Burke Lake Park (Fairfax Station, VA)

My daughter wanted to try fishing, so we headed to another one of our favorite outdoor areas in Virginia, Burke Lake Park. Burke Lake is a man-made 218-acre lake with a little over five miles of fishing shoreline.  There is a recently built fishing pier and a boat launching dock. The lake is known for its fishing around town and, according to the park’s website, is home toWalleye, Muskie, Catfish, Black Crappie, Yellow and White Perch, and a variety of Sunfish and Bluegill.

We are by no means experienced fishermen, and I hadn’t been in several years, so this review will be written from a novice perspective.  While driving in to this park, the signs clearly note that gates close at sunset.  There is a marina on park grounds that offers bait for sale. Calling ahead is an option to make sure the store is open and bait is available.  We brought our own bait and used Big Red Worms from Wal-Mart. Within five minutes of settling our stuff on the pier and casting our lines (and after explaining how much patience fishing takes and there are no guarantees for catching a fish), my daughter had her first hook. She pulled in a nice sized catfish. We continued to fish for an hour or so and she pulled in four more small sunfish and bluegill. All in all, it was a lot of fun, and both kids enjoyed the fishing.

After our first experience, we headed there again prepared to rent a boat (the park marina also offers boat rentals).  One variable we hadn’t prepared for was that the marina staff members enforce a three person per boat limit (regardless of age). For our family of four, this presented an issue to work around.  We ended up renting two rowboats. Each was sixteen dollars for the full day option (the only other option was a half-day rental which began after3PM). Life jackets were included for no additional fee when we were there. The park website offers current information on pricing for boat rentals, launching and flotation devices (see below for link). The kids had a wonderful time fishing on the lake and it was very pretty. One of the highlights was seeing a bald eagle flying overhead. We weren’t as lucky in our fishing (catching only one sunfish) but not so bad for beginners.

On an aside, there are no dogs allowed in boats. There was also a sign up when we went noting no refunds issued in the case of inclement weather. A Virginia fishing license is required for anyone over 16 years or older. There is a trail that circles the lake beginning in the marina parking lot and there were a lot of joggers and walkers there (dog are welcome here). When we were there, we did see a copperhead on the trail under a log. The playground on site is a good place to let the kids run off some more energy. The park also features train rides and carousel rides, but we haven’t tried these out yet.