[striving8]

Hi all, I am currently living in Illinois, and will be moving to va in the haymarket/mannassas area. I love to fish and I already feel overwhelmed not knowing where to fish or what is available etc.



I have heard about the potamic river, how long of a drive is that from mannassas area( what kind of fish, i love catfishing btw i am used to 3 pounders only.) also any other good fisherys in that area? I am looking for areas withing a 30 min drive.
also i do not have a boat so shore fishing only, but i also wade.




Thank you all so much.

[Steve]

Welcome to the board!
You are moving to a fishin' nut area. Plenty of good water to play on. You have the Potomac, Rappahannock and James Rivers within a reasonable drive. For the bigger Cats, like 40 pounders, the James River is your ticket. Racn35 is the resident nut for that river and I'm sure he'll chime in.

For the Manassas area, Fishaholic will reach out to you.

Once again, welcome aboard!!
Look forward to hearing reports from you!

[fish-aholic]

Yup!!! That would be my stompin grounds. You have TONS of places within an hour drive to fish. From Salt to fresh, big fish to native wild trout. You said....30 miles...well 30 miles here is an hour drive. But I know what you're talking about. The The Potomac and Rappahannock rivers are within 30 miles of manassas, the Shenandoah is pushing the 30 mile mark from manassas but is right at the mark from Haymarket. If you don't want to go over 30 miles..forget the james...no matter where you go there, you're looking at about 90 miles. So as far as species....Freshwater you have Catfish (blues, channels, flathead, yellow and brown bullheads and white) Sunfish, Smallmouth, Largemouth, Walleye, Stripers, Muskie etc....you have just about anything you could want around here. When you get closer to reloacting or if you come out house hunting maybe I can run you out to a couple of my fishin holes on the rappahannock or shenandoah. Oh by the way....if you don't have a canoe...I'd look into one. The Public Access areas get overloaded by Hmmm, how should I say this... Fiestas? I haven't caught a fish (worth casting for) within 1/2 a mile of a public access in years. If you have a canoe or are willing to wade and get wet you'll be able to get to the fish though

[striving8]

Thank you both for the information. Now I can at least sleep at night knowing there is some nice fisheries. Yes once that time comes ill be around more. Thanks again guys.

[RACN35]

more fish than you can ever dream of - fresh & saltwater