How far do you go? 2024
MittenMouth reply :
How far does everyone have to drive to their "home lake"- the one we frequent the most because we know there are big ones in there?
I'm relatively close to my "home/favorite" lake at maybe a 1 mile but it takes a good 10 minutes to get there because of the route. Prior to moving I was 25 miles out and 45 minutes from my old home/favorite lake.
Hook2Jaw reply :
I've got two hours to Juliette, my favorite, as well as 2 hours to Clark's Hill, Sinclair, and Tobesofkee. The worst part of my lake runs is staying up the night before and rigging followed by not sleeping due to excitement.
This year, I plan to hit the Ogeechee river a bit more.
NittyGrittyBoy reply :
I'm jealous of peoples responses already. I dont have a Lake "close" by. Most all the big lakes are at minimum 1.5hr to 2hr drive away.
What I do have are 2 rivers that are Local to me, one is the Satilla and the other is the Altamaha. One is black (tannic) and the other is muddy constantly. They both offer superb fishing if you like river fishing.
I'm 10 mins from the satilla, 40 from the Altamaha. Just seeing peoples posts on here, definitely jealous of some folks local fisheries! Other than that I fish alot of ponds!
scaleface reply :
25 miles
Hook2Jaw reply :
On 1/22/2020 at 4:22 AM, NittyGrittyBoy said:I'm jealous of peoples responses already. I dont have a Lake "close" by. Most all the big lakes are at minimum 1.5hr to 2hr drive away.
What I do have are 2 rivers that are Local to me, one is the Satilla and the other is the Altamaha. One is black (tannic) and the other is muddy constantly. They both offer superb fishing if you like river fishing.
I'm 10 mins from the satilla, 40 from the Altamaha. Just seeing peoples posts on here, definitely jealous of some folks local fisheries! Other than that I fish alot of ponds!
I'm about 25 minutes from the Altamaha. I always forget about it and need to go stick a bass in there.
Hawkeye21 reply :
I've got about a 20 mile drive to my main fishing spots.
skekoam reply :
I wish there was a go-to lake/pond for us. Anything local is less than 30 minutes, but the pressure is so high that you are never guaranteed a fish or even a bite. I'm seriously considering a move just to get onto more fish. My wife just doesn't know it yet.
12poundbass reply :
My “home lake” if the boat is in the water I walk about 30 feet out the back door to my boat. If my boat is on the trailer I have to drive about 3 miles to the other side of the lake to the boat launch.
Off the top of my head I have 20 lakes with in 15 minutes of my house I could launch my boat. If I really looked over the map it’s probably closer to 35-40 lakes with in 15-20 minutes of my house.
Living in Michigan has it’s perks.
scaleface reply :
On 1/22/2020 at 4:39 AM, 12poundbass said:My “home lake” if the boat is in the water I walk about 30 feet out the back door to my boat.
Must be nice . I love taking one to two weeks to a lake that has cabins and covered docks . Wife and I have discussed moving to LOZ or Table Rock .
NYWayfarer reply :
7 miles for my favorite lake.
I can walk to the river as it is less than a 10 minute drive
MN Fisher reply :
Since I live on an island in Minnetonka - any direction I go hits water. Far as to the two launch points on the lake I use...5 minutes to one, 10 minutes to the other. I'm in the red circle on this map
12poundbass reply :
On 1/22/2020 at 4:44 AM, scaleface said:Must be nice . I love taking one to two weeks to a lake that has cabins and covered docks . Wife and I have discussed moving to LOZ or Table Rock .
It has it’s ups and downs like with anything. I grew up having a cottage on a lake, and we were always fishing even after selling the cottage. I’ve always loved being on the water.
I wish we had more space at our house but like most Michigan lakes that’s a trade off, is space or a lack of. There’s a vacant lot across the street from us and I’m hoping it goes on the market soon, I need a garage.
Jermination reply :
Anywhere you want within an hour. Cherokee, Douglas, & Norris 30 minutes north, Loudon/Tellico 10-25 minutes west, Watts bar 30 min south, chickamauga 45 minutes south
Birdman2136 reply :
18 minutes for me.
Its not my favorite because of giants or anything, a 5 lber is a big fish there, but 3-4s are common. I has a good mixture of everything and holds both largemouth, smallmouth, and pike that reach over 30 inches easy. Docks, pads, grass, gravel points its like a small piece of heaven during the week when I'm typically the only guy there besides a couple old timers crappie fishing.
Another 20 minutes to my favorite stretch of river where I prefer to fish though much more time consuming as its about a 6-8 hour float for me.
Dwight Hottle reply :
My drive time is 39-43 hours or 2,306 miles from here to Lake Baccarac Mexico. I prefer to fly & use one of their boats. If I want something closer Lake O is an hour away.
A-Jay reply :
I never have to drive more than 90 minutes for Brown Bass ~
Couple of the best Lake Menderchucks are about half that.
The closest Lake Menderchuck and the one I'm on the most, is perhaps a 4 minute drive.
And there are 'several' Lake Minichucks very close by (5-10 minutes) that I'll frequent often to fish from in the Old Town Canoe.
Now my favorite Green Bass waters require a whole different level of commitment & a passport.
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A-Jay
galyonj reply :
Depending on where along Fort Loudoun Lake I wanna fish, anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour, I guess. The spot I've posted most of my catches from is a big pond that's fed from that same lake, and it's about 10 minutes from my office – maybe a half hour from the house.
TnRiver46 reply :
I purchased my home with the #1 stipulation being: it had to be less than 5 miles from a boat ramp. I could not and would not live much further than that from water. Not an option, never even considered it, end of story. I also have a family lake house on the water but it will be a while before I’m able to move in there
crankbait2009 reply :
I'm about 20 minutes from my local lake.
DogBone_384 reply :
My home LMB pond is about 10 miles from home. My home SMB pond is 40.
The Bassman reply :
On 1/22/2020 at 5:14 AM, A-Jay said:I never have to drive more than 90 minutes for Brown Bass ~
Couple of the best Lake Menderchucks are about half that.
The closest Lake Menderchuck and the one I'm on the most, is perhaps a 4 minute drive.
And there are 'several' Lake Minichucks very close by (5-10 minutes) that I'll frequent often to fish from in the Old Town Canoe.
Now my favorite Green Bass waters require a whole different level of commitment & a passport.
A-Jay
When I first joined these forums I searched Google maps. Felt really dumb as it sank in.
Mobasser reply :
I have a nice smaller lake within 20 minutes from our house. I can fish it bank or boat.2 other good much bigger lakes are about 45 min away.
lo n slo reply :
10 minutes
WRB reply :
From my driveway to lake Casitas is 54 miles and 50 miles to lake Castiac.
Tom
12poundbass reply :
On 1/22/2020 at 5:14 AM, A-Jay said:I never have to drive more than 90 minutes for Brown Bass ~
Couple of the best Lake Menderchucks are about half that.
The closest Lake Menderchuck and the one I'm on the most, is perhaps a 4 minute drive.
And there are 'several' Lake Minichucks very close by (5-10 minutes) that I'll frequent often to fish from in the Old Town Canoe.
Wait a minute.....so you’re telling me there’s several Lake Menderchucks?
DanielG reply :
The view outside my front door. The lake is 4 1/2 miles long and varies 1/4-1/2 mile wide. We renovated an old family camp to a year round home upon retirement and live here. A bit of heaven in southern Maine. The lake is semi clear and goes shallow to deep, up to 90 ft. The fish aren't huge but the fishing is often good. Bass I catch average about 1 1/2-3 lbs. Some trout and salmon and huge crappie among a few other species.
So, my boat is tied to the dock from approx April/May to Oct/Nov. I'm out almost every other day. Sometimes dawn and dusk. I grew up here and know it like the back of my hand. I've snorkeled all over it as a kid. It's.... Comfortable. So fortunate.
SC53 reply :
My favorite lake, the Stick Marsh is 2 hours away right now. I’ll be moving to Debary Florida in a couple weeks so my drive will increase by 30 minutes. But I will be 1/4 mile from one ramp and 10 minutes to another on the St. John’s river.
BassinCNY reply :
I'm fortunate and I know it. 5 minute drive if I hit the one traffic light to where I fish the most which is the Seneca river. It's great fishing until they spray it in July. Then it's a 10 minute drive to Onondaga lake but they spray that too so it's a 15 minute drive to the closest launch on Oneida but I usually drive another 15 minutes to my preferred launch. I have a bunch of lakes within an hour of me. I'm really happy here.
Tizi reply :
Right out my back door (vacation house - soon to be retirement house):
Bankbeater reply :
I have a city park about 2 miles from my house, and a state conservation spot about 20 miles away. Unfortunately both of those places see some very heavy pressure. The closest reservoir size lake would be between 2-1/2 and 3 hours away depending on which one I am heading to.
Way north bass guy reply :
I’m about 100yds from three fantastic little lakes that my son and I often drag the tinny out into for a nice mixed bag of smallmouth and largemouth, but for the big boat, I have to drive a whole 4 minutes to fish ????. I probably have easily over 100 different lakes I can launch in that are within a 1/2 hour drive of me, not to mention the massive amount of water known as Georgian Bay, which is a five minute drive. The only hard part is deciding which one to hit next.
A-Jay reply :
On 1/22/2020 at 6:16 AM, The Bassman said:When I first joined these forums I searched Google maps. Felt really dumb as it sank in.
Yea - Sorry about.
Never intended to have that happen.
Hope you can understand.
A-Jay
Log Catcher reply :
I am about an hour away from Taylorsville Lake or Cedar Creek lake. There are some closer spots I like to fish on the Ky River but fishing has been very poor there the last few years. I can be on a couple of creeks in about 30 minutes I fish if I don't want to make a long drive.
MIbassyaker reply :
No home lake, but I have about 3 dozen small (a couple hundred acres or less) natural lakes, bayous, impoundments, and gravel pits within an hour's drive I rotate between. The closest few are each about 7 min away.
Bluebasser86 reply :
My "Home Lake", as in the one I live closest to is less than 5 miles from me. My favorites are mostly in the 1-1.5 hour drive range which is as far as I'll drive for a day trip.
GreenPig reply :
On 1/22/2020 at 4:46 AM, MN Fisher said:Since I live on an island in Minnetonka - any direction I go hits water. Far as to the two launch points on the lake I use...5 minutes to one, 10 minutes to the other. I'm in the red circle on this map
I could hear my wife now. Why are you taking tackle with you to go to the doctor, veterinarian, grocery store etc. If I lived on an island I'd always be late getting home.
On 1/22/2020 at 5:14 AM, A-Jay said:I never have to drive more than 90 minutes for Brown Bass ~
Couple of the best Lake Menderchucks are about half that.
The closest Lake Menderchuck and the one I'm on the most, is perhaps a 4 minute drive.
And there are 'several' Lake Minichucks very close by (5-10 minutes) that I'll frequent often to fish from in the Old Town Canoe.
Now my favorite Green Bass waters require a whole different level of commitment & a passport.
A-Jay
Might be a quicker trip if you take your Lund from Maryland down the coast. With all that storage you could do it.????????????????????????????
GreenPig reply :
My driveway to Tobesofkee(recreational) lake ramp is 4 minutes but 9 out of 10 times I'll drive 30 minutes to Juliette(fishing) lake.
Sam reply :
The "big ones" aka Florida Strain Bass, are in the Chickahominy River, east of Richmond and west of Williamsburg.
You have to take Route 5 from where I live, which is a dangerous road on a good day, to get to the Route 5 ramp at the mouth of the Chick.
Or, you can go Route 60 and go south in Providence Forge and take the back roads to River's Rest in the middle of the river.
The third option is to go Route 60 to Rock-A-Hock by the dam where the big ones hang out.
And if you can find your way through the maze of roads, twists and turns, you can launch at Brickyard Landing below the dam.
In all of the above I have to plan for between an hour and a half to two hours of travel time.
Since the tournament weigh-ins are on the Historic James River at Osborne Landing, I usually launch there and fish the river in both directions. Time of travel from my house to Osborne Landing towing the Ranger is about 45 minutes. So far I have nailed a 4.5 pound Florida strain bass by the power plant that I suspect was released at Osborne Landing.
The Bassman reply :
On 1/22/2020 at 8:32 AM, A-Jay said:Yea - Sorry about.
Never intended to have that happen.
Hope you can understand.
A-Jay
Hey, I'm laughing at myself. I wouldn't be advertising my spots if I was catching smallies like that.
N Florida Mike reply :
35 feet ! This is my view. Makes it easy to throw a trip together! That’s not the whole lake either- there’s twice as much as you can see here.Have fished it since 1974. It’s a shallow, weedy lake . Full of eel grass mostly. We have an undeveloped island that has good lay downs all around it. We have a fair amount of docks I can skip under, and some deeper holes. Bass population is excellent, bream population is somewhat below average, and we have a fair catfish population. Also have some giant grass carp. So thankful and blessed to be able to live here.
I can also choose to fish the St Johns river system ( closest ramp is 2 miles from me ) The bigger lakes start about an hour and 1/4 away to the west or southwest. We also have dozens of ponds and small lakes to fish starting 5 minutes from the house up to 30 minutes away.
Then we’ve got a multitude of saltwater options since I live around 15 miles from the coast. Great place to live if you love fishing!
Spankey reply :
The river is pretty much my home spot. I can be at 3 ramp locations anywhere from 20 min. to 40 minutes from home. Locations are pretty much equally as good from one to another.
The lake is a home spot for me also. Fishing that more and more often. The river has suffered some Mother Nature issues. I fish the norther most part of it. That’s about 45 min. I could be at it quicker if I wanted to fish the lower section. My times are not rushed, sort of just take my time and diddly bop my way up.
Not that it’s a big road trip or anything but I make to the Big “D” and the Susky a few times a year also.
FishinBuck07 reply :
On 1/22/2020 at 6:54 AM, BassinCNY said:I'm fortunate and I know it. 5 minute drive if I hit the one traffic light to where I fish the most which is the Seneca river. It's great fishing until they spray it in July. Then it's a 10 minute drive to Onondaga lake but they spray that too so it's a 15 minute drive to the closest launch on Oneida but I usually drive another 15 minutes to my preferred launch. I have a bunch of lakes within an hour of me. I'm really happy here.
You live in the same area my younger brother lives in, also my mother. My brother fishes all the places you fish, he loves the river for sure. I get to fish up there once a year with him for about a week. Beautiful area with all the water around there.
Dens228 reply :
My top spot is 30 minutes away. I always try to mix things up, looking for new water to put the kayak in. I try to keep it within 90 minutes but have gone up to three hours away.
MittenMouth reply :
On 1/22/2020 at 5:14 AM, A-Jay said:I never have to drive more than 90 minutes for Brown Bass ~
Couple of the best Lake Menderchucks are about half that.
The closest Lake Menderchuck and the one I'm on the most, is perhaps a 4 minute drive.
And there are 'several' Lake Minichucks very close by (5-10 minutes) that I'll frequent often to fish from in the Old Town Canoe.
Now my favorite Green Bass waters require a whole different level of commitment & a passport.
A-Jay
Looks like you’re going right by my house- I’ll start packing!
A-Jay reply :
On 1/22/2020 at 9:13 PM, MittenMouth said:Looks like you’re going right by my house- I’ll start packing!
Pack on the light side -
My glove box doesn't hold that much
A-Jay
fishballer06 reply :
My home lakes are all 1-2.5 hours away. My favorite lake is about 7 hours away, in central Ontario.
BassNJake reply :
Where I put in at is 2 left hand turns and probably a mile from the house
I'm glad I take advantage of it.
On this very short trip I pass 2 houses where the bass boats have not moved for at least 5 years.☹️
TnRiver46 reply :
On 1/22/2020 at 10:02 PM, BassNJake said:Where I put in at is 2 left hand turns and probably a mile from the house
I'm glad I take advantage of it.
On this very short trip I pass 2 houses where the bass boats have not moved for at least 5 years.☹️
I was on your lake all weekend, I always get a kick out of seeing the vintage ski boats in different yards on the way into pt 19 and Anderson co Park
Jermination reply :
On 1/22/2020 at 10:02 PM, BassNJake said:Where I put in at is 2 left hand turns and probably a mile from the house
I'm glad I take advantage of it.
On this very short trip I pass 2 houses where the bass boats have not moved for at least 5 years.☹️
I actually weighed a few in out of the dead sea on saturday lol
ohboyitsrobby reply :
10 minute drive to the nearest ramp on lake ouachita. Takes about 2 minutes to drag the canoe to the creek in the back yard that leads to said lake. Live within an hour of half a dozen quality lakes and 4 or 5 good rivers. Biggest problem is finding time to take advantage of it all.
FishinBuck07 reply :
Good bass fishing, an hour and 45 minutes. Just bass fishing 15 minutes, Ohio lakes suck so I have to drive to Southern Ohio to the strip ponds with my float tube for good bass fishing.
Vilas15 reply :
Vilas county has 563 named lakes so thats all within about 45 minutes. The surrounding counties have a couple hundred each but not quite as many. Main spots for me are within 10 to 15 minutes to the boat launch. I'd say Im getting to know about 5 lakes real well at this point. I don't fish much when not at the cabin unfortunately since the boat stays there.
TnRiver46 reply :
On 1/23/2020 at 2:50 AM, Vilas15 said:Vilas county has 563 named lakes so thats all within about 45 minutes. The surrounding counties have a couple hundred each but not quite as many. Main spots for me are within 10 to 15 minutes to the boat launch. I don't fish much when not at the cabin unfortunately since the boat stays there.
Wow thats awesome. Let me guess, it rains a lot in Vilas county
MIbassyaker reply :
On 1/23/2020 at 12:42 AM, FishinBuck07 said:Good bass fishing, an hour and 45 minutes. Just bass fishing 15 minutes, Ohio lakes suck so I have to drive to Southern Ohio to the strip ponds with my float tube for good bass fishing.
The AEP recreation area in OH looks really nice, from what i've seen of it.
On 1/23/2020 at 2:50 AM, Vilas15 said:Vilas county has 563 named lakes so thats all within about 45 minutes. The surrounding counties have a couple hundred each but not quite as many. Main spots for me are within 10 to 15 minutes to the boat launch. I'd say Im getting to know about 5 lakes real well at this point. I don't fish much when not at the cabin unfortunately since the boat stays there.
I drove through there last summer on the way back to Michigan from Minnesota. Beautiful and remote. My wife is pretty sure she saw a wolf.
FishinBuck07 reply :
On 1/23/2020 at 3:02 AM, MIbassyaker said:
The AEP recreation area in OH looks really nice, from what i've seen of it.
I drove through there last summer on the way back to Michigan from Minnesota. Beautiful and remote. My wife is pretty sure she saw a wolf.
AEP is awesome, I have a float tu e that I hike in with and have caught some really nice largies out of those ponds! The big one for me down there was just shy of 7#, still trying to top it, I believe if the state record is ever broken it will come from those ponds. Beautiful and peaceful for sure!
Scott F reply :
Being in Northern Illinois, there aren’t a lot of great fisheries that suit me. I do have a nice little smallmouth river 10-15 minutes away when it’s not blown out from all the rain. After that, my next two favorite spots are 5 to 6 hours away in Northern Wisconsin.
justin apfel reply :
I have a lake I love fishing that's only around two miles from my house, but that lake is only good for numbers. If I'm looking for size, my favorite lake (Aurora Reservoir, CO) is ~20 miles away (35 minute drive). Big bass are always worth the drive!
Alex from GA reply :
I have a boat in the water, all spring, summer and fall, in probably the best spotted bass lake in the country.
hobson232 reply :
25-30 minutes for smaller idle only type lakes on the week days after work. 45mins-1 hour for some of the bigger lakes on the weekends. 3.5 hours to my personal favorite, which is Table Rock. I don't typically spend more than an hour driving each way.
Vilas15 reply :
On 1/23/2020 at 3:02 AM, MIbassyaker said:I drove through there last summer on the way back to Michigan from Minnesota. Beautiful and remote. My wife is pretty sure she saw a wolf.
Feels a bit less remote with the recent hwy 51 road construction but traffic was getting pretty nasty heading north/south on the weekends. Theres at least 1 eagle on every lake and i did see a black bear on the way to the launch two years ago though. My favorite is seeing deer in the water along the shore if youre on the right lakes. The wolf packs havent been too close to us in the last couple years but theyre around.
Derek1 reply :
I’m walking the banks. There is about 3/4 places I can hit within 20 mins
Columbia Craw reply :
My home lake is a 30 minute drive to the ramp. I have access to much of the lower Columbia backwaters only 20 minutes away. To get to my closest smallmouth lake is just under two hours and my favorite pool on the upper Columbia is about two and a half hours. My favorite regional lake is a solid five hours but the drive is gorgeous.
OCdockskipper reply :
35 feet, although I do have 3 steps to navigate...
soflabasser reply :
There are places I fish that are walking distance from my house and others places that are in different states. Most of the time I fish places 1-4 hours away from my house.
N Florida Mike reply :
On 1/23/2020 at 12:19 PM, OCdockskipper said:35 feet, although I do have 3 steps to navigate...
Me too ! To get to the boat.
On 1/22/2020 at 4:46 AM, MN Fisher said:Since I live on an island in Minnetonka - any direction I go hits water. Far as to the two launch points on the lake I use...5 minutes to one, 10 minutes to the other. I'm in the red circle on this map
IMO. you win the most interesting place to live award...
Catt reply :
Bout 35 steps out the front door, 2 1/2 hr drive to Toledo Bend, the farthest is about a 2-3 hr boat run through swamps/marshes.
Tucson reply :
I have to drive 160 miles to Roosevelt lake from Tucson AZ. Alternative: 300 miles to Havasu.
Naturally, you have to make it a several day event, bring your camping gear, food etc. One does not casually fish for bass here, takes a commitment.
Choporoz reply :
Tidal Potomac ramp within three miles of my front door.
TnRiver46 reply :
On 1/23/2020 at 11:55 PM, Tucson said:I have to drive 160 miles to Roosevelt lake from Tucson AZ. Alternative: 300 miles to Havasu.
Naturally, you have to make it a several day event, bring your camping gear, food etc. One does not casually fish for bass here, takes a commitment.
You are tougher than I am...... That's no place for a basshead
stratoliner92 reply :
11mi
national19 reply :
I am 1 hr from my favourite lake.
ww2farmer reply :
10 mins to Silver, 35 mins to Conesus.
With those two so close, the quality of both green and brown fish in them, and my track record for success on both, I don't feel the need to venture out much.
My little aluminum boat is too small for Cayuga, Erie, Oneida, or Ontario, but I will tag along with someone else in better big water rig.
Honeyoe, Waneta-Lamoka, I-bay, Sodus, Onondaga, Owasco, and the rest of the small lakes within an hour or so don't offer anything I can't find on Conesus or Silver, so traveling to them is a once in a blue moon deal for just a change of scenery.
You couldn't pay me to bass fish Canandaigua or Seneca on a regular basis.
Keuka, and Chautauqua are not so big that my boat would be iffy on them, but they are also far enough away, and big enough bodies of water that I'm not real familiar with that I want to waste valuable fishing time traveling to them often.
Basswhippa reply :
I got a one minute drive to get over there to the ramp. City Park, Roseberry Creek, Lake Guntersville. I wish I was closer.
RonMM reply :
On 1/24/2020 at 1:05 PM, Basswhippa said:I got a one minute drive to get over there to the ramp. City Park, Roseberry Creek, Lake Guntersville. I wish I was closer.
RonMM reply :
I live 20 minutes from 2 boat launch’s on the Columbia River. Been fishing off and on since the 60’s mostly Bass & Trout . Just finished restoring my bass boat last summer.
NorcalBassin reply :
It's about 45+/- minutes to a ramp for my 3 closest lakes. I would love to live on a lake someday, but the only one of those 3 that has homes on the water starts around 7 figures for a small place... my wife will need to pick up a second job to make that happen (no sense in that being me otherwise I'd have no time to fish). ????
For being in CA and a world class fishing lake Clear Lake is probably one of the least expensive lakes to live on out on the West Coast. Sad thing is there are a lot of reasons that make people not really want to live on those parts of Clear Lake.
Bass Ninja reply :
I have 11 decent sized ponds (average 100 acres or so) and 3 small lakes all within 30 minutes or less from my house. My favorite pond that is pretty secluded and doesn't allow motors is only 5 minutes away, and that is where I caught my PB last year.
Rpratt reply :
The lakes I mostly fish are strip mine lakes that are 20 minutes away. Years ago when they shut the mines down, the state dredged out alot of it so they could combine alot of the smaller pits into much larger lakes.
The larger lakes I fish which are Kinkaid, Rend and Egypt are an hour or two from me. Any larger lake close to me is not all that feasible because all of them have horsepower limits on them, and I don't feel like trolling around on that big of a lake.
Boomstick reply :
Anywhere from 3 to 70 miles really, depending on the day of the week, length of time I have and so forth. It also depends if I'm meeting someone somewhere and where they live.
Koz reply :
I was spoiled for a lot of years living in the SC Lowcountry. I literally had thousands of lagoons to choose from within half an hour's drive. I had 12 within my own community and down the road where my father lives there were another 300. And the fishing? Three, four, and five pounders all day long plus some big girls out there. As a bank fisherman, it was paradise.
Now that I moved to Upstate SC the only small bodies of water are on private property and have posted no trespassing signs. I have a number of reservoirs within an hour's drive but the bank fishing is almost non-existent. Even the kayak fishing is lousy. I talk to a lot of anglers and no one is catching much of anything, let alone anything of decent size. But thw good news is that when it gets warm I'll be able to head back to the SC Lowcountry one or two weekends a month and get my fishing fix. But I really miss being able to head out for an hour or two after work.
The good news is that I'll be retiring within 10 years and hopefully I can spend the rest of my days fishing and watching my son play ball.
C.S. reply :
I have 4 lakes (1000 acres+) to choose from within an hour of my front porch.
My favorite lake is a 5-6 hour hop, skip, and a jump away. ????
GReb reply :
I’m about 30-45 min away from the best two lakes with boat ramps but I live on a nice pond and my parents live 2 miles away on a small lake so I can get my fix rather quick if needed
Logan S reply :
You have to be willing to put in travel time around here...We have more options than most would think though.
Local electric-only lake is about 20 mins away and is among the best bass fisheries in MD....Great option to have even though I have to putt around it on the trolling motor. At 500 acres its workable without using the outboard. There's another electric-only lake that can be really fun about 45 mins away too, but once I'm driving that long I typically will hit a 'real' place instead.
The Potomac has a ton of ramps as close at 30 mins, but my favorite launch site is about 45 mins away.
Upper Chesapeake and Conowingo are about 1.5 hours for me
Lake Anna is 1.5 hours or so in the AM, but 95 traffic can be a killer on the way home.
James/Chickahominey are about 2 hours.
Places like Deep Creek Lake, Gaston, Smith Mountain, and a few others are 2.5 to 4.5 hours away...I'll go to these lakes 4 or 5 times a year for multi-day tournament trips.
And if I really need to get a fix, there's a creek behind my house that has smallmouth and panfish in it...So I can grab my ultralight and catch a few almost anytime if needed 
.
billmac reply :
I'm 30 to 40 minutes from most of the places I take the boat to. Other places that I would fish less frequently are within 2 hrs. I can be bank fishing in 10 minutes. I probably wouldn't go longer than 2 hrs unless I had additional reasons to travel that far.
Cdn Angler reply :
Two rivers run through my city of a million people and both offer better than average fishing. I've caught multiple 4lb smallmouth, a 40 inch musky, some 30 inch pike, walleye on every cast a few times. In the middle of the city, sometimes between the office and my house. There are shore anglers confined to certain spots, but even then not crazy pressure, maybe 1 person or two.
It's weird how few people fish this city. Most hardcore fishermen prefer places they can rip a big boat and have better launches. Casual fishermen in Canada view fishing as a way to get food and think that city fish are "toxic" so often don't bother. So mostly the people that are fishing are using worms or tiny walleye jigs, so fish aren't even particularly skittish as they haven't seen a ton of different baits.
TroxBox reply :
Living in San Antonio, The closest lakes for me are Medina (20mins) and Canyon Lake(1hr), unfortunately, they aren't really known for fishing largies. Every now and then, you can get a good one but it's few and far between. And Medina was down to 4% full a few years back and has a way to go to recover)
So... 90% of the time I'm driving to one of these. I'm so used to the drives at this point that it doesn't phase me anymore
Choke Canyon - 1.5hrs
Lake LBJ - 1.5hrs
Lake Travis, Buchanan - 2hrs
A few others in the 2.5 range
Amistad - 3hrs
MAnderson reply :
I’d have to call my home lake Courthouse Park.
whitwolf reply :
From the minute I hook the boat up until the first cast is about 25 minutes.
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