Lake Moomaw, Virginia
A 2,530-acre USACE reservoir on the Jackson River in Bath County, surrounded entirely by George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. No residential development exists and none is possible -- all 43 miles of shoreline is federal public land. Brown trout reach 25 inches. No trout license required. The Jackson River below Gathright Dam is one of Virginia's premier wild trout tailwaters -- though a 1996 Supreme Court case has blocked 0.75 miles of public access below the dam since then.
The most remote lake in Virginia -- no homes, all National Forest
National Forest owns every acre of shoreline
George Washington and Jefferson National Forests surround Lake Moomaw entirely. The lake was created when Gathright Dam was constructed by the USACE in 1975-1979 on land that was already federal National Forest. Unlike USACE reservoirs like Philpott Lake where the Corps bought land from private owners before dam construction, the Moomaw project was built into an existing block of National Forest land. The result is 43 miles of shoreline where the land management transitions directly from USACE project boundary to National Forest -- no private land exists at the water's edge anywhere on the lake.
Brown trout reach 25 inches -- no trout license required
Virginia DWR maintains a two-story fishery at Lake Moomaw: rainbow trout and brown trout in the cool deep water, warmwater species in the shallower areas. DWR stocks McConaughy rainbow trout and alewives to serve as forage for the trout population. Brown trout reach 25 inches, and DWR sampling found that 75 percent of sampled brown trout exceeded 16 inches -- an exceptional size structure for a Virginia lake fishery. No trout fishing license is required to fish at Lake Moomaw specifically, and no National Forest recreation stamp is required either -- a cost advantage over some other mountain trout fishing destinations.
The Kraft v. Burr access problem on the Jackson River tailwater
The Jackson River below Gathright Dam is one of Virginia's premier wild trout tailwaters -- the cold, oxygenated water released from the dam sustains a trophy trout fishery downstream that draws fly anglers from across the mid-Atlantic. But access to the river has been complicated since 1996, when the Virginia Supreme Court in Kraft v. Burr ruled in favor of four private landowners who own land along a 0.75-mile stretch of the Jackson River below the dam. The ruling has blocked public wading access to that stretch for decades, creating an ongoing access controversy that any visitor to the Jackson River tailwater needs to understand before planning a trip.
Named for the man who fought 40 years to build the dam
Lake Moomaw is named after Benjamin Cline Moomaw Jr. of Covington, Virginia -- known as the 'Father of Gathright Dam' because of his decades-long advocacy for the project. Moomaw began lobbying for the dam in the 1930s after flood damage to Covington and downstream communities, and continued advocating through Congress and the USACE authorization process for over 40 years. The USACE officially named the reservoir after him in recognition of his role in making the project a reality. Construction began in 1975 and was completed in 1979. The dam itself is called Gathright Dam, named for the Gathright family whose land was in the project area.
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