Some anglers visit the lake to fish for the muskie, which are stocked every year by the Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries.
With a largemouth bass creel limit of one and a minimum size limit of 18 inches, the lake provides great opportunities for bass fishing.
Northern pike were stocked from 1997 to 1999 to prey on small bluegill and crappie; a management strategy that has worked to produce some great pictures (check out the photo on the right… He threw it back!).
Instead of many thin crappies, the lake’s population is definitely shifting to fewer and fatter fish. In 1995, only one percent of the adult crappies in the lake were over eight inches long. By 2001, twenty-three percent of the adult crappies were over eight inches long.
The lake has good numbers of six to eight inch crappie, and anglers are likely to catch some that are up to 10 inches long. Bluegills in the lake now average about 0.5-pound. Channel catfish up to 15 pounds can be caught from the lake. A small pond adjacent to Rural Retreat Lake is stocked seasonally with trout.
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