Best Lakes for Fishing in Virginia: Smith Mountain, Anna and Kerr

Rules: Virginia DWR (freshwater)

Virginia’s big reservoirs are a different kind of fishing from its rivers: deeper, bigger and managed lake by lake. Smith Mountain Lake, Lake Anna and Buggs Island Lake (Kerr Reservoir) are the three biggest draws, and they share a pattern that matters more than any one trick: each has its own striped bass rule. This roundup compares them using the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) lake pages and the 2026 digest, so you can pick the one that fits your trip and know which rules to read before you keep a fish.

The three lakes at a glance

	Smith Mountain Lake	Lake Anna	Buggs Island (Kerr)
Size (DWR)	20,600 acres	9,600 acres	about 48,900 acres at full pool
Where	Bedford and Franklin counties, near Roanoke	Louisa, Orange and Spotsylvania counties	Mecklenburg County, on the North Carolina line
Best known for	Largemouth, stocked stripers, flathead catfish	Largemouth, winter stripers and hybrids, crappie	Crappie, stripers, catfish
Striper rule	2 a day; none 30 to 40 in from Nov 1 to May 31; no length limit Jun 1 to Oct 31	4 a day (with hybrids), 20 in minimum	Oct 1 to May 31: 2 a day, 20 to 26 in; Jun 1 to Sep 30: 4 a day, no length limit
Access note	Many ramps; accessible piers at several sites	Route 522 ramp closed; private marinas and the state park	Many ramps; North Bend Park accessible pier

The striper rules are the biggest difference. Stocked stripers live in all three lakes, but each lake has its own limit and size rules, and getting them mixed up is the easiest way to keep an illegal fish. The Virginia striped bass guide puts them next to the Bay and coastal rules.

Smith Mountain Lake

DWR describes Smith Mountain as one of the state’s premier fisheries, with largemouth making up the bulk of the catch and many fish of 2 to 4 pounds in its spring surveys. Stripers are the second most popular fish, and the lake is the place where the winter slot is easiest to see: from November through May, stripers 30 to 40 inches must be released. DWR also asks anglers not to practice catch-and-release in summer because many fish die. Handicapped-accessible fishing piers are at the state park, Franklin County Park and three public access sites. Read the full Smith Mountain Lake guide.

Lake Anna

DWR calls Lake Anna a top bass destination for central and northern Virginia and says it ranks in the top three statewide for citation largemouth. It is also a winter hotspot for stripers and hybrids, which feed near the surface in cold weather. The catch is access: the free Route 522 ramp is closed and DWR has not named a replacement, so most boat anglers use private marinas or the state park, and the lake is crowded in summer. Read the full Lake Anna guide.

Buggs Island Lake (Kerr Reservoir)

DWR calls this one of Virginia’s best crappie lakes, with the best fishing from February through April. Its stripers move to the lower lake in summer, and DWR tells anglers to stop at the daily limit in June through September because most released fish die. Part of the lake is in North Carolina, but a Virginia license is valid lake-wide. Read the full Buggs Island guide.

Other Virginia lakes in the rules

Claytor Lake, Lake Gaston and Lake Moomaw also appear in DWR’s creel tables, and each has its own rules. At Claytor, striped bass and hybrids are two a day from September 16 to June 30 and four a day from July 1 to September 15. At Gaston, the black bass rule matches Smith Mountain and Kerr. At Moomaw, no bass under 12 inches may be kept. We have not yet written lake guides for these waters, so check DWR before you fish them. Lake Moomaw’s trout fishery is covered in the Jackson River guide.

Which lake should you start with?

• Beginners with a boat or a pier: Smith Mountain Lake has several accessible piers and a mix of species. Kerr has the North Bend Park pier built for anglers with disabilities.
• Crappie in spring: Buggs Island is DWR’s pick, with February through April the prime window.
• Winter stripers: Lake Anna, where fish feed near the surface in cold weather.
• Bass close to Northern Virginia and Richmond: Lake Anna.

Safety and etiquette

Big lakes get rough quickly. Watch the forecast, wear a life jacket and give other boats room, especially on summer weekends at Smith Mountain and Anna. Kite tubes are banned at Kerr. Respect dock owners at Smith Mountain: DWR says fishing around docks from the water is legal, but be courteous.

Tackle for lakes

A medium spinning rod of 6 1/2 to 7 feet covers crappie and bass, and a medium-heavy rod suits stripers and catfish. A rod built for the baits you actually throw, whether live shad or small jigs, fits these lakes better than an all-purpose stick.

Check before you go

Lake rules and ramp status change, and the power companies and the Corps control water levels. Confirm everything on DWR’s lake pages and read the Virginia rules guide for the licenses.