The Rappahannock River runs right through Fredericksburg and is normally pretty good for fishing, but spring has now arise and the Rappahannock is loaded with fish because of spring spawning. Spring spawning is when certain types of fish swim upstream (like salmon) to lay their eggs. The Rappahannock provides smallmouth bass, redbreast sunfish, herring, shad and striped bass, during spring and ascends past Fredericksburg, now that Embrey Dam has been completely removed.
   I have already been fishing during the spring and it seemed to be that most people were fishing for Shad and were playing catch and release. The most successful way to catch these fish is to either fly fish or use bright and shiny spinners. The biggest sizes usually peak in mid-to-late April, but the best part is that these are lively fighting fish. You can also catch smallmouth, largemouth and striped bass, during this season. While Largemouth bass are the most common in this area, the smallmouth bass are rarely encountered, but when they have been encountered they were very large (citation sized). The Striped bass also known as the Striper are best to fish for in the fall.
   But no matter what kind of fish your looking to catch I’m sure you will do fine because the Rappahannock is a river with a wide variety of fish (especially during this time of year) ranging from white perch to Stripped bass, so I’m sure you will have fun.

TAKE NOTE: It is now illegal for any person to have river herring in their possession - this includes blueback herring and alewife. All river herring inadvertently caught by anglers must be immediately released back into the water.