By Peter Brookes | Besides being one of the finest warmwater fisheries in the Eastern United States, the iconic New River in Southwestern Virginia provides a classic case of what your high school English teacher might call a “misnomer.”
The New River is hardly new.
While the river was new at one time to the English explorers who gave the waterway its name, the 320-mile New River is now considered to be one of the world’s oldest rivers; many geologists estimate it to be the second oldest river after Egypt’s Nile. We’re talking 300 million years old.
At a minimum, geochronologists think the New River probably ranks in the top 10 of the world’s oldest rivers; most experts seem to agree that it’s America’s oldest river, certainly the oldest on the East Coast.
Interestingly, the New also flows north (actually northwest) from its North Carolina headwaters through Virginia for 160 miles and then into West Virginia. This contrasts with most Eastern U.S. rivers that flow southerly. The New’s waters eventually empty into the mighty Mississippi.
And, fluvial fun facts aside, this time of year, it’s one of Virginia’s best-kept smallmouth bass fishing secrets. Indeed, the New is considered one of the best bronzeback fisheries in Virginia alongside the James, Shenandoah, and Rappahannock. It’s also one of the best in the Eastern U.S. outside of the likes of the Susquehanna, Delaware, and St. Lawrence rivers.
But fishing the New isn’t just about smallies; it’s much, much more….
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