Back Bay is located south of Sandbridge, Virginia. Access for fishing is available at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

In the 1970’s, Back Bay produced one of the top largemouth bass fisheries in the USA. Fishing for trophy class largemouth bass peaked in 1980, when 240 citation-sized largemouth bass (eight pounds or greater) were reported to be caught in the bay. Eventually the fishery fell into decline as pollution, habitat loss, and other factors took their toll.

In recent years, Back Bay has recovered considerably, with biologists citing improvements in water quality, the growth of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), and fish populations.

In 2012, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) began a three-year F-1 hybrid largemouth bass stocking project in Back Bay. The program followed an experimental stocking of approximately 75,000 largemouth bass in 2009.

Related Information

Virginia Freshwater Fishing

Albemarle Sound