Top 12 Bass Lakes 2024

j bab reply :

https://www.bassmaster.com/best-bass-lakes-2017

This is good news for Toledo Bend, a lot of the crowd will head to Rayburn so we can have our lake back :lol:

For the lazy:

Mille Lacs - MN
Sam Rayburn - TX
Clear Lake - CA
Shearon Harris - NC
The Delta - CA
Berryessa - CA
Erie - NY
Santee Cooper - SC
St. Clair - MI
Falcon - TX
Thousand Islands - NY
Chickamauga - TN

gimruis reply :

A lake in Minnesota beat out all those southern strongholds?! This cannot be. I thought bass only grew to monster size in the south. Haha

scaleface reply :

None of those lakes are close to me .

RB 77 reply :

On 6/30/2017 at 8:28 AM, scaleface said:

None of those lakes are close to me .

Yeah, me neither. Three of then are in the same state though... about 8 hours away...

Koz reply :

I live about a 90 minute drive from Santee Cooper. I promised my son I'd take him there sometime this summer or fall. We'll probably camp for the weekend and rent a boat at least one of those days.

We went to Lake Murray in Columbia SC a few years ago and even though that's supposed to be a great spot for largemouth and stripers between 4 of us we caught zero fish in two days. That was a bummer.

Jeff H reply :

On 6/30/2017 at 8:15 AM, gimruis said:

A lake in Minnesota beat out all those southern strongholds?! This cannot be. I thought bass only grew to monster size in the south. Haha

After the Top 100 here in 95 Minnetonka made this list several times too. Was never #1 but top 10 I believe.

j bab reply :

Just a word of advice to everyone commenting about these lakes.

Just because a lake is on the "list" doesn't make it a magic honey hole. I've been skunked more times than I care to admit on Toledo Bend, even during the years it was "#1." Who's fault is that? Mine, not the lake's.

Neil McCauley reply :

Have to love the list. Some of my regional top 25s you literally couldn't pay me to fish.

Regional Top 25
West: https://www.bassmaster.com/best-bass-lakes/slideshow/25-best-bass-lakes-western

Central: https://www.bassmaster.com/best-bass-lakes/slideshow/25-best-bass-lakes-central-0

Southeast: https://www.bassmaster.com/best-bass-lakes/slideshow/25-best-bass-lakes-southeastern

Northeast: https://www.bassmaster.com/best-bass-lakes/slideshow/25-best-bass-lakes-northeastern

N Florida Mike reply :

What ? No Florida lakes ? Something fishy going on here!!?

TOXIC reply :

Without knowing what the rating criteria is there's no way to know how to interpret the rankings.

j bab reply :

On 6/30/2017 at 9:15 PM, TOXIC said:

Without knowing what the rating criteria is there's no way to know how to interpret the rankings.

I don't know all of the criteria, but a LOT of it has to do with tournament bags. What does it take to win a tournament on each lake.

Chaddy reply :

I live about 20mins from shearon Harris and Jordan lake. I've never had much luck at them. Just as soon bank fish ponds.

Ring King reply :

I have fished 5 of the 12 and live an hour and a half from the three in California!

WRB reply :

I didn't see a national 100 ranking, just the 4 regional 25 top that equal 100.

The Colorado River chain of lakes Powell, Mead, Mohave and Havasu could be listed and only Havasu belongs in that group as the others can be very tough lakes to catch a 15 lb bass limits. Listing that try to find a good lake in each state leave out some excellent fisheries in each regional grouping. Leaving out world class trophy bass lakes like Casitas and Castaic where it takes 20+ lb limits to get a check makes little sense.

Toledo Bend rank 4th when it deserves a top 3 ranking nationally shows how difficult making a listings is.

Tom

GetBent reply :

Falcon is 45min away from me. Going Wednesday. No 10lb fish yet but this year I have caught about 6 over 6lbs. Not great but considering I am new to the lake and haven't had anyone show me around I will take it.

Bluebasser86 reply :

Really shocked there's no lakes from Kansas on the list....

Junebugman reply :

Bass in kansas! Thought there were only trophy whitetail there

Bluebasser86 reply :

On 7/1/2017 at 2:15 PM, Junebugman said:

Bass in kansas! Thought there were only trophy whitetail there

Also a myth. Much better off going to Iowa or Nebraska for those.

Mike L reply :

2 weeks ago I was in a tournament on Big 0 where 32 lbs took first and 29 lbs took 2nd.

Point is ranking by an advertised tournament bag weight is not exactly the best way to rank a lake. I understand its not an exact science and they have to use something but to me it doesn't mean very much.

IMHO, People who live around and fish a lake consistently will give a better understanding of how a lake fishes. They're there through all the changes a fishery goes through in a year which should be factored in.

Mike

basseditor reply :

The lakes I like to fish made number one the last few years. They got raped after that. Trust me, you don't want that designation on your favorite lake.

Bluebasser86 reply :

On 7/1/2017 at 2:15 PM, Junebugman said:

Bass in kansas! Thought there were only trophy whitetail there

Seriously though, one of the lakes I fish often produced a nearly 40lb 5 fish limit last spring with a nearly 10lb kicker and a couple of fishing buddies of mine had a low 30lb bag this spring with a 7.5lb kicker. Another one I fish a lot kicked out a 10lb 15oz bass one day and a 10lb 2oz bass the next day.

But yeah, it really sucks here. Much better off driving to Oklahoma or Missouri instead

NorcalBassin reply :

Nice to see Melones back on the list after the water rose 200 ft this past year, seriously 200 ft. Funny they mention it being a LM lake since someone pulled out an 18 pounder in a recent tourney, but it's way more of a spotted bass lake these days with numbers and size (WR was from there until Bullards Bar went crazy a couple years ago).

IndianaFinesse reply :

On 7/1/2017 at 1:44 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

Really shocked there's no lakes from Kansas on the list....

Still better than here in Indy, no Indiana lake has never made the top 100 list. I you rank the states by the average tournament winning bag, Indiana ranks dead last in the country.

A5BLASTER reply :

I put about as much stoke in the lake listings as I do on the great Chevy vs Ford debate.

But everybody is correct the Bend is trash now no fish leavt in it yall all go to Rayburn lol.

OCdockskipper reply :

On 7/3/2017 at 4:49 AM, IndianaFinesse said:

Still better than here in Indy, no Indiana lake has never made the top 100 list. I you rank the states by the average tournament winning bag, Indiana ranks dead last in the country.

Why do you think that is? Is it a combination of natural factors & resources or is it something else?

As an aside, these guys put Indiana ahead of at least 10 other states, but I don't know how credible or correct they are

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/10-absolute-worst-states-fish-bass/

Bluebasser86 reply :

On 7/3/2017 at 4:49 AM, IndianaFinesse said:

Still better than here in Indy, no Indiana lake has never made the top 100 list. I you rank the states by the average tournament winning bag, Indiana ranks dead last in the country.

I fished a regional qualifier at Patoka several years ago. I almost qualified for the day 3 with 1 2.5 lb fish. 10 pounds won the non boater side for a 3 day tournament. I have absolutely no problem believing it's dead last in the country.

IndianaFinesse reply :

On 7/3/2017 at 5:08 AM, OCdockskipper said:

Why do you think that is? Is it a combination of natural factors & resources or is it something else?

As an aside, these guys put Indiana ahead of at least 10 other states, but I don't know how credible or correct they are

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/10-absolute-worst-states-fish-bass/

If I had to guess, its a combination of not very many lakes (or big lakes either) compared to the number of anglers fishing them, and our physical location. There seems to be a "dead zone" between the north and south parts of the country. We're not far enough north to get the increased number and size of lakes and fish with longer lifespans, but not far enough south to get larger lakes and Florida/Northern strain crosses. Look at other states in the section I'm talking about, Ohio, kansas, Illinois, etc. all of varying degrees of poor bass fishing. Indiana just happens to be either the worst, or one of the worst.

I can't seem to find the article, but I believe @Team9nine has done a lot of research on this subject.

On 7/3/2017 at 7:15 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

I fished a regional qualifier at Patoka several years ago. I almost qualified for the day 3 with 1 2.5 lb fish. 10 pounds won the non boater side for a 3 day tournament. I have absolutely no problem believing it's dead last in the country.

Yeah, I've been finishing in about the top 20% each tourney this year with our best day being two fish for something like 5.5 pounds. Weighing a fish puts you in the top 20-45% depending on the day.

greentrout reply :

Glad to see Davis Lake make the SE Division list. Only 200 acres but is spitting out 10lb plus bass. 20lb plus predicted. Mississippi does not have the resources like Texas & Florida but does have Wildlife & Fisheries that knows how to develop small lakes for trophies.

WRB reply :

On 7/3/2017 at 12:17 PM, greentrout said:

Glad to see Davis Lake make the SE Division list. Only 200 acres but is spitting out 10lb plus bass. 20lb plus predicted. Mississippi does not have the resources like Texas & Florida but does have Wildlife & Fisheries that knows how to develop small lakes for trophies.

It's hard for me to imagine a 200 acre lake making a national top bass lake.

Consider this; Castaic lagoon a 200 acre lake below the dam puts out dozens of bass FLMB each year for decades, 2 over 19 lbs, the lake Butch brown fishes regularly and caught over 300 DD bass, has never been mentioned in the top 100.

The Davis bass record is listed at 17.3 lbs, caught in 1992 or 25 years ago!

Tom

greentrout reply :

On 7/4/2017 at 12:18 AM, WRB said:

It's hard for me to imagine a 200 acre lake making a national top bass lake.

Consider this; Castaic lagoon a 200 acre lake below the dam puts out dozens of bass FLMB each year for decades, 2 over 19 lbs, the lake Butch brown fishes regularly and caught over 300 DD bass, has never been mentioned in the top 100.

The Davis bass record is listed at 17.3 lbs, caught in 1992 or 25 years ago!

Tom

I get the magazine. Read the article. The Davis Lake mentions recent efforts. I certainly would not challenge California's prowess in producing monsters. Deep lakes great climate with rainbow trout to eat is hard to beat. Hope they can keep it going with all their budget woes & debt. Have a great 4th.

WRB reply :

On 7/4/2017 at 12:58 AM, greentrout said:

I get the magazine. Read the article. The Davis Lake mentions recent efforts. I certainly would not challenge California's prowess in producing monsters. Deep lakes great climate with rainbow trout to eat is hard to beat. Hope they can keep it going with all their budget woes & debt. Have a great 4th.

Trout plants stopped in SoCal for over 5 years, few trout hatcheries still in operation and a big reason we don't see many giant bass being caught here.

We have no bass management, never have. With the exception of a few slot limit lakes DFW sets the same 12" min length, 5 bass limits statewide for 50 years. Lakes are stocked with bass during their initial introduction, after that they are on thier own! It is amazing the bass have done so well with no management beyond local clubs setting aside restricted spawning areas for a few months.

Peace, didn't want to be snarky as my son would say. The 100 best bass lakes B.A.S.S. publishes annually always gets to me.

Happy 4th to you and your family.

Tom

LxVE Bassin reply :

On 7/3/2017 at 4:49 AM, IndianaFinesse said:

Still better than here in Indy, no Indiana lake has never made the top 100 list. I you rank the states by the average tournament winning bag, Indiana ranks dead last in the country.

I get happy when I can get a bass that exceeds 1.5 pounds out of Geist. It seem like the most of big bass are caught on night crawlers when people are fishing for blue gill. I know the struggle.

IndianaFinesse reply :

On 7/5/2017 at 1:39 AM, LxVE Bassin said:

I get happy when I can get a bass that exceeds 1.5 pounds out of Geist. It seem like the most of big bass are caught on night crawlers when peopl are fishing for blue gill. I know the struggle.

Haven't ever fished geist before, almost went there for a tournament area months ago but it was cancelled because of the amount of debris in the water. Shoot @BigBassLoveSenkos a pm, he might be able to help you out with geist.

BTW, it is possible (although unlikely) to catch some bigger bass in Indiana, I was lucky enough to catch an 8.2 pound bass the spring before last.

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