Lying in north-central West Virginia near Interstate 79, Stonewall Jackson Lake might be the easiest of the Mountain State impoundments to find. Additionally, Stonewall has five boat launches scattered throughout the lake, which makes boating access very convenient. All launching facilities, with the exception of Glady Fork, are capable of handling large boats. Each facility offers plenty of parking.

From the air, Stonewall Jackson is shaped like a giant V with two distinct arms: West Fork and Skin Creek.

The Skin Creek arm has three launches: the Vandalia Bay, Glady Fork and Georgetown. These sites can be located by taking exit 96 off Interstate 79 and traveling on county Route 30.

Vandalia Bay is the busiest ramp on Stonewall Jackson and receives the most fishing pressure of any launch site. Located close to the main lake, Vandalia Bay has few no-wake restrictions surrounding the ramp. Boats with big motors tend to use this site as they can get on plane quickly, and thus access other parts of the lake.

The Georgetown (Little Skin Creek) ramp receives minimal fishing pressure and may be one of the lake’s most underrated areas for fishing. The area offers excellent stands of timber and a few riprapped shorelines for anglers to fish. However, Georgetown is located inside nearly a mile of no-wake zone, so anglers make a solid commitment to fish the area when launching at this site.

The best feature of Georgetown is that anglers can immediately begin fishing after launching their boat, since the ramp is adjacent to excellent bass cover.

The Glady Fork access has a small carry-down launch, perfect for canoes and ultralight watercraft, but trailered boats can’t be launched at this site. Large boats can access the area from the main lake. This tributary cove offers good habitat and receives a fair amount of fishing pressure.

Best features of the area include standing timber and a sizeable shoreline covered with riprap. If you’re trying to get away from angling pressure, Glady Fork could be one of your better options on the Skin Creek side of the lake.

On the other side of Stonewall Jackson Lake, the Roanoke and Jacksonville sites provide access to the West Fork arm. Anglers should take exit 91 from Interstate 79 to reach the West Fork sites.

The Roanoke/State Park launch is located inside Stonewall Jackson State Park and remains the second busiest ramp on the lake. Anglers should be aware that Stonewall Resort now charges $6 to enter the park and launch a boat at this access ramp. For frequent park users, season passes are available.

This access facility does feature the lake’s only marina service and is centrally located in the middle of the West Fork arm. As for bass habitat, the Roanoke area features some of the most diverse habitat on the lake, including open points, riprapped shorelines and culverts. In part, because such a variety of cover types are available, this area provides consistent fishing under a wide variety of environmental and biological conditions