West Virginia is a very short drive from my house, so I went to its section of the Shenandoah River and caught a few smallmouth bass, with the biggest being 13 inches. This was certainly not one of the more memorable of my trips, but, outside of Virginia, it was probably the easiest.
Update June 2015: I first heard of Zetts Fish Farm (www.zettsfishhatchery.com) in October 2014. Zetts is an easy drive from northern Virginia and offers several ponds of differing sizes that contain a variety of fish. Unfortunately, despite my not hearing about it until relatively recently, it is not exactly a well-kept secret and receives a lot of fishing pressure. The main trophy pond was so crowded both times I went that I opted for another pond that I was told contained trophy catfish. I did not have any luck catching a trophy the first time, but, on my second trip, after almost five hours of trying, I finally landed a 25-inch channel catfish, good enough for a West Virginia trophy fish citation.
This citation meant I had caught at least one trophy fish in 36 states.
