Pipeline

🅿️ Parking: Pipeline Trail Overlook: 310 S 14th St, Richmond, VA 23219 [https://goo.gl/maps/PAJHv2QPPR9vS7Xg7]

⭐ Accessibility rating: 7/10

🛶 Kayak/canoe launch: There is no boat launch here.

🐟 What to expect: A late season striper fishing dream. Smallies and big cats also love the pipeline.

🍨 Inside scoop… Come here early June with a top water popper. Big striper eats loading…

The Details:

The Pipeline trail is one of Richmond’s most exciting adventures, as the above-water cement pipeline provides a walkway a few feet above the river. This spot has limited parking available at the main overlook, but you can also find street parking on Byrd St. (the road you come down before turning into the overlook lot). Once you find the overlook parking area, head along the flood wall until you reach a set of stairs leading down to the pipeline. It can be a bit difficult to navigate the steep stairs, so be careful entering the walkway. Once you are on the pipeline, you will want to head upriver until you reach a sandy beach! The sandy beach is an excellent starting point for your session, as it provides great access to one of the best rapids in this stretch. Cast up toward the major rapid, and let your lure bump along the bottom. This spot is particularly good during late the late spring striper run. Stripers will stack up in high density all around this area, and you can access the spot in minutes from the parking lot. The water does move really fast here during higher flows, so if you decide to wade across, take caution walking on the slippery bottom. On the contrary, when the water is low, you can walk across in the bottom of the run with ease. There is a lot of excellent fishing across the river from this run, so take advantage of the summer flows and explore across for great smallmouth success.

What makes this spot unique stems from the variety of options you have all times of the year. When it’s early for stripers and smallies, I love fishing the side canal where the river spits out near the overlook. There are some massive largemouth bass that roam this pool, so bring your bass gear and have a go on the side channel before hitting the big river. You can also pop back on the pipeline and walk upriver to access another set of rapids and side pools. A lot of big smallmouth hang out in the side pools of these huge rapids, so cast a jig in and around these rocky side pockets, and you should have a lot of luck. If you continue all the way to the top of the pipeline trail, it turns to the left and goes into the river. This is another fun route to take on low water days, and you can have a lot of luck casting on either side of the pipeline as it heads upriver. As always, be careful walking along this cement structure, especially on high water days! Happy fishing!

Local tip: Cast all the way across the first rapid toward the grassy peninsula. Dance a top water lure on top.

If we were stuck with one lure: A very large blue and silver Cotton Cordell in the spring time.