Charlottesville Virginia Fly Fishing Guide James River and Shenandoah River for Trout and Smallmouth Bass

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Albemarle Angler is the Charlottesville and Blue Ridge Mountain area’s premier fly fishing, hunting, and outdoor lifestyle outfitter. We offer a complete line of fly fishing equipment from Orivs, Simms, Fishpond, Sage, Abel, Waterworks-Lamson, TFO, Scott and William Joseph.

We offer daily guided fly fishing trips to waters within Virginia and the Charlottesville area such as the James River, Shenandoah River and others in the Blue Ridge Mountains for trout and smallmouth bass. All trips are limited to two guests plus your guide. Full Day trips include lunch served streamside. All equipment is provided free of charge if needed.


Fishing is somewhat seasonal with our trout season running from fall (sept 15 depending on water level) to mid June. We do float trips for smallmouth bass on the James River and Shenandoah River as well as wade trips on the Rivanna River. Smallmouth bass season can start as early as mid-March and run through summer into late October.

One of our most popular trips is our “Learn n Fish” package which catters to the beginning fly angler with no experience necessary. We provide the equipment and take you to a local destination. Our guide will work with you to teach a basic fly cast then you will learn about knots and fly selection as well as many other techniques throughout the day as you fish with your guide. This trip is booked around your schedule. Please use the book now button to check available dates.

Fly Fishing for brook trout in the Blue Ridge Mountain Streams of Virginia:


This is a great trip but not really for beginning fly fishermen. Narrow, small streams and lots of overhanging trees make this a bit of a technical trip for experienced casters (or those who don’t mind snagging trees and losing flies!). We suggest 2-3wt, 6′ to 7.5′ fly rods. Fish are usually small but very beautiful.

Smallmouth Bass Flyfishing Float Trips on the James and Shenandoah Rivers

One of our favorite trips! If you haven’t done a float trip you need to try it! Our 15ft raft is a fishing machine built for fishing rocky rivers like the James and Shenandoah. We seat two anglers plus a guide. Floats are usually limited to a full day but we can sometimes make exceptions. We can also accommodate spin anglers if you prefer not to use the fly rod or if your companion does not fly fish. On good day, we average about 30 fish per angler. There’s really nothing like seeing a small mouth blast a popper on the surface in the summer!