North River (Natural Chimneys)

Fishing, stocking, and current conditions

Brown trout, rainbow trout, and brook trout water; 17 stockings on the 2026 record, monthly January through May. One of 7 stocked waters on the Augusta County record. A USGS gauge reports from this water, so the conditions card on this page is live.

Augusta County · Virginia · see it on the national map

last stocked May 28 148 days ago

flow 144% of seasonal normal

best window 10:15 pm-12:15 am solunar major today

Water right now 2.19 ft gage height flow 157 cfs, 144% of the Oct 23 median USGS gauge 01622000 (NORTH RIVER NEAR BURKETOWN, VA) · read 8:45 pm this evening

17 stockings 2026

The year here

stocked last 7 days announced ahead · tap a tick for details

What swims here

Brown trout 8 stockings

Rainbow trout 6 stockings

Brook trout 3 stockings

Stocking record 2026

Agency feed checked today.

Date	Species	Size	Status
Jan 2	Brown trout	catchable	completed
Jan 22	Rainbow trout	catchable	completed
Jan 22	Brown trout	catchable	completed
Jan 23	Brook trout	catchable	completed
Feb 17	Brook trout	catchable	completed
Feb 25	Rainbow trout	catchable	completed
Feb 25	Brook trout	catchable	completed
Mar 23	Rainbow trout	catchable	completed
Mar 27	Rainbow trout	catchable	completed
Mar 27	Brown trout	catchable	completed
Mar 31	Brown trout	catchable	completed
Apr 8	Brown trout	catchable	completed
Apr 27	Brown trout	catchable	completed
May 6	Rainbow trout	catchable	completed
May 6	Brown trout	catchable	completed
May 28	Rainbow trout	catchable	completed
May 28	Brown trout	catchable	completed

When to fish North River (Natural Chimneys)

	Major periods (~2 h)	Minor periods (~1 h)
Today	9:52-11:52 am and 10:15 pm-12:15 am	4:09-5:09 am and 4:26-5:26 pm
Tomorrow	10:38 am-12:38 pm	5:16-6:16 am and 4:51-5:51 pm

Moon: waxing gibbous, 92% lit. These are solunar periods, the traditional feeding-time theory: majors around the moon's transit overhead and underfoot, minors around moonrise and moonset. Theory, not a measurement. Times are Eastern Time (EDT).

What the record actually says

Last stocked May 28
Flow 144% of the seasonal median

Computed this evening, Oct 23 · Virginia fishing forecast

Gear for this water

It has been a while since the trucks came. The holdovers have spread out and wised up; downsize and fish natural.

For the trout (brown trout stocked 8 times here in 2026, moving water)

Drifted bait	single salmon egg or half a crawler under light split shot, rolled along the bottom
Small jerkbaits	floating minnows in the 2 to 3 inch class for the deeper bends
Waders or wet-wading boots	stocked stream fish stack in the obvious pools; getting to the next one is the edge

Suggestions follow from what the state actually stocks here and what kind of water it is, nothing else. No sponsored placements.

Nearby stocked waters

The closest waters with stocking pages of their own, straight-line miles from this one.

Water	Distance	Most recent
Silver Lake	11 mi	May 28
Briery Branch Lake	13 mi	Oct 21
Moormans River (S. Fork)	18 mi	May 12
Hone Quarry Run	20 mi	Apr 14
Hearthstone Lake	20 mi	Apr 23

Follow Augusta County stocking: RSS / Calendar (iCal) / Print the schedule

Records from Virginia DWR (official page). Placement from USGS GNIS. Schedules change without notice. Seasons, limits, and licenses: Virginia fishing regulations.