Our Rivers Run Through Here: Fly Fishing in Virginia - Surviving the Winter "Dark Ages"
Highlights of the Virginia Fly Fishing and Wine Festival, which brings together vendors from up and down the East Coast, and many from the Commonwealth.
By Owen L. Conner
COLUMNIST
As any Virginian can tell you, the winter months of January and February are always a challenge. I have long referred to them as the “dark ages,” for good reason. By the time the final whistle blows on the Superbowl, you may as well just look forward to the spring Shad run or perhaps baseball—well, at least we used to be able to do that that when the Washington Nationals still cared!
For fishermen, there may still be some opportunities to fish, but the wind and weather begin to make these experiences more challenging and less enjoyable. However, there is one local event that can at least banish the winter doldrums for a weekend—the Virginia Fly Fishing & Wine Festival, which is held annually in Doswell, about 30 miles south of Fredericksburg.
This unique festival celebrated its 25th anniversary this month. It began in 2001, with several tents and the humble goal of educating the public about the South River (Waynesboro, Va.) and other Virginia fisheries. Over the years, however, the event has grown and began attracting fly fishing enthusiasts from up and down the east coast. As a result of its success, the festival relocated to the spacious indoor Meadow Event Park in 2016.
Created and directed by Virginia fly fisherman and author Beau Beasely, the mission of the Virginia Fly Fishing & Wine Festival is to promote fly fishing to as many people as possible. The festival is designed to attract everyone from novices to the most experienced fly fishers—and with the addition of the wine, cider, and bourbon tastings, it also manages to attract spouses, or others who will tolerate fishing talk in return for a fun day out.
Throughout the event, there are both free and paid classes offering instruction in casting, fly tying, and resources conservation.
On January 10, I attended the festival with my ever present fishing partner/brother Marshall Conner. As we have participated over the years, the festival has become a happy tradition that brightens our personal “dark ages.”
The admission fee is $20. This includes a nice wine glass with the festival logo, which is used to sample free wine and spirits from roughly a dozen local wineries and distilleries. Beer tickets are available for an additional $5.
The vast space of the event center is neatly organized in rows of vendors and participants. There are a large number of fly fishing manufacturers, from large brand names such as Orvis, Hardy, and Norvise to specialty companies such as Miss Mayfly, which specializes in waders and apparel made for women.
There were also a half dozen fly shops that had set up small satellite stores for the weekend. My favorites of these were our local Harrisonburg, Virginia-based Mossy Creek Fly Fishing; North Carolina’s Maggie Valley Fly Shop; and Precision Fly and Tackle from Mount Holly Springs, Pennsylvania. These shops sell everything from rods and reels to tying materials and often have special sales for festival attendees.
For experienced “fly tyers,” the festival offers classes led by well-known professionals and local specialists. These classes are limited to a small number of tickets that can be purchased online prior to attendance.
If you have deeper pockets, or are looking for an adventure of a lifetime, various guiding services, lodges and travel outfitters are present. These range from exotic trips to Alaska, Maine, the Bahamas, and Manitoba, Canada.
More affordable, local guide services can be found with Richmond, Virginia’s Current Culture Fly and wonderfully friendly Outer Banks guide “Dirty” Harry Markalis.
Specialty vendors are also in attendance. A favorite from this year was Meg Davies Design, an artist who specializes in nature art and fish and fly pattern gouache and pen prints. My brother purchased an amazing leather plier sheath from Ruthless Handmade. Cory Routh is a resident of Back Bay, Virginia, who also runs a film company and has interviewed legendary fly fishermen such as Walt Cary, Lefty Kreh, and his personal friend, Flip Pallot.
Last but not least were several Virginia distilleries, which were highlights of our day. Hill Top Distillery based in Maidens, Virginia—which gave a wonderful presentation during a lecture session titled “Bourbon & Bass Bugs”—and the Cider Lab cidery, based in Sumerduck and Spotsylvania, were our personal favorites.
The Virginia Fly Fishing & Wine Festival is the perfect tonic for the winter fishing blues. I highly recommend you mark the date for next year’s event in January 2027.
Marshall and I hope to see you there.
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