2025 Walleye Fishing Forecast

Walleye fishing opportunities in Southwest Virginia are centered around the DWR stocking efforts of the Upper New River, Flannagan Reservoir, South Holston Lake, and Hungry Mother Lake. The Upper New River provides anglers the best opportunity in Virginia to catch trophy walleye. Stocking effort over the last 10 years have led to an increase in catch rates for both anglers and biologists. Past stocking efforts have focused on areas from Allisonia to Buck Dam. Anglers continue to report good catch rates of smaller fish 12 to 20 inches and fish greater than 28 inches in these areas. The 2024 length distribution revealed a high proportion of walleye in the 13- to 22-inch range. This indicated multiple years of good recruitment.

Flannagan Reservoir is another fishery that should be on an angler’s radar in 2025. Walleye observed in the 2024 sample ranged from 17-25 inches in length with an average length of 20 inches; saugeye ranged from 12-26 inches in length with an average length of 16 inches. The most recent survey revealed a large proportion of the saugeye population that should be reaching harvestable size in 2025.

Anglers visiting South Holston Lake in 2025 should experience excellent walleye fishing as the population continues to rebound. Sampling during 2024, including both electrofishing and gill netting, remained like 2023 with a desirable size structure, with most adult walleye collected larger than 18 inches. The walleye growth rate is outstanding, so anglers should find plenty of fish larger than the minimum size of 18 inches.

Hungry Mother Lake is a 108-acre impoundment that provides anglers with a great opportunity to catch walleye in a small lake setting. The walleye population is stable or slightly increasing. There are good numbers of fish up to 20 inches and just enough larger ones to cause anglers to lose some sleep this summer. Walleye up to 28 inches in length have been landed in recent years.

Walleye fishing opportunities within South Central Virginia can be found in the Staunton River, Philpott Reservoir, and Leesville Lake. These waters are stocked annually with walleye fingerlings that will eventually provide anglers plenty of opportunities throughout the year. The Staunton River has a strong walleye population that sees anglers drawn into the action of the spawning run each spring. Walleye fishing in the Staunton River has become a fishery to pay attention to, especially from Leesville dam to Altavista. Quality walleye are now consistently being caught and sampled all the way to Brookneal. Recent stockings have been much more successful, and anglers are reaping the rewards. A portion of the walleye stocked into Leesville Reservoir passes through the dam and provides a boost to the Staunton fishery.

Walleye fishing success slowed some on Phillpott Reservoir during 2024 as walleye anglers reported catching fewer walleyes in Philpott Reservoir when compared to past years. Fish population surveys from 2024 showed that most of the catch is in the 16- to 22-inch range, with a few female walleye reaching larger sizes.

Leesville Lake provides anglers some walleye fishing opportunities. Walleye that remain in Leesville Lake have good growth rates and typically reach 18 inches between ages 2 and 3. The 2021 and 2023 year classes were better than average for Leesville Lake and those fish will be primarily 15 to 22 inches in 2025.

Walleye fishing opportunities are plentiful within Northern Virginia with waters such as the Shenandoah River, Lake Anna, Lake Brittle, Burke Lake, and Lake Orange providing the action. Walleye can be found in the Shenandoah River from Warren Dam in Front Royal downstream beyond the Virginia / West Virginia State line. Although they are not as numerous in the Shenandoah as they are in other rivers, their population is stable, and the fish are showing good growth rates reaching lengths exceeding 25 inches. Anglers should expect to see an increase in numbers in 2025 due to the surplus fingerlings stocked in 2023.

Lake Anna is providing some great saugeye fishing action. Past saugeye stockings at reduced rates have still yielded positive returns, with anglers catching a pulse of five- to six-pound saugeye recently. The majority of the fish collected in the 2024 DWR survey were from 16 to 19 inches, suggesting anglers can expect larger-size saugeye in the upcoming years. The 2024 survey revealed 39 percent of fish were of legal size (18″) as compared to 29 percent in 2023.

Lake Brittle has traditionally been a productive small impoundment for walleye. The recent transition to stocking saugeye fingerlings, instead of walleye, has provided positive results that could be attributed to the recruitment of fish from multiple years of higher stocking rates. The average total length of fish collected during 2024 surveys was 17.2 inches and 2.1 pounds, with 46 percent of the collected fish greater than the 18-inch minimum size limit. Several good year classes of saugeye will be providing anglers with quality fishing action in the next few years.

Past stockings at Burke Lake in Fairfax County are still yielding quality results, with anglers catching walleye in the four- to seven-pound range. The lake record walleye is an 8 lb. 12 oz. beauty that showed the trophy potential that exists. The last few years has seen the walleye stocking allocation transition to saugeye when readily available from the DWR hatchery system. The 2024 electrofishing surveys encountered an abundance of juvenile fish that set the average length at 15.2 inches. The sample yielded 21 walleye and 86 saugeye, for a total of 107. The largest walleye was a 28-inch female and weighed just over seven pounds. The largest saugeye was a 24-imch female weighing six pounds. Lake Orange has also seen a change in stocking from the traditional walleye to saugeye stockings. The saugeye population is still starting to establish itself from the last few years of introduced fingerlings. The 2024 surveys revealed a few larger walleye up to 6.2 pounds still present and saugeye up to three pounds.

Saugeye and walleye fishing opportunities can be found in Eastern Virginia in Lake Chesdin, the Appomattox River, Lake Whitehurst, and Little Creek Reservoir. The last six years of DWR hatchery production has been beneficial for Lake Chesdin. Saugeye fingerlings were stocked into the lake in 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023, and walleye fingerlings were stocked into the lake in 2020 and 2024.

The strong forage base of gizzard shad has yielded trophy-sized saugeye in the seven to 7.5-pound range. Anglers should have a decent chance at catching saugeye in the four- to five-pound range. Walleye and saugeye that escape from Lake Chesdin by passing over or through Brasfield Dam have created a solid fishery in the Appomattox River, with anglers catching a decent abundance of citation-sized fish especially during the spring. Lake Whitehurst down in the Virginia tidewater has seen increased action for both walleye and saugeye after the successful return of the stocking program. This highly productive system typically yields fast-growing fish that feed upon juvenile gizzard shad and white perch.

Little Creek Reservoir in Toano, Virginia, provides some walleye fishing opportunities and a scenic location to fish. Recent stockings have varied in stocking rate. The 100,000 walleye fingerlings stocked in 2023 should start to provide anglers some action shortly.