MacP Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 Suprised no one said Tennessee yet. Lowest Taxes in the country. Some of the highest quality of living for your dollar of anywhere in the country. Dale Hollow for Smallies, Chick, Pickwick, Douglas and Kentucky Lake for Bass. By this list, Texas wins. http://www.bassmaster.com/news/100-best-bass-lakes-2013 1 Quote
wisconsin heat Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 Geographic fact, Oklahoma has almost 56,000 miles of freshwater shoreline. I grew up hearing this was more than any other state, but Minnesota has us beat. Wouldn't you think Wisconsin and Michigan are higher as well? Wisconsin is full of natural lakes, has the Mississippi running down the length of the state, as well as a large portion surrounded by Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. The state of Michigan is well, a peninsula, surrounded by Great Lakes on three sides, the UP has a lot of shoreline as well. To answer the original post, best state for bass fishing? Not Wisconsin. I love fishing here, and there are a lot of opportunities for largemouth, smallmouth, and other species like walleye, pike, muskie, sturgeon, and other great game fish. But the fishing season is SO SHORT. Fishing season for bass and most gamefish is the first Saturday of May until the ice is on, which is sometimes as early as November, and fishing can get really, really tough in October, and 6-7 months of bass fishing is just not enough . 1 Quote
Super User Bankbeater Posted February 25, 2014 Super User Posted February 25, 2014 The southwest corner of Mo. has several nice lakes, and good scenery to make up for it when the bite is slow. Quote
coots Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 Well, I guess I'll go against the grain here BUT... I'm going Alabama! You guys can keep your no-taxes, blah blah blah. My little nook town on Lake Guntersville is a quiet, everyone knows everyone place where it's 5 minutes from, in a lot of people's opinions, the best fisheries in the country. My taxes aren't bad, I don't pay taxes on boat, car per year... you pay taxes when you buy them but not "property" tax, I don't reckon I'll ever have to worry about my 2A rights ever being trampled on within my state and yes we have cold weather, but it's bearable. We get "snow" maybe once a year... but it's usually every couple of years. You're within driving distance of Atlanta... Chattanooga..... Birmingham... Gatlinburg.... and the beach is a day drive away (6 1/2 hours). So y'all go on and take it elsewhere, this ol' country boy is going to go to work and drive by the water the pros just got off of for the Bassmaster Classic! 1 Quote
starcraft1 Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 Being 4th gen. from California you'd think I'd say out here.South Oregon is what I'd tell you. No sales tax, my friend pays MUCH LESS in prop. tax than I do, example: he has the same amount of land as I and his house is 600+ sq. ft. larger than mine and his taxes are 500+ less than mine. As far as fishing? 5 trophy bass lakes within 25 miles of Grants pass, Rouge river for salmon, steelhead, small jaws, and some of the biggest clear water catfish you've ever seen. Most importantly, the people are great! "Be a good person, we'll treat you that way" If you hunt, turkey, deer, elk, west coast fly zone - geese & ducks. Tried (and still trying) to talk my wife into moving there. Her response, "it rains to much there" Oh yea, no drought season. Also they have signs every where 12"H X 18" W that say it all, "VOTE NO" they vote no on everything. Like I said, GREAT PEOPLE! Thank god my buddy moved there some 9 yrs. ago, my escape! Quote
rabidsquirrel Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 Florida... Taxes are low, with quality fisheries everywhere, plus saltwater fishing if you get bored with freshwater. Louisiana... It's just more fun there. 1 Quote
bostonsox2904 Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 Florida is great. The shore fishing opportunities can't be beat w/ all of our canals. Quote
FrogFreak Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 My vote is to summer in Minnesota and winter in FL. I know there are great lakes down south but when I go to my lake pace, I am 25 minutes away from 30 different lakes that all hold 4-5 pound bass. But the best part is that there isn't any boat traffic on most of the lakes. The hardest decision I have to make is which lake to fish on a given day. I get grumpy if there's one boat on the ramp when I get there! I live on the Eastern edge of North Dakota. Look up the stas on our state. We have a massive budget surplus, we are the number 2 oil producing state, we have very low unemployment and the people here are some down to earth folks. No crazy liberal politics that may hurt the outdoorsman. Yep, I would say spend the summer in MN and the winter in FL if you can afford it. 3 Quote
Amarley Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 Kentucky is great. Very low cost of living in most cities and 6% state income tax. I live in Southern Kentucky, about an hour north of Nashville. I'm two hours away from Kentucky and Barkley lakes, an hour and half from Dale Hollow, two hours from Douglas and Norris, two hours from Cumberland, plus I have about 5-7 other great bass lakes within an hour and half drive. I'm also 4 hours from the Alabama lakes. Good climate most of the year. I'm happy here. If I had my choice, I'd live here or northern Alabama. Quote
BridgerM Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 I can't believe no one has mentioned Utah yet. Sure, you can talk unemployment, tax, cost of living and other stats but this is about bass. If you don't want to catch a world record bass or even have a reasonable chance of a double digit bucket mouth, then this is the place! Here are our state record bass Species Year Weight Length Largemouth 1974 10 lb 2 oz 24 1/4 Smallmouth 1996 7 lb 6 oz 22 Sarcasm aside, We have many good smallie and LM waters within 2 hours or less from Salt Lake City. And Lake Powell and Mead about 6 hours away, with good striper fishing too. Considering Utah is known for 'the greatest snow on earth' the fishing here is pretty good. Quote
Wbeadlescomb Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 Alabama should be on your list. I live in tuscaloosa in the center part of the state. Nicest people you've ever met been to Missouri duck hunting everyone we ran across was a peckerhead once we got up that way. I'm 2 hours from any lake on the Tennessee river. Alabama, tombigbee,and coosa rivers are an hour away the warrior runs thru the middle of tuscaloosa. There's more variety In fishing than you can imagine within 30 miles of the university (center of town) you can catch 5+lb spotted bass in deep clear water. Drive thirty minutes to the east and you can catch big largemouth In shallow swampy backwater. I know of two 10's and a 15-1 one caught within an hour of tuscaloosa last year Quote
Missourifishin Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 Nicest people you've ever met been to Missouri duck hunting everyone we ran across was a peckerhead once we got up that way Must be some cultural differences. I know Missouri people who say the same thing about Alabama. Quote
Super User RoLo Posted February 25, 2014 Super User Posted February 25, 2014 South Dakota & Delaware Oh wait a second, you said "Best States" Quote
Wbeadlescomb Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 Must be some cultural differences. I know Missouri people who say the same thing about Alabama. I opened the door for a couple of people and they looked at me like I had two heads. I will say south eastern Missouri wasn't bad. Quote
dam0007 Posted February 25, 2014 Author Posted February 25, 2014 So have been doing a little job research. Pay compare to here. Obviously Id have to move where I can secure a job. Jobs in my field -Texas Pay 30-40% higher than CT -Oklahoma Pay -15% lower than CT -Florida Pay -30% lower than CT -North Dakota Pay 190-215% higher than CT -Utah -20% lower than CT Plus side is all states are Gun friendly Also just saw Gov Perry of TX just recently passed a infastructure improvement bill. I work in public water supply. There are literally tens of thousands of jobs in TX in my field. Hopefully I can make a move in 1-2 years. Thanks for all the posts! Quote
Super User geo g Posted February 25, 2014 Super User Posted February 25, 2014 1).Florida 2).Florida 3).Florida Not only do you have great bass fishing year round, with hundreds of lakes, and the Glades, but you are surrounded by the Ocean and all it holds and don't forget the Keys. No other state can match that! The Fishing Capital of the World! 1 Quote
mkfriedrich Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 Cali is a very great place to fish. But extremely tough! The lakes are so pressured, and honestly there isn't a presentation/bait they haven't seen. But your chances of getting a double digit fish are extremely high. Some of the biggest bass are caught right here in San Diego county. Im from mississippi, and i must say its a great fishery too. Small ponds everywhere that hold a lot of fish. Florida is a great place also. But i must say, Cali has to be number one, for quality. The southern states will come in second for quantity. Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted February 25, 2014 Super User Posted February 25, 2014 Well, if we are talking size, the big fish states are FL, GA, TX and CA. Quote
Super User RoLo Posted February 25, 2014 Super User Posted February 25, 2014 Well, if we are talking size, the big fish states are FL, GA, TX and CA. That's what I meant to say Quote
mjseverson24 Posted February 25, 2014 Posted February 25, 2014 I personally would spend summers in the Midwest (MN, WI, IL,MI,OH) and I would do the colder months down in TX. Missouri also looks like a great place for fishing. It is hard to beat MN in the summer, I have over 15 lakes over 1500 Acres within and hour of my home and 8+ of them are serious tournament waters, that see tournament of up to 50 boats. Most days especially during the week the public ramp is almost empty, and catching 50-100 bass in a day is pretty "normal". to have a chance in a mn tournament you need at least a 3lb average for 8 fish, the top spots like Minnetonka require bags up over 4lb averages to win. The winters suck big time though... Mitch 1 Quote
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted February 25, 2014 Super User Posted February 25, 2014 Well, if we are talking size, the big fish states are FL, GA, TX and CA. That covers the green fish but not the brownies. 1 Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted February 25, 2014 Super User Posted February 25, 2014 I think you have a lock on brownies. We ocassionally might catch a bigger smallmouth down here, but your numbers and average size is unbeatable. As a comparison, my best day ever was 15 smalljaws including 8 over 5lbs. Dwight and his friends often have 50-100 fish days that i would hazard to guess average weights of 4-6lbs. I would take those numbers any day! 1 Quote
Super User Dwight Hottle Posted February 25, 2014 Super User Posted February 25, 2014 The midwestern states that borders the great lakes do have pretty consistant smallie fishing. Having a winter home in Texas or Fl would be the best of both worlds if you could swing it. Quote
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