If you are researching James River VA fishing, you have probably heard about its smallmouth bass. Maybe you have seen photos of bronzebacks pulled from rocky ledges. Or you are curious about whether this river lives up to the hype.

Virginia is one of those states that quietly offers a ton of variety on a fly rod. You can chase technical tailwater trout in the morning, swing streamers for a big brown at lunch, and end the day throwing poppers to smallmouth on a warmwater river—often without driving across three states to do it.

With the lack of rain Virginia has seen over the past few months, we have been relying on the Jackson River tailwater heavily over the past few months. Hopefully, with the forecasted precipitation, some of the other trout rivers will start fishing better. For now, let's focus on my favorite trout river in Virginia. The Jackson has had a consistant 161 cfs flow coming out of Gathright Dam for months. The brown trout fishing has been fantastic as they prepare to spawn. The males are very...