Northern Virginia Walleye Report - VDWR

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 quality-sized fish in the 21–22” range with a decent chance of catching a few larger fish greater than 24 inches.

Lake Anna is providing some great Saugeye fishing action. The strong forage base of Lake Anna allows stocked Saugeye to grow very quickly and to impressive weights. The largest Saugeye collected in recent years weighed an impressive 7.25 pounds. Past Saugeye stockings at reduced stocking rates have still yielded positive returns with anglers catching a decent assortment of fish in the 4-to-5-pound range. Although the catch rate of the 2025 survey showed a decline from the 2024 and 2023 surveys, there are still decent fish available for anglers. The average sized Saugeye in 2025 measured 16 inches with fish up to 25 inches in the collection. A more consistent approach to Saugeye stockings going forward should aid in strengthening this up-and-coming fishery.

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 2025 surveys was 15 inches with 19% of the collected fish greater than the 18-inch minimum size limit. A large presence of juvenile fish in the 8-to-12-inch range was observed. The catch rate of 90 Saugeye per hour was quite impressive. 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 4–7-pound range. The last few years have seen the Walleye stocking allocation transition to Saugeye when readily available from the DWR hatchery system. The 2025 electrofishing surveys encountered an abundance of fish with the collection of 147 Saugeye and 16 Walleye. The abundance of juvenile fish set the average length at 16 inches. The survey found two peaks of distribution centered around fish in the 14–16” range and the 20–23” range. The collection revealed 24% of fish to be of legal length (18”).

Lake Orange also saw a change in stocking from the traditional Walleye to Saugeye stockings. The Saugeye population benefitted from the stocking of 200 fingerlings/acre over several years. Recent electrofishing surveys revealed less than desired catch rates of Saugeye and Region 4 staff have decided to switch stocking efforts from Lake Orange to Lake Anna. The catch rate of Saugeye in 2025 was similar to 2024 with Saugeye average length of 15 inches with a max length of 25 inches. The survey found 17% of collected fish greater than 18” in total length.