Wade Fishing the Rappahannock River of Virginia: Smallmouth Bass and Shad

To catch fish, you need to know where to fish

2015 edition updates regulations and deletes access points no longer usable.

The Rappahannock River is home to some of the biggest, meanest smallmouth bass in Virginia. These cantankerous beasts cruise silently in the quiet pools and fast runs below old trench lines marking the remains of violent Civil War battles or in remote, oddly named places like Snake Castle Rock. Steve Moore shares his years of experience fishing this premier river to guide you to the best water between the fall line in Fredericksburg and Chester Gap high in the Blue Ridge. Using over a hundred pictures and 19 maps to round out the descriptions, the book covers 18 access points that open up over 30 miles of water to wade fishing. Even though the book is oriented at anglers who fish on their feet, kayakers and canoeists will find it equally useful to identify the productive water to target as they float downriver.

Given we are in the internet age, Steve includes 267 coordinates usable for customized directions via the Internet or loadable into a GPS receiver to guide your day on the water.

Any discussion of the Rappahannock must mention the superb fishing available during the spring shad run. Steve dedicates a chapter to where to go and how to catch the fish called the "poor man's tarpon."