Best Outdoor State

[Starchalopakis]

I would have to agree with my other Californians!! Not many places you can you can go snowboarding/hiking and then in 2-3 hours be at the beach surfing. RB 77 pretty much summed up the fishing with this one sentence

 

 Almost half of the 25 biggest Largemouth have been caught in So Cal alone.

 

[bassh8er]

I live in Nebraska and have to say that the fishing in South Dakota has me driving 4 hours every weekend, both on hard water and soft. I don't target lmb there but catch pike, walleye, smb and panfish, really nice panfish.

[DrKnew]

Can't beat Minnesota, Wisconsin , and Michigan. Minnesota is called the land of Ten Thousand Lakes, thereare..s actually more than that. I live in the northcentral part of Minnesota  near Nevis....There are well over 100 lakes in a 20 miles radius of my home, and all hold bass, walleye, sunfish, crappie, and most have northern pike, and some contain musky.....You cant beat the quality of the fishing here, and spring, summer , and fall are great weather.......December thru March is the for sure winter, with several feet of snow and temps to -40 f ....Winter sports like snowmobiling, ice fishing , and about anything outdoors .........Seldom are there hot temps, 90 f ,rarely , usually cool nites during summer......The bass fishing here is great, with 5 lbers fairly common, 8-14 is the state largemouth record, 8-0 for smallies.....Beautiful scenery and friendly people.....While you won't catch a 10 lb bass here, good chance you will catch a good stringer of quality fish.

[diesel51]

Not Wisconsin. This state's hunting and fishing description is "Mediocrity at its Finest". But it is a great state if you're one of the types of people who thinks sitting in a stand for one week a year in November makes you Jeremiah Johnson. Thank god I'm booking for Oregon 

[Crappiebasser]

Alabama

[brgbassmaster]

IMO definitely Michigan. Since I have been active duty military I have been to a lot of different states. Still nowhere compares to Michigan when it comes to hunting, fishing of any kind and beauty. I have bass fished a lot of places and still haven't been somewhere where you can just pick a random lake and catch 4-5lb largemouth and smallies out of the same lake. Ya we don't have a ton of DD bass and ive actually never heard of anyone catching 1. But for consistence of good healthy 4-5lbers we got it made. Hope I can go back one day.

[joeblowwwww]

 I'm sure every State has some good Bass fishing... I have fished a couple of the better 1's like CA, FL,GA, PA, NJ, NY, MI, MN and they are all special in their own way but like I said I couldn't imagine a bad 1. that's why i like to pond fish a lot. because every State in America is stacked with them and they are hard to compare on a State to State basis like lakes or rivers that are more known thru history or fishing media.

 But if you had to pick 1 State it would have to be Ca. just for diversity and square miles alone. (drought not included)

[Jrob78]

I'm going to say Texas.  Great freshwater fishing, great saltwater fishing, great hunting, 12 month a year climate and great diversity in environment types/habitats.

[Brnnoser6983]

You want year round outdoor wilderness Minnesota has it. In the winter there is ice fishing plus any other outdoor sport you want. Spring and summer go up north to the BWCA and get you share of wilderness. While we lack 10lb bass we make up in monster 52in Muskie 40in northerns, and some of the best bass lakes around. There is no shortage of lake either. With well over 100,000 (I think the number is actually closer to 130,000) you could try a new lake ever day.

And for the hunters we have good game life, deer, bear, Turkey and they are all good size.

Yeah our state bird is a mosquito, and they seem to wear parkas in the winter. Minnesota has a lot.

[Gotfishyfingers?]

i travel a lot and it's hard to beat the Carolinas for all around seasons and a lot to offer as far as outdoor activities. Florida would win for sure if only it didn't get so hot, Alligators were nonexistent, and it had mountains!

[mikeeasttn]

Tennessee

[tomustang]

The actual physical state has it all. Surfing, sailing, boating, hiking, biking, hunting, and of course fishing. You can ski in the mountains, ride in the desert, and surf in the ocean all in one day. The fishing is truly world class. Almost half of the 25 biggest Largemouth have been caught in So Cal alone. Trophy salt water bass fishing. Tuna, Yellowtail, Dorado fishing is excellent.

 

However... and this is a BIG however; California has to be the most liberal state in the entire country. The laws, rules, regulations are insane! A fishing license for both salt and fresh water will run you upwards of $52 bucks. Permit and launch fees everytime you hit the lake. The most expensive rent, gas, groceries, etc. It all adds up. It really is paradise out this way most of the time, but you pay the price. A heafty one at that. A true double edged sword...

All this coming from the state that has to truck in sand for their beaches. No thanks they can keep it all.