Best And Worst (Hardest) State To Fish?

[thomas15]

No one moves from state XYZ to NE PA because of the fine freshwater fishing.

[RMcDuffee726]

Good Ole New Hampshire.  Great bass fishing, but was -33 two days ago with windchill.  Gotta love it!

[yugrac]

jitterbug, if your fishing P.C. And Summit, I can understand your issues in Indiana, The state that I also hail from, [although an Ohioan by birth]. Yes Indiana is a tough state for bass fishing, they are out there, but if your like me, its hard to get very far from home. Sunday is really the only day I have to get out, and if you go much more than 90 minutes from home, and have to work on monday morning, it cuts down on your chances in this part of Indiana anyways. If your still on here, where in Indiana are you? I live about 30 minutes from Prairie creek, and 50 minutes from Summit, maybe we could compare notes. 

[Steven_mccormacktk]

I'm from and fish in NH. I have my whole life. There's very high quality and healthy smallie fishing along with great largemouth fishing and even crappie. The chain pickerel around here can grow very large and put up a good fight, along with pike.

[ranger7717]

from mass....but i got to stay on little squam for a few months and loved the bass fishing - caught a 6 lb pickerel.....big fish . did big squam and winnie too....awesome fishing - gotta watch those rocks, especially in little squam

[RMcDuffee726]

8 hours ago, Steven_mccormacktk said:

I'm from and fish in NH. I have my whole life. There's very high quality and healthy smallie fishing along with great largemouth fishing and even crappie. The chain pickerel around here can grow very large and put up a good fight, along with pike.

Lets fish together.

[FrogFreak]

Worst for Bass- North Dakota

Great for Walleyes and awesome for waterfowl hunting but Bass.....not so much

Best for Bass-Minnesota

Yes, it's frozen for months but there are tons of lakes with 5 pounders and very little pressure.

[Ratherbfishing]

On 2/10/2016 at 8:17 PM, slonezp said:

ILLINOIS SUCKS FOR BASS FISHING. Fishing is expensive and our public waterways are poorly managed due to politics and lack of funding. I spend a lot of time fishing Wisconsin waters to make up for the poor fishing here in Northern IL. Consistently, the best bass fishing I have ever experienced was on KY Lake. I've made numerous trips and have never been disappointed. Guntersville would be my next choice.

Hey now!  Just because 4 or our last 6 governors have spent time in Jail, we can't pass a budget, most vendors won't touch us with a ten foot pole, and people are leaving the state in droves doesn't mean the fishing is bad here!  

It sucks for different reasons. 

[BigSkyBasser]

Montana for both, and for several reasons.

Pros

• Quite possibly one of the most underrated, unpublished bass fishing destinations in the country.
• Fishing pressure is typically minor, usually replaced by pressure from recreational boat traffic.
• Not hard to come across 40-50 fish days.
• It's fairly common for a 25 pound bag to win local tournaments.
• Most of the lakes and reservoirs are smaller and easier to break down in a day.
• We have native populations of slow growing trout that bass regularly feed on.
• Montana is world famous as a fly fishing and trout fishing destination, leaving bass fishing off the radar for most.
• Post card quality scenery surrounding any and all fishing.

Cons

• We have the greatest temperature range out of all 50 states, and still hold the world record for greatest temperature change in a 24 hour period.
• Our fishing season usually lasts from about mid March for ice off, and can close up again as early as mid October. This leaves very short windows to identify and successfully fish bass phases.
• Post spawn is our longest and toughest fishing season. Usually lasting from June until September or early October.
• Our fall bite rarely lasts 30 days, as the transition from summer to winter is typically very short.
• The weather changes so frequently and drastically that a pattern very rarely lasts more than a day or two.
• Most of the lakes are dominated by small schooling smallmouth, who feed almost exclusively on the sunfish and crawfish.
• These fish are nearly impossible to find for consecutive days.
• 90% of our lakes are deep and gin clear, with limited structure usually consisting of submerged pines, rock outcroppings, and milfoil mats and eel grass lines. This leaves fish very finicky
• Very few of the lakes have accurate or current topo maps, or are mapped at all.
• Seldom accessible from multiple locations and often surround by private property, making bank fishing impossible on some waterways.
• Lack of diverse forage and a shortened feeding season leads to smaller fish.

[0119]

Worst= Florida.

Extreme pressure.  Complete lack of local interest makes sure the tiny bit of funding provided by a development minded governor, goes straight to the coast. Wildlife law violators find the judiciary sympathetic.  Unregulated population growth. The governors first act in office was to eliminate the states Dept. of Environmental Protection's pollution investigations unit to promote a friendly business atmosphere. Extreme heat only getting worse every year along with added pollution has exploded exotic cichlads and tilapia further destroying freshwaters with tonnage of nitrogen waste into the water, leaving the few bass left to be stunted and unhealthy.

Best=Tennessee

Within one hour, fishing from the bank at a boat ramp of Kentucky Lake in Paris, I caught 3 species of bass. In one afternoon I caught from the shore, more bass than I catch via boat in a month in Florida. 

[greentrout]

Recently fished Texas and Mississippi both very good. Right now Mississippi. Here's my take:

Can fish small waters private and public in remote places with very little pressure from other fishermen during the week. Can be on a 60 acre lake with no one else there. Can be on a 300 acre lake and the same. Bass are healthy and feisty. I'm a senior fisherman and now fish only small waters in a small boat with total enjoyment of God's creation and the pursuit of the LMB. Mississippi is one of the best kept secrets in the country. I'm a lucky man.  

[0119]

10 hours ago, greentrout said:

I'm a senior fisherman and now fish only small waters in a small boat with total enjoyment of God's creation and the pursuit of the LMB.

Amen.  Kinda makes fishing great anywhere doesn't it?  I wish I could keep that mentality even when they are not bighting.

[yugrac]

I always hate when guys post about how great the fishing is in there friends private stocked pond or small lake, where the fish only see a small number of lures in a year, and there are no wake boarders or pontoon boats to deal with. We dont all have the connections to fish these places, and as far as my opinion, they should not even be considered in a poll of this kind.

[.ghoti.]

Don't know about the best state, but the worse state to fish in is inebriated.

[IndianaFinesse]

The best state is a tie between Florida, Texas, and California.  And if the states are ranked by the average number of pounds it takes to win a BASS tournament there, Indiana ranks last.

 

[Wbeadlescomb]

Toughest lake I've ever fished is lake tuscaloosa in central alabama in the summertime. It's not great anytime of the year but a summertime tournament on the lake will separate the men from the boys. I've seen 4 1/2 lb 5 bass limits win tournaments there in the summer time

[Richard Metzger]

I'm from Jersey and it's tough.  It's great that you have a huge variety of types of waters and species to fish for.  Living in North Jersey I could pretty much do any kind of freshwater fishing I could possibly want within a 30 minute drive...however none of it is really great. You have to work for what you catch for sure.  Anyone who has ever fished the Monksville Reservoir knows what I'm talking about.  Big lake with every kind of structure you can think of and the big fish to go with it but d**n if it isn't one of the toughest to fish.

[Hurricane]

On ‎12‎/‎8‎/‎2014 at 4:53 PM, J Francho said:

NY and NY.

 

There's just about any kind of fishing you could want, world class smallies, but you gotta put up with winter.

Agree..... Winter sucks here in Buffalo.... Period... this past winter wasn't bad though..

[Fish the Mitt]

30 minutes ago, LastCast721 said:

Agree..... Winter sucks here in Buffalo.... Period... this past winter wasn't bad though..

As I read this I look out my window....and it's snowing. Again.

[Gundog]

16 hours ago, .ghoti. said:

Don't know about the best state, but the worse state to fish in is inebriated.

How about the state of Denial? I've fished there many times. And I'm always sure I know what bait will work and it never does.

[BadBassIndy]

I live in Central Indiana and I havn't seen anyone mention Geist Resevoir, I've had some good luck. 

[drc9805]

I'm still a novice but I'm surprised no one has mentioned Oklahoma as at least being a pretty decent place to fish. I guess the question was best and worst though and I'm sure we're just right there above average more than likely. There are a ton of lakes big and small with even more ponds that all hold nice bass. There is a lot of fishing pressure on most of the decent lakes though.

[BassThumb]

I love this thread!

I don't have a lot of experience fishing in states other than Minnesota (home), North and South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

I'd have to give Minnesota a nod as an extremely good state to fish in. With almost 6000 fishable, multi-species natural lakes (13,000 total), not to mention the great Mississippi River and it's tributaries, it's very easy to find highly unpressured fish that are willing to bite. Anywhere in the state, a person has dozens of options within a 20-minute drive from home. Some of these lakes see only a handful of boats per day, and bass anglers are often in the minority, despite good numbers of fish in the 3-6lb range.

The DNR fisheries funding is extraordinary, both state and federal, trailing only Texas, California, and Alaska, so the lakes are well maintained, well stocked, easily accessible, and clean. 

[j bab]

On December 8, 2014 at 4:22 PM, WRB said:

I will narrow it down to 1 lake, Casitas. This lake can be phenomenal or the Dead Sea. You can catch your PB, PB 5 bass limit and get blanked in the same week!

Tom

That's exactly what happened to me this week on Toledo Bend

[trick worms]

SC has some good pond fishing. Nothing like other states but I still enjoy it