Best Fishing Times in Virginia This Week

Virginia's fishing year runs from February to April crappie at Buggs Island and spring striped bass runs up tidal rivers to fall smallmouth in the rivers and trout stocked October through May. Within any day, the first and last hour of light are the surest bite, best of all when a solunar window lands on them.

The table above shows the next 7 days for Virginia Beach, Moneta and Front Royal, with each day's major and minor periods, sunrise and sunset, and a rating from Fair to Best. For your own spot, enter a ZIP on the best fishing times page.

At Buggs Island, crappie fishing is typically best from February through April, during the pre-spawn and spawn, and fish over two pounds are not uncommon. That is from Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.

Each spring, striped bass migrate from the Atlantic Ocean to spawn in the freshwater reaches of Virginia's tidal rivers. That is from Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.

The Virginia fishing license page has what a resident and nonresident license costs and where to buy one, read from the state's own regulations.

On the coast, often as much as the moon windows. The Virginia tide charts page has high and low tide for every station, so you can line a moving tide up with a window here.

The solunar windows are the old angler's rule, and the studies are mixed. Dawn and dusk are the reliable part: fish feed in low light. So each day here is rated on the moon phase and on whether a moon window meets sunrise or sunset, with the weather as a smaller nudge.

Each town's card above rates today Fair, Good, Great or Best. The rating adds up the moon phase, whether a moon window meets sunrise or sunset, and the National Weather Service forecast for that town: pressure, fronts, wind, rain, cloud and thunder. A Fair day still has its dawn and dusk.