Eighteen pounds, eleven ounces, and why that fish is gone
Philpott Dam was finished in 1953 and trout went into the Smith the following year, according to On The Fly South. The browns started spawning on their own, and from 1974 the river turned out fish in the 14 to 18 pound range. The top of that run was Bill Nease's brown of June 22, 1979, 18 pounds 11 ounces, which Virginia now lists as the historic state record after DWR revised its record book to separate older entries.
Those giants grew on alewives from Philpott Lake that came through the generators stunned and easy to eat. That forage disappeared in the 1980s for reasons nobody pinned down, and the giants went with it. What remains is density: On The Fly South reports that 60 percent of Virginia's water holding stream-bred browns is in the Smith, and in DWR's 2024 sampling between Philpott and Martinsville dams, 2,524 of 2,563 trout collected were browns, with adults averaging 9 inches and a range up to 20.
A dam that mostly stopped peaking
Philpott's powerhouse has two Francis turbines rated at 6,700 kilowatts each and a small 600-kilowatt unit, run by the Wilmington District of the Corps. When the big units start, On The Fly South describes a 3-foot wall of water sweeping down from the dam after the siren, and nobody should be standing in the river for that. The 2020 flood damaged the plant, and DWR biologist George Palmer told DWR's blog that the steady cool release since then, without the old daily peaking, has improved brown trout growth. DWR's 2025 report credits changes in discharge volume and duration for the jump in fish over 10 inches: 22 percent of browns sampled in 2024, against under 15 percent before 2016.
Gauge 02072000 sits a short way below the dam, so it shows the release almost directly. Over the past year it has moved in flat steps rather than daily spikes: about 75 cfs through the winter, about 125 in spring, 160 in July and 250 to 290 in August. DWR notes the lower winter discharge makes for skinnier, harder fishing. No local shop publishes a wading range for this gauge, so the 95 to 320 cfs band here is roughly the middle half of the June to September record since 1951. If the line jumps by hundreds of cfs in minutes, a unit is running. Call 276-629-2432 for the generation schedule before you go.
Philpott to Martinsville Dam, then the quiet eleven miles
Public water starts at the dam. On the south bank the Smith River Trail parking lot gives a half mile of trail with several ways down to the water; on the north side there is a lot, canoe launch and restrooms, with pull-offs along Stoneybrook Drive (Route 727). Downstream, On The Fly South likes the Philpott Drive bridge (Route 674) just above the Town Creek mouth, the Route 57 and Bullock Drive bridges in Bassett, and the T.B. Stanley Highway bridge between Stanleytown and Bassett Forks. Henry County Parks and Recreation runs nine public access points along the river. The river is up to 100 feet wide and almost all wadable, but flat water pushes a wake from every step, so move slowly.
DWR's pattern is simple: many small browns near the dam, fewer and larger ones downstream. The water warms over the 19 miles to Martinsville Dam, and below it the trout reach runs about 11 more miles with few access points, deep pools and steep banks. DWR calls 12 to 18 inch browns common there and a fish over 20 inches possible, while summer temperatures turn borderline. Below the Marrowbone access the browns fade and smallmouth take over.
Two stocked stretches inside a 31-mile brown trout rule
From Philpott Dam downstream about 31 miles to the Route 636 crossing at Mitchell Bridge, roughly 10.5 miles below Martinsville Dam, DWR prohibits keeping browns from 10 to 24 inches and allows one brown over 24 inches per day. Rainbows and brook trout have a 7-inch minimum, the combined creel is six trout, and bait and any artificial lure are legal.
Two put-and-take sections overlap that rule. The upper one runs 3.3 miles from the dam to the Town Creek confluence as Category B water, stocked five times between October 1 and June 15. The lower one is Category A water from North Bassett about 9.5 miles to below Fieldale, stocked eight times in the same window with rainbows, brook and tiger trout. A trout license is required in both from October 1 through June 15, and the brown trout protection still applies inside them.
Sulphur afternoons and size 24 midges
RiverReports puts Hendricksons on the Smith in March and April and sulphurs from early May building through June; On The Fly South describes heavy afternoon hatches of Light Cahills, Hendricksons, olive midges and caddis in May and June, with fish keyed to size 16 to 20. A DWR writer landed 15 browns in a day on size 14 and 16 Sulphur dries in late June. When nothing shows, try a Blue-winged Olive as small as 26. From summer through October, black or cinnamon ants and beetles work, again tiny, and RiverReports calls midges in 20 to 24 the river's staple. Long leaders to 5X or 6X matter more here than pattern; the water is slow and very clear, and sculpin streamers at first and last light are the way to a big fish.