ii — wild |
| Saint Clair Creek | Holston River headwaters | 3.7 | Class ii — wild |
| Rockhouse Run | Holston River headwaters | 3.4 | Class ii — wild |
| Round Meadow Creek | Roanoke and Dan headwaters | 3.4 | Class iii — wild, limited |
Waters Virginia stocks it into
VDWR's designated stocked-trout waters, with the designation each one carries.
- Accotink Creek delayed harvest
- Back Creek put-and-take
- Back Creek put-and-take
- Back Creek (DH) delayed harvest
- Bever Creek special regulation
- Big Brumley Creek put-and-take
- Big Cedar Creek put-and-take
- Big Moccasin Creek delayed harvest
- Big Stony Creek put-and-take
- Big Tumbling Creek fly fishing only
- Big Wilson Creek special regulation
- Buffalo Creek special regulation
- Bullpasture River put-and-take
- Burks Fork put-and-take
- Chestnut Creek delayed harvest
- Clear Creek put-and-take
- Comers Creek put-and-take
- Cowpasture River put-and-take
- Craig Creek put-and-take
- Cranesnest River 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
Rainbow trout hold 55–65°F water and are under real stress above 75°F. On this map's own colours that band is cold, cold-transitional, cool 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: Spring — March into May — on gravel, which is what separates it from the two autumn spawners above.
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
Faster, broken, oxygenated water: riffles, runs and pocket water, more often in the current than under the bank.
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 rainbow 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 rainbow 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
Faster, broken, oxygenated water: riffles, runs and pocket water, more often in the current than under the bank.
- 55–65°F preferred
- 75°F upper limit
- cold, cold-transitional, cool 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
Rainbow 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.