The Roanoke River is a magnificent 410-mile waterway flowing through southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, offering diverse fishing opportunities across its varied ecosystems. Beginning in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwestern Virginia, the river winds through the Piedmont region before eventually emptying into the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina. The river's extensive floodplain in its lower reaches contains one of the largest intact bottomland forest ecosystems remaining in the Mid-Atlantic region. With its changing character from mountain headwaters to coastal plain, the Roanoke River supports a rich diversity of fish species and provides excellent year-round fishing opportunities, though the most popular fishing season runs from March through November.