Best Fishing Spots in West Virginia

West Virginia fishes on built water in mountain country. Almost all of its mapped lakes are impoundments, dammed on river valleys for flood control and power, because the terrain offers few natural basins. Elevation runs from 137 metres to 1,172 metres with a median of 338 metres, high enough that the eastern highlands stay noticeably cooler than the western valleys and support a trout fishery through stocking. The state straddles temperate and warm-temperate bands, so ice forms in the higher and northern parts in colder winters and rarely elsewhere. Levels on the reservoirs move with rainfall and generation, and in a state this steep, rain runs off quickly, so conditions can change within a day or two of a storm. Our listings for West Virginia run to 116 waters in 42 counties. Most of them are reservoirs, with rivers and creeks making up much of the rest. Nothing here is larger than Sutton Lake, at some 1,636 acres. Cold months average 30°F; warm months reach 72°F. Most of these waters open up around early March in an average year. Species reported most across these counties: bluegill, green sunfish, greenside darter and smallmouth bass....