Top 100 bass lakes of 2014

Minnesota
Previous Rankings- 2013: #36 | 2012: #11
360 square miles

One of several lakes located in Voyageurs National Park, this is one of Minnesota’s most storied fisheries, featuring world class scenery with smallmouth fishing to match.

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Pennsylvania
Previous Rankings- (entire lake) 2013: Not Ranked | 2012: Not Ranked
3,800 acres

Perhaps the most overlooked fishery in Pennsylvania, this natural harbor is home to an ever-expanding population of largemouth. Throw in a killer spring run of smallies and you have a body of water that is too good to be ignored. Quality is solid, too, as anglers can expect the largemouth to average 3 pounds.

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Vermont/New York
Previous Rankings- 2013: #16 | 2012: #5
490 square miles

Besides getting to cast in a fishery where a lake monster is reported to live (think Loch Ness Monster, named Champ), anglers should get excited about the fishing. Although many anglers assume this is a smallmouth lake (which it certainly is), the largemouth here grow fat and are more abundant than many believe.

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Texas
Previous Rankings- 2013: #2 | 2012: #19
114,000 acres

This lake was on fire last year, leading to its No. 2 ranking. Although it is still a crazy productive bass fishery, the new-lake effect anglers experienced in 2013 has worn off a bit. Still, expect to catch plenty of fish in the 5-pound range plus a kicker in a day’s fishing.

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Louisiana
Previous Rankings- 2013: #79 | 2012: #47
125-mile stretch from Shreveport to Alexandria

A shallow-water fisherman’s dream: a million stumps and as many largemouth.

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Alabama/Mississippi
Previous Rankings- 2013: #20 | 2012: #12
43,100 acres

This Tennessee River impoundment is oftentimes overlooked because it lives in the shadow of Lake Guntersville, but it supports world class smallmouth and largemouth. This lake spits out monster bass in cycles, and early indications are that this year will be a great one.

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Maine
Previous Rankings- 2013: Not Ranked | 2012: Not Ranked
3,845 acres

It’s hard to believe that a lake in Maine has crazy good largemouth fishing, but that is precisely the case here. Local summer tourneys require 30 pounds to win, and that’s not just one guy — ounces separate the Top 20 boats. And if you are in the mood for smallmouth, they are here, too. Of course, you have a very small window to fish here because of the weather. Otherwise, this lake would be much higher on this list.

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California
Previous Rankings- 2013: #53 | 2012: Not Ranked
20,700 acres

This is a hot spot in California right now. The drought has had minimal effect on the fishing. Perhaps the best aspect of angling this lake is its trophy potential for spotted, smallmouth and largemouth bass. You may well catch your personal best of all three species in a single day.

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Florida
Previous Rankings- 2013: #22 | 2012: #21
Eight lakes account for more than 85,500 acres

Although Lake Toho is considered the crown jewel in this chain, Lake Kissimmee and Lake Cypress hold their own when it comes to spitting out fat Florida largemouth.

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Arizona
Previous Rankings- 2013: #46 | 2012: #33
19,300 acres

If we were ranking the best desert lakes in the country, Havasu would win it going away. This lake is absolutely loaded with fish and simply downright fun to visit. You can catch both largemouth and smallmouth till your heart’s content. As an aside, a pending world record sunfish was just caught here — it weighed 5.8 pounds!

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Oklahoma
Previous Rankings- 2013: #15 | 2012: #17
46,500 acres

Just look at last year’s Bassmaster Classic to wrap your head around how good this lake is. Conditions were as miserable as it gets, and the pros were still bringing in 20-pound limits. If this were a list of the best jerkbait lakes in the nation, Grand would reside at the top.

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Tennessee/Kentucky
Previous Rankings- 2013: #12 | 2012: #16
160,309 acres and 58,000 acres, respectively

This is one of the most consistent bass fishing destinations in the country. It will take 25 to 30 pounds to win here just about any season. And when Kentucky Lake is on fire, it’s a bass angler’s dream — think 50-fish days on topwaters, with the average fish weighing 4 pounds.

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Georgia
Previous Rankings- 2013: #60 | 2012: #40
37,500 acres

This storied bass fishery is producing like crazy right now. Just ask Elite Series rookie Brett Hite, who landed more than 97 pounds of bass in four days to win the Elite event here in March. Shaw Grigsby brought in a limit that weighed more than 30 pounds, and Todd Faircloth topped the 27-pound mark with five fish.

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Michigan
Previous Rankings- 2013: #1 | 2012: #13
430 square miles

Although this lake came in No. 1 last year, its production of quality smallmouth has dropped pretty dramatically. That said, there are tons of fish in this lake, including quality largemouth. It remains one of the best smallmouth lakes in the country and looks to be on the rebound to make it another Top 10 lake next year.

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Texas/Louisiana
Previous Rankings- 2013: #10 | 2012: #15
185,000 acres

This border lake is starting off hot this year, with several local tournaments taking more than 27 pounds to win. And you’d better have a double-digit bass if you want to win big-bass honors (a 12.86 was landed here in February). For fun fishing, this lake can’t be beat (as long as you stay in the boat lanes to avoid hitting one of the 13 million stumps that litter this bass haven).

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Oregon/Washington
Previous Rankings- 2013: #21 | 2012: #20
15-mile stretch between the Dalles and Hood rivers

This is a bucket-list smallmouth fishery for anyone who loves catching brown bass. The surroundings are breathtaking, and the fish are not only plentiful, but get big. Although 6-pounders aren’t common, 5-pounders are. Plus, a 10-foot sturgeon is just as likely to eat your tube as a smallie, giving you a little bonus two-hour fight.

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California
Previous Rankings- 2013: #9 | 2012: #8
1,100 square miles

This is one body of water on the West Coast that will not suffer from the drought there. The Department of Water Resources must release enough water from nearby reservoirs to fight saltwater intrusion, and the bass benefit. A local tournament last March saw two 30-pound limits, eight fish weighing more than 8 pounds and two more than 10.

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Texas
Previous Rankings- 2013: #7 | 2012: #1
83,654 acres

Low water and much tougher than normal fishing have plagued this beast on the border of Texas and Mexico. Still, on its worst day, it’s better than most lakes in the country. And on a good day, it’s a lot better than all of them. Although Falcon is still kicking out giants (a 15.37 was caught during a BassChamps event in February), they aren’t as abundant as three years ago. Still, it’s taking more than 20 pounds to win three-fish events here.

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New York
Previous Rankings- 2013: #13 | 2012: #53
50 miles of the St. Lawrence River, including 1,864 islands
The only things more numerous than islands on this New York fishery are the smallmouth swimming in it. Don’t expect to enter Bassmaster’s Lunker Club by fishing here, as 6-pounders are a little tough to come by. But, expect to spend more time fighting bronzebacks than casting for them, with the average fish weighing 3 pounds.

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Texas
Previous Rankings- 2013: #28 | 2012: #26
27,690 acres

This lake is a Texas legend, and for good reason. It has already produced three Toyota ShareLunkers this season, the last one being a 13.86 caught in January. The scary thing is that crazy winter storms kept many anglers off this fishery, so it has had less pressure than usual. Expect very big things (think green with fins) to come from this lake once the weather stabilizes.

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Michigan
Previous Rankings- (entire lake) 2013: #29 | 2012: #34
32 miles long, 10 miles wide

Smallmouth more than 7 pounds come from this section of Lake Michigan every year. Bassmaster Opens pro Chris Noffsinger guides here and believes it will produce the next state record smallie. And don’t be surprised if you have 50-fish days.

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Texas
Previous Rankings- 2013: #34 | 2012: Not Ranked
1,600 acres

This little lake in Austin, Texas, is the hottest bass fishery in the state. It took nearly 44 pounds to win a recent event here, and it is unlikely that you can fish for half a day without catching a largemouth more than 6 pounds. The lake produced the 20th Toyota ShareLunker for 2014 when Robert Whitehead caught a 13.19, which put Lake Austin in fourth place in the state for producing bass more than 13 pounds (tied with Falcon). Although grass has been mostly eradicated from the fishery, bass populations continue to thrive.

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Tennessee
Previous Rankings- 2013: #6 | 2012: #61
36,240 acres

Although it wasn’t official, a reported 49-pound limit came from this lake during a guide trip in February. In 2013, a 44-pound limit was weighed in at a tournament. Teeners are coming out of this lake for guys willing to cast umbrella rigs to deep structure. Although this lake isn’t nice to everybody who fishes it, it can produce as big a limit of largemouth as any other lake in the country.

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Florida
Previous Rankings- 2013: #8 | 2012: #2
730 square miles

The Big O is in the middle of an upswing right now, which puts it squarely in the race for the best bass lake on the planet. Recent tournament weights haven’t been the highest we’ve seen on this south Florida fishery, but the bass are still there and still as big as ever. Thirty-plus-pound limits are still being weighed in consistently, and fish more than 10 pounds are not unusual. Plus, there is something about flipping grass on this historic body of water that elevates your level of anticipation. The size of this fishery hinders its production as it can take a while for an inexperienced angler to dial in the bite. But once you unravel the secrets of the Big O, you’ll think it should have been rated much higher than sixth on this list.

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Alabama
Previous Rankings- 2013: #4 | 2012: #3
70,000 acres

Just ask Elite Series angler Randy Howell how good this lake can be at a moment’s notice. He made one quick decision after catching 20 pounds a day during the Bassmaster Classic that put the championship trophy on his mantle. That one decision put more than 29 pounds in his livewell (as he waded through 80 pounds of bass) — the biggest sack he has ever weighed in a professional tournament after 20 years of fishing. The pressure on this lake is remarkable, and the bass fishing remains as strong as anywhere in the country.

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Idaho
Previous Rankings- 2013: #11 | 2012: #9
25,000 acres

This lake makes a big move up this year on the strength of its trophy smallmouth fishery. The smallies have always been a rowdy group on this lake, but now they are rowdy and big. It is no longer unusual to land one over 6 pounds here. And don’t forget about the largemouth fishery. The lake record largemouth is 10-15, with average bass weighing in between 2 and 3 pounds.

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New York
Previous Rankings- (entire lake) 2013: #5 | 2012: #4
Most anglers focus on a 20-mile radius of Buffalo.

This section of the Great Lake is truly special. Largemouth abound in the shallow bays and marinas and smallmouth are crazy thick. As of this writing, the water here was still hard. That said, once the ice goes away, the world-class smallmouth fishery will make anglers forget about the wicked winter months. And the lack of early spring pressure will make the fishing that much better, if it’s possible. When you fish here, expect a 6-pounder every cast. Of course, you might have to wade through piles of 4-pounders to hit this mark.

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California
Previous Rankings- 2013: #3 | 2012: #10
43,785 acres

When you catch 50 bass between 4 and 6 pounds on a tournament day, you likely feel good about your chances of winning — unless you are fishing this California bass factory. Recent rains are slowly bringing the water levels up, but it’s far from full pool now. That said, not only will anglers catch a lot of solid fish here, but they also could hook the largemouth of a lifetime.

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Wisconsin
Previous Rankings- (entire lake) 2013: #29 | 2012: #34
From Little Sturgeon Bay to Fish Creek
When an 8.45-pound fish wins big bass — and that fish is a smallmouth — heads turn. That’s exactly what happened at a local tournament on this section of Lake Michigan last year. In that very same two-day tournament, it took 67.13 pounds to win (an average of almost 34 pounds per day). If you want to catch a pile of smallies, Sturgeon Bay should be your next trip. Simply put, if you want to angle the best bass fishing waters that currently exist for size and numbers of fish, head to Wisconsin.

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