Iron Gate to Buchanan, one ramp at a time
The James begins where the Jackson and Cowpasture meet at Iron Gate, and the first public access is under the Route 220 bridge less than a mile below that junction, with gravel parking across Glen Wilton Road. DWR's float descriptions chain the upper river together from there: Iron Gate to Glen Wilton, Glen Wilton to Gala (pool and riffle water muskie anglers like), the short run from the Sinking Creek access at Gala to the Craig Creek access at Eagle Rock, and then the long day from Eagle Rock to the Horseshoe Bend ramp off Route 43. Below that, Springwood (a carry-down under the Route 630 bridge) to the Buchanan ramp above the Route 11 bridge is, in DWR's words, one of the most popular floats on the upper river and its most popular muskie segment.
Blue Ridge Fishing Adventures, who guide out of this stretch, describe a shale-bottomed river with holes 10 to 20 feet deep in the mountain sections, fish stacked on the downstream side of ledges, and private land almost everywhere between ramps. Outside the access sites it is a boat river. Plan the shuttle before you launch; full-day floats run seven to ten miles.
Lick Run, not Richmond: which gauge to read
This page reads USGS 02016500, the James at Lick Run in Botetourt County, a few miles below Iron Gate and upstream of Eagle Rock. It measures the combined flow of the Jackson and Cowpasture, which means Gathright Dam releases on the Jackson show up here. Blue Ridge Fishing Adventures names it as the reference for the upper river and gives the numbers: 1,200 to 1,300 cfs is good float fishing water with current to move the boat, while around 600 cfs the river turns low and clear, floats slow down and presentations must be precise. That is the 600 to 1,300 cfs band above. The long-term record puts July through October medians between about 430 and 615 cfs, so late summer usually sits at the low end, and spring medians of 1,500 to 2,000 cfs mean April floats are often pushy.
Downstream, the gauge most Richmond anglers quote is USGS 02037500 near Richmond, the Westham gauge above the fall line. The city reads its stage in feet, not cfs, and Friends of James River Park states the rule: life jackets must be worn when the river is at or above 5 feet. A summer storm in the headwaters can take days to arrive at Westham while Lick Run has already dropped, so check the one for the water you are actually fishing.
The 14 to 22 inch slot from Iron Gate to 14th Street
Virginia's 2026 regulations cover the whole non-tidal river as one unit: from the confluence of the Jackson and Cowpasture in Botetourt County downstream to the 14th Street Bridge in Richmond, no largemouth or smallmouth from 14 to 22 inches may be kept, and only one bass longer than 22 inches per day within the statewide five-bass creel. Muskellunge fall under the statewide rule of one per day with a 40-inch minimum. A Virginia freshwater license covers everything here.
The slot has had real work to do. DWR's 2026 forecast says poor spawns from 2010 to 2020 left fewer quality and trophy smallmouth, but above-average spawns in 2021, 2023 and 2024 are now filling the river with 6 to 12 inch fish. In fall 2025 biologists collected 1,516 smallmouth in the upper James, more than 70 percent of them 7 inches or longer and about 10 percent inside the protected range. DWR also asks anglers to spread out, since recreational use of the upper James has become extremely popular.
Streamers in April, poppers in July, muskie in December
Pre-spawn is the time for the biggest smallmouth. Blue Ridge Fishing Adventures fishes large streamers such as Game Changers and Swim Coaches from late March into mid-April near the deep wintering pools, then watches fish move onto gravel flats to spawn from mid-April to mid-May. Wesley Hodges, who guides from Eagle Rock, uses 8 and 9 weights and heavy sinking lines in that window. Summer turns the river into a topwater game, with damselflies, dragonflies and cicadas around and crayfish and hellgrammite patterns filling in when the surface bite stalls. Murray's Fly Shop sees the White Fly hatch on Valley rivers in July and August; on the flat pools of the James, stay until dark in case it comes off.
Fall pushes fish back toward the deep pools, and crayfish crawled through slow seams become the steady method. By late fall both guides switch to muskie, 12-weight rods and enormous flies, fishing the pools between Glen Wilton and Buchanan where DWR says most of the river's stocked muskies live.
Nine miles through Richmond
Below Bosher's Dam the James drops over the fall line for about nine miles to the 14th Street Bridge, where it meets tide. DWR describes rocky outcrops, big runs, deep pools and intense rapids, and a history of trophy smallmouth, sunfish and catfish. The Pony Pasture area's deep pockets are DWR's suggestion for catfish. Fall-line smallmouth catches in DWR's 2021 sampling were among the lowest since 2007, and in 2026 the agency flagged a detection of Alabama bass in the fall-line reach, a species that hybridizes with and outcompetes smallmouth. If you catch a bass you cannot identify, photograph it. The fall line floods fast after headwater rain, so read Westham before you wade.