Leesville Lake, Virginia, USA

Also known as:  Leesville Reservoir

The 3000+ acre Leesville Lake is another of Virginia’s prolific fishing and outdoor recreation reservoirs. It is part of the Smith Mountain Lake hydropower generation project. Leesville Lake’s well-developed public recreation areas provide many opportunities for a fine mix of water related outdoor activities. Boating, fishing, birding, and wildlife viewing are some of the highlights for any visitor. There are an adequate number of boat launching ramps…
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    • All About Leesville Lake, VA

    Lake Locations: USA - US South Region - Virginia - Central Virginia - Southern Virginia Region -

    The 3000+ acre Leesville Lake is another of Virginia’s prolific fishing and outdoor recreation reservoirs. It is part of the Smith Mountain Lake hydropower generation project. Leesville Lake’s well-developed public recreation areas provide many opportunities for a fine mix of water related outdoor activities. Boating, fishing, birding, and wildlife viewing are some of the highlights for any visitor. There are an adequate number of boat launching ramps along Leesville Reservoir, a day use and picnic area and a couple of marinas for boaters and anglers.

    Leesville Lake is located mostly in Pittsylvania County, near Altavista, stretching along the border of the Central and Southern tourism regions. There is little shoreline development around Leesville Lake, contributing to much less crowding and a more enjoyable experience for anglers and sport boaters.

    Leesville Lake was created by damming the Roanoke River exiting from the Smith Mountain Lake Dam. The reservoir is part of the Appalachian Electric Power’s (a unit of American Electric Power) Smith Mountain Lake Project, flooding farmlands along the river, and was finished in 1963.

    The Smith Mountain Lake Project operates on a process called pumped storage. Water from Smith Mountain Lake’s hydroelectric generators is captured by Leesville Dam and is pumped from Leesville Reservoir for later re-use. Some of the water is used by Leesville Dam for its own hydroelectric power generation. Leesville Lake has an average depth of 31 feet and storage of up to nearly 100,000 acre-feet of water. Due to this pumped storage system, Leesville Reservoir experiences daily water fluctuations of 1 to 10 feet.

    Fishing along the 100 miles of Leesville Lake shoreline is excellent, especially for striped bass. Annually, the reservoir is stocked with striped bass and walleye and walleye taken there will reach up to six pounds. Virginia’s record striped bass was caught in Leesville Lake in 2000. Fishing opportunites include black bass, striped bass, walleye, white bass, yellow perch, black crappie, white crappie and white perch. Fish populations in Leesville Lake vary considerably by location and therefore present a challenge to the interested angler. Prime fishing is from late fall and early summer and is best from Leesville Dam to Howell Creek.

    The day use and picnic area near Leesville Dam is quite pleasant and generally not heavily used. For the geocachers among us, there are over 20 caches in the area, so bring your GPS receiver and some ‘booty’.

    Pack your rods and head out to Leesville Lake. Stay for a few days and gather in the peacefulness under a night sky of a million stars. The memories will stay with you forever.

    Things to Do at Leesville Lake

    These are some activities in the Leesville Lake, VA area visitors can enjoy:

    • Vacation Rentals
    • Fishing
    • Boating
    • Picnicking
    • Wildlife Viewing
    • Birding

    What Kind of Fish Are in Leesville Lake?

    Leesville Lake has been known to have the following fish species:

    • Bass
    • Black Bass
    • Black Crappie
    • Crappie
    • Perch
    • Striped Bass
    • Walleye
    • White Bass
    • White Crappie
    • White Perch
    • Yellow Perch
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    Find Places to Stay at Leesville Lake

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    More Sites to Book a Leesville Lake Vacation

    Our interactive Leesville Lake lodging map above is an easy tool for comparing VRBO rental homes and nearby hotels with Booking.com, but there could be times when you need to expand your search for different types of accommodations. Here are some other lake lodging partners we recommend:

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    Leesville Lake Statistics & Helpful Links

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    Lake Type: Artificial Reservoir, Dammed

    Water Level Control: Appalachan Electric Power

    Surface Area: 3,040 acres

    Shoreline Length: 100 miles

    Minimum Elevation (Min Pond): 600 feet

    Maximum Elevation (Max Pond): 613 feet

    Average Depth: 31 feet

    Water Volume: 94,960 acre-feet

    Completion Year: 1963

    Leesville Lake Map
    Lake Water Level
    Local Weather Forecast

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