Best known Lake or River

[N Florida Mike]

Tell us about the water body you fish the most,Its characteristics and how you fish it.

[Catt]

For the last 45 yrs, Toldeo Bend Reservoir the #1 bass fishing lake in America!

How do I fish it?

Follow the link to 5,564 replies & 798,622 views!

 

 

[WRB]

Best known bass lake in the USA is Montgomery lake in Georgia where the world record bass was caught. We can only imagine this phantom bass and the lake Is a dry meadow for decades.

Dixon lake, home of Dottie, the 25.1 lb LMB that never became the world record, is well known and Biwa lake home of the current world record LMB is probably the least known famous lake.

Tom

 

[scaleface]

The Great Salt lake . It will test your bass angling skills .

[buzzed bait]

not a famous one by any means, has no name....  but it's the one i may have fished the most aside from lake norman in nc.  small body of water, OLD OLD OLD one too.  no idea when it was created, but my granddad talked about fishing it as a teenager in the 40's and driving cars out on it at night during winter to party.  has a ton of old trees, old stumps, humps and a waterfall.  it's as picturesque as they come.  laydowns galore, it's a bass fishing paradise, but not very well known.  it's where i've caught my 2 biggest bass from.  

it's got so much wood underneath the water that a lot of baits will frustrate you to try and fish.  i like to fish topwater, spinnerbaits, worms and jigs for the most part.  it also holds a really healthy population of bluegill, some are monster gills. 

[OCdockskipper]

I don't think the OP is asking about the the lake best known by the public.  Instead, I believe the question is about describing the characteristics of the lake that you know best.

If that is indeed the question, then let me start by describing my home lake as a shallow (12 ft max), bowl shaped development lake (i.e, a lake made in order to build a housing development around it).  It is small (100 acres or so) with a retaining wall around the entire perimeter.  The predominant cover is boat docks, but not the style you see on most larger lakes.  Instead of floating on the water or having pier type supports, nearly all of these docks hang out over the water similar to a balcony.  Some are inches above the water, others are over a foot above, but they make great places for the bass to hide under or around.  Throw in broken concrete from the retaining wall and some bass become homebodies at some of these docks.

Vegetation is nearly non-existent except for some Bushy Pondweed (actual name) that starts growing in the 3 to 7 foot zone in spring, maxes out in summer and dies off in fall.  The yearly changes in amount & thickness of pondweed then changes the locations that I find many of the fish every year.

Another factor that changes the locations of the fish from where one might expect are the two dozen or so aerators placed in the coves & main lake.  The oxygen & current created by these often draw baitfish & predators, especially in the summer & winter..   

Most fish caught here are on bottom bumping baits, with the Ned rig and Wacky rigged stick-baits leading the way.  The fact that these two baits work well for skipping as well as around the pondweed help their production.  Most of the fish are dock oriented, but where they are positioned (roaming near the docks, positioned in front of them, hidden underneath) is dependent on the time of year, time of day and weather conditions.  Moving lures will have their days when the conditions are right and can catch more than the slower alternatives, but that is not the norm.

Best of all, despite have thousands of people living on the lake, most days when I fish it, I have it to myself.  Very few people here fish, those that do are just tossing hot dogs off their dock for catfish or would prefer to go out on a cattle boat in the ocean.  It is really odd, I am never out of sight of at least a dozen homes, so I never have any secret spots, yet me & 1 other person are the only ones that fish it seriously (and half the time we fish together).  That's Southern California for you...

[soflabasser]

One my favorite lakes to fish is Lake Okeechobee. Have caught plenty of big bass here and my favorite technique to use is topwater lures.

[WRB]

The 2 lakes I know well and well known are Castaic and Casitas in SoCal.

Started fishing Casitas in '58 and Castiac in '71 shortly after each lake opened to fishing.

When you see a lake filling and fish it for decades there isn't much you don't know about them.

Both lakes received Florida LMB in 1971 and both had been stocked with adult size northern LMB from nearby reserviors. In '71 I caught my 12.25 lb PB NLMB from Casitas on a jig I made. '81 I caught a 18.6 lb FLMB off the same point on the same design jig. Casitas remains my favorite bass lake because there isn't any water contact sports allowed....no jet ski or water ski allowed and the terrian is oak covered hills with lots of wildlife.

Castiac is about 50 miles east of Casitas and allows water contact sports like jet and water skiing. Being closer to Los Angeles Castiac has higher boating, fishing pressure and sage brush covered hills very few trees. Caught my PB 19.3 lb FLMB at Castiac on the same design jig in '93.

Between these 2 lakes I have caugh 5 bass over 17 lbs and more giant bass have been caught over 18 lbs than all other bass lakes combined in the world. Casitas may rebound to it's former glory, Castiac may never recover due to accidental introduction of stripped bass into the lake.

Tom

[N Florida Mike]

7 hours ago, OCdockskipper said:

I don't think the OP is askivng about the the lake best known by the public.  Instead, I believe the question is about describing the characteristics of the lake that you know best.

 

Exactly.

I've posted awhile back about it,but from a little different angle.My home lake is only16 acres but it's just big enough to be interesting.Deepest water is 7-8 feet.North end averages maybe 4 feet with a couple of holes up to 7.This end of the lake is nearly covered with eel grass ,niad,and algae.This is the man made end they created in part by damming a shallow Creek.T he middle section has an island with a lot of brush and downed trees.Water averages 5-6 feet around it.Good shade here at different times of the day.T here are a couple of good drop offs here too.

The south end we call the circle.Its wide and round.Deepest avg.water of 5-8 feet.Has several distinct holes.Floating islands of eel grass sporadically.Was originally a Cypress pond that the creek originally flowed into and was logged out in the 50s.

I have several big fish spots at each part of the lake that consistently hold big fish.The south end probably holds bigger fish,but I've caught more big UN's at the North end because I live there.

I have caught big fish on frogs,large worms,Flukes,senkos,brush hogs,trick worms,curly tail worms,and of course,live bait.

They seem to bite better in the morning in spring and in the afternoon the rest of the year.Catches of 20 in half a day ( one person) are common.

The lake is fairly clear.T he best color is anything watermelon.

The lake is best fished SLOW with t- rigs.Frog bite is just fair , the same as all top waters here.

I really appreciate living where I do.Got a j- boat and kayak ready to go 30 feet from the back door.Its nice to head out after work for a few hours and appreciate the beauty of creation,and of course,the Creator.A few bass and I'm even better.

 

[timsford]

Tims ford lake in south central Tennessee. It is a deep Highland reservoir with many creeks that drain into it and a medium size river that provides most of the water flow. It is a tva lake built in the early 70's and has mostly docks, rocks, bluff banks, and structure and not a lot of visible cover. No weed beds to speak of. It has an excellent smallmouth, largemouth, and spotted bass population, and also a lot of fairly large stripers, hybrids, and walleye. The minimum length limit is 18" for smallmouth and 15" for spots and largemouth and is an excellent smallmouth fishery that gets tons of visitors searching for trophys. 4-5 lb fish are fairly common and 7-8 lb plus fish are caught every year. My favorite way to fish it is actually at the tail water below the lake and the tail water and river of the lake upstream that drains into it. Shad are key most of the time, but craw imitating baits are what I've caught my biggest smallmouth on.

[Jar11591]

My "home" lake is about 50 acres, but half of it is unfishable due to it being only 1-2' deep and matted with slop. The other half is fairly deep and has lots of thick vegetation, fallen timber and overhanging trees. There is one small island with a nice drop-off right off the point which drops quickly to 35', the deepest part of the lake. 

It has largemouth, pike, pickerel, crappie, bluegill, pumpkinseed, carp, bullhead and a BILLION baitfish of several different species. It gets an obscene amount of fishing pressure () and because of this it throws me a goose egg from time to time. None yet this year though! 

It is certainly not my favorite lake, but its close to home and I know it like the back of my hand because I fish it all the time.

[gim]

On ‎8‎/‎17‎/‎2016 at 0:23 PM, scaleface said:

The Great Salt lake . It will test your bass angling skills .

LOL good one.  Sure is some tough fishing in the salt

["hamma"]

  Due to my diligence to fish as many lakes as possible before my time is up. This question imposes a tough answer. One would think my favorite lake would surffice as my best known lake, but unfortunately it isnt. I like Quabbin Res. for its beauty, the fish present, and the past sightings Ive experienced of the resident bald eagles,... Growing up you just didnt ever see them in my hometown. But the res. has posed restrictions that have halted my outings there, its been a while since Ive last launched in its clear waters.

  My tournament days dictate my answer of Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. With 72 square miles of surface area, the way its spread out, and (current count) of 261 islands and dozens of hazards and shoals, it offers some of the best fishing in all of New England. Look at any Map of the state and you cant miss it, its huge.  I think its like 185 miles to cruise around it,...The islands alone comprise over 5000 acres. It offers alot of clear water fishing, mostly for smallmouth bass,.. but some of the largemouth bass areas are impressive all on their own. And beleive me some of the buckets I've seen at weight ins are well within trophy standards. And seeing as its a big tourney lake holding fish offs and such I've spent many, MANY hours there, and still have some areas there ive yet to memorize.

 With all of the different species there, any angler would be impressed. Several areas boast a couple hundred foot depths, and with all the shoreline, hazards, and islands, its well known as a Bass tourney mecca. Any given weekend there can be several different organizations holding a bass tourney on it, and the dept of fish and game regulates it all.

To fish there? what do I always say??? topwaters in the am, then jerkbaits or spinnerbaits in the wind, and bottom bouncers on tough days. Color? pumpkinseed, watermelon, or smelt pattern as smelts are the previlant baitfish. (A chartruese doublebladed spinnerbait with chartruese blades works well too).  I personally try to launch before sunrise, to take advantage of the awesome early morning smallie topwater bite which usually lasts til about 10 am, (5 to 6 hours of explosive heaven) Areas to fish?,..take your pick, theres good fishing everywhere. But beware of the hazards, and especially of "The Broads",... the windy days on the broads boast some impressive waves. To the point some bass boats have speared waves that cracked the boat in half, ripped off many a trolling motor, and have probably been responsable of most NE pro's back and kidney issues, than any other lake in New England other than Champlain. So many incidents out there have prompted the fish and game to build a barracks on the lake, and they patroll constantly looking for boaters that have yet to pass a safe boaters course,... as NH demands it. so  BE CERTIFIED!!!

  If you ever get a chance to fish there? DO IT !!. You to will fall prey to its shear beauty, small NE towns charm, the call of the loons, and the impressive common smallie testing your reels drag as they leap and cavort about. There are areas there that you will see, and just be amazed that there is such structure available anywhere. Some of the most healthy and therefore beautifully colored smallies, and mountain views that take your breath away. That is, of course, if you can spare the moment to not be checking out the available rockpiles and other underwater structure.

 Im typing this thinking to myself "yeah, it is impressive" But in reality,..? what you guys have shared,... the lakes listed in this thread are truely impressive.,... To some living on these gems, or having one nearby,... must be such a draw to just skip work for the day and go fish. I dont know how you do it other than shear demand,...lol

I know I'd have trouble