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Philpott Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Blue Ridge foothills water: Philpott holds smallmouth, walleye and stocked trout in clear mountain-fed depths.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~62 F est.
Air / High
66 / 66 F
Wind
NE 7 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Philpott Lake feels the season turning: shorter days, grouping fish. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 7 mph, rising pressure near 1024 hPa and a high of 66. Water sits around 62 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:55 AM-11:55 AM and 10:23 PM-12:23 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

Smallmouth bassGood

Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Largemouth bassGood

In spring, pre-spawn bass push shallow as the water climbs through the mid-50s; in fall they feed actively until the water cools into the low 50s, then drop back toward deeper structure.

Northern pikeGood

The best band for pike: right after ice-out they move into flooded vegetated shallows to spawn, and they feed actively again as the water cools in fall.

Tomorrow: Cooler at 61 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Before you go

Virginia requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $23.00 for residents. What a Virginia licence costs and where to buy it →

Chasing smallmouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with DWR before you keep anything. The season dates for Virginia, read off the agency, are on the Virginia seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~62 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp66 F
High / Low66 / 42 F
WindNE 7-10 mph
Pressure1024.2 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain6% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:35 / 18:33
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~62 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Philpott Lake this week

The best day on Philpott Lake this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 3 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 — fair at 3/5, steady pressure, neither help nor hindrance.

Today, Oct 23 — Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
9:55 AM-11:55 AM and 10:23 PM-12:23 AM
Minor period
4:16 AM-5:16 AM
Sun
07:35 to 18:33
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Clear, 7 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Philpott Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: spring and fall, when bigger fish come shallow

A bronze-brown black bass of clear, cool streams and rocky lakes, with dark vertical bars instead of a side stripe. Michigan DNR says its southeastern coast, from Port Huron to Lake Erie, is known nationally for both the size and the number of its smallmouth. Spring pre-spawn and fall: Iowa DNR notes the larger bass come up to shallow structure, where a shallow-running minnow bait or a spinnerbait just under the surface works.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: the spring pre-spawn and the fall feed

A warm-water sunfish of lakes, reservoirs, ponds and slow river backwaters that holds tight to cover: weeds, logs, rock ledges and docks. In Texas, TPWD surveys rank it "by far" the freshwater fish anglers most want to catch. In spring, pre-spawn bass push shallow as the water climbs through the mid-50s; in fall they feed actively until the water cools into the low 50s, then drop back toward deeper structure.

Northern pike illustration

Northern pike

Best: cool water, from ice-out through spring, in fall and under the ice

A long, duck-billed predator of weedy lakes, slow rivers and backwaters that ambushes fish from vegetation. Wisconsin DNR points out that, unlike most of the state's common game fish, pike do their best feeding in cool water. The best band for pike: right after ice-out they move into flooded vegetated shallows to spawn, and they feed actively again as the water cools in fall.

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. This band overlaps Vermont's 54-66°F stream preference: fish feed across riffles, runs and pocket water, and in lakes WDFW says spring and fall bring them near the surface.

When to come: the Philpott Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Smallmouth bass
Largemouth bass
Northern pike
Rainbow trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 62 F (estimated, not a reading).

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~62 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Philpott Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 71 F, wind to 7 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 70 F, wind to 5 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 73 F, wind to 6 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Virginia requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Virginia license plus trout license when fishing for stocked trout. Bass and walleye limits per current DWR regulations; the Smith River tailwater has special rules.

Access

Corps ramps and campgrounds at Philpott Park, Salthouse Branch and Jamison Mill; Smith River access below the dam.

About this water

A 2,880-acre Corps reservoir on the Smith River in Henry, Franklin and Patrick counties, Virginia.

Fishing Philpott Lake: the full guide

A clear Corps lake

Philpott Lake covers 2,880 acres on the Smith River in the Blue Ridge foothills of southern Virginia, a Corps reservoir with steep wooded shorelines, clear water and depths past 100 feet. The fishery leans coldwater by Virginia standards: smallmouth bass on the rock, walleye in the deeper structure, stocked trout in the cool months, plus largemouth, crappie and catfish.

Smallmouth and walleye

Smallmouth work the rocky points, bluff bases and submerged structure: tubes, drop-shots and jerkbaits in clear water, best at dawn, dusk and on overcast days. Walleye hold the deeper points and channel edges, taking jigs and trolled harnesses at low light. The steep terrain means fish relate to specific depth bands rather than broad flats.

Trout and the tailwater

Virginia stocks trout in the lake during the cool months, and below the dam the Smith River is one of the state’s best-known tailwaters: cold releases sustain wild brown trout in a technical, heavily fished river. Combining a day on the lake with an evening on the Smith is the standard plan for visiting anglers.

Southern Virginia logistics

Corps ramps and campgrounds serve the lake at Philpott Park, Salthouse Branch and Jamison Mill, with the surrounding Blue Ridge foothills largely undeveloped. Martinsville is 20 minutes southeast. Water levels vary with flood-control operations. The lake sees modest pressure, and weekday visitors often have entire arms to themselves.

Common questions

Is the water clear?

Yes, unusually so for Virginia: it favors finesse presentations and makes low-light periods considerably more productive.

What about the Smith River below?

One of Virginia’s best tailwaters, holding wild brown trout in cold releases: technical fishing worth a separate day.

Is it crowded?

Rarely: undeveloped shoreline and a rural setting keep pressure light outside summer holiday weekends.

Is fishing good at Philpott Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Smith Mountain Lake30 miClaytor Lake37 miNew River38 miGreenbrier River73 miBluestone Lake75 miLake Moomaw80 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 36.7800, -80.0300 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.