The South Branch of the Potomac River is heaven for West Virginia trout anglers and those from Virginia and Maryland. Armed with Pautzke Gold Label, Chartreuse Garlic, Natural Deluxe, Gold Label and Yellow Jacket salmon eggs we caught and released dozens of trout in a short afternoon on the river while filming this episode of Pautzke Outdoors.
When we called the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources and asked them where their most popular stocked trout fishery was it didn’t take long for them to come back with an answer. While the state is littered with an endless number of stocked trout rivers and streams few get the number of trout the South Branch of the Potomac River does or the fishing pressure. This system is arguably one of the state’s most well known.
The South Branch is a system that gets hammered by anglers from several bordering states, and for a good reason. The WVDNR stocks a massive amount of trout here, simply because they need to. Every river, pond and stream in the state receives an unbearable amount of pressure. Meanwhile, the South Branch is pinned near the top of the list. This section is closest to Petersburg, West Virginia, but also only three hours from DC, Roanoke, Pittsburgh and Richmond and about an hour from Elkins and two from Morgantown. Lots of people consider this system their favorite place to fish.
Why? Likely because of accessibility, proximity, pure numbers of planted trout and the variety of trout available. This roadside system offers lots of easy to reach roadside public access. Anglers can park, walk 10 feet and cast toward golden rainbow, brown, brook and rainbow trout. There’s always lots of trout available, even though it seems no one catches and releases in the put-and-take portion of the river. Fortunately, roughly 70,000 trout are planted from March through May.
Editor’s Note: The South Branch of the Potomac River is stocked weekly through May. The day it’s stocked varies. For more information please visit the WVDNR’s daily stocking report [ Ссылка ].
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