Ed Allen’s Boats & Bait Weekday Tournament at Chickahominy Lake

Chickahominy Lake, a 1,244-acre reservoir in New Kent County, Virginia, formed by the impoundment of the Chickahominy River approximately 30 miles west of Williamsburg, holds a bass population that the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources has maintained through consistent management as one of the stronger freshwater fisheries in the Tidewater region. Ed Allen’s Boats and Bait at 1004 Ed Allens Drive in Lanexa runs a weekday bass tournament on the lake every Tuesday evening from June 2 through December 29, 2026, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Entry is $40 per team plus an $8 launch fee. Teams fish a five-fish limit with a 12-inch minimum length requirement. Each entry includes a chance at the Big Fish prize for the heaviest single bass of the evening. Teams may fish solo or as a pair; one boat per team is permitted.

Ed Allen’s is one of the more complete small-boat fishing operations on Virginia’s tidal freshwater system, combining a tackle shop with a well-regarded lakeside restaurant, full boat rental fleet, and the tournament infrastructure that keeps a regular mid-week competitive fishing community operating through the full calendar year. The Tuesday evening format, designed around working anglers who cannot commit to full-weekend tournament events, has developed a consistent field that represents a cross-section of the Virginia bass fishing community from recreational weekend anglers to serious regional competitors using the weekly event as both competition practice and fishery study. Register at the dock or by phone at 804-966-5368. Walk-up registration is accepted as long as boat capacity for the evening field has not been reached.

Chickahominy Lake and Its Setting

The Chickahominy River, which drains into the James River at its confluence near Lanexa, was the center of the Chickahominy people’s territory when the Jamestown Colony was established 15 miles to the east in 1607. The river and its watershed carry one of the more layered colonial-era histories in Virginia, from the early encounters between the Chickahominy Nation and the English colonists to the Civil War’s Peninsula Campaign, which ran across New Kent County in spring 1862. Chickahominy Riverfront Park, four miles southeast of Ed Allen’s on the Chickahominy’s lower reach, provides public camping and boat access to the tidal river section with interpretive materials on both periods.

Good to Know
Ed Allen’s lakeside restaurant operates through the summer and fall season with a water view that rewards arriving early before tournament launch for a meal. Cash is accepted; credit card availability should be confirmed when registering. The 8:30 p.m. end time through the summer months allows fishing into the low light periods that typically produce the most active bass feeding on the Chickahominy’s shallow flats and vegetated coves.

Colonial Williamsburg and the Regional Context

Colonial Williamsburg, 30 miles east of Lanexa on US-60, operates the most extensive living history district in the United States, with more than 600 restored and reconstructed 18th-century structures staffed by interpreters in period dress across the 301-acre historic area. The combination of a Tuesday evening bass tournament on the Chickahominy followed by a Colonial Williamsburg visit the following day represents one of the more unusual two-day itineraries in the Tidewater Virginia corridor, though the geographic proximity makes it entirely practical. For vacation rental properties in the New Kent County and Chickahominy Lake area, look on Lake.com.