Top 12 Bass Lakes

[Bluebasser86]

2 hours ago, IndianaFinesse said:

Still better than here in Indy, no Indiana lake has never made the top 100 list.  I you rank the states by the average tournament winning bag, Indiana ranks dead last in the country.

I fished a regional qualifier at Patoka several years ago. I almost qualified for the day 3 with 1 2.5 lb fish. 10 pounds won the non boater side for a 3 day tournament. I have absolutely no problem believing it's dead last in the country. 

[IndianaFinesse]

6 hours ago, OCdockskipper said:

 

Why do you think that is?  Is it a combination of natural factors & resources or is it something else?

 

As an aside, these guys put Indiana ahead of at least 10 other states, but I don't know how credible or correct they are

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/10-absolute-worst-states-fish-bass/ 

If I had to guess, its a combination of not very many lakes (or big lakes either) compared to the number of anglers fishing them, and our physical location.  There seems to be a "dead zone" between the north and south parts of the country.  We're not far enough north to get the increased number and size of lakes and fish with longer lifespans, but not far enough south to get larger lakes and Florida/Northern strain crosses.  Look at other states in the section I'm talking about, Ohio, kansas, Illinois, etc. all of varying degrees of poor bass fishing.  Indiana just happens to be either the worst, or one of the worst.

 

I can't seem to find the article, but I believe @Team9nine has done a lot of research on this subject.  

4 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I fished a regional qualifier at Patoka several years ago. I almost qualified for the day 3 with 1 2.5 lb fish. 10 pounds won the non boater side for a 3 day tournament. I have absolutely no problem believing it's dead last in the country. 

Yeah, I've been finishing in about the top 20% each tourney this year with our best day being two fish for something like 5.5 pounds.  Weighing a fish puts you in the top 20-45% depending on the day.

[greentrout]

Glad to see Davis Lake make the SE Division list. Only 200 acres but is spitting out 10lb plus bass. 20lb plus predicted. Mississippi does not have the resources like Texas & Florida but does have Wildlife & Fisheries that knows how to develop small lakes for trophies.  

[WRB]

11 hours ago, greentrout said:

Glad to see Davis Lake make the SE Division list. Only 200 acres but is spitting out 10lb plus bass. 20lb plus predicted. Mississippi does not have the resources like Texas & Florida but does have Wildlife & Fisheries that knows how to develop small lakes for trophies.  

It's hard for me to imagine a 200 acre lake making a national top bass lake.

Consider this; Castaic lagoon a 200 acre lake below the dam puts out dozens of bass FLMB each year for decades, 2 over 19 lbs, the lake Butch brown fishes regularly and caught over 300 DD bass, has never been mentioned in the top 100.

The Davis bass record is listed at 17.3 lbs, caught in 1992 or 25 years ago!

Tom

[greentrout]

30 minutes ago, WRB said:

It's hard for me to imagine a 200 acre lake making a national top bass lake.

Consider this; Castaic lagoon a 200 acre lake below the dam puts out dozens of bass FLMB each year for decades, 2 over 19 lbs, the lake Butch brown fishes regularly and caught over 300 DD bass, has never been mentioned in the top 100.

The Davis bass record is listed at 17.3 lbs, caught in 1992 or 25 years ago!

Tom

I get the magazine. Read the article. The Davis Lake mentions recent efforts. I certainly would not challenge California's prowess in producing monsters. Deep lakes great climate with rainbow trout to eat is hard to beat.  Hope they can keep it going with all their budget woes & debt. Have a great 4th.

[WRB]

1 hour ago, greentrout said:

I get the magazine. Read the article. The Davis Lake mentions recent efforts. I certainly would not challenge California's prowess in producing monsters. Deep lakes great climate with rainbow trout to eat is hard to beat.  Hope they can keep it going with all their budget woes & debt. Have a great 4th.

Trout plants stopped in SoCal for over 5 years, few trout hatcheries still in operation and a big reason we don't see many giant bass being caught here.

We have no bass management, never have. With the exception of a few slot limit lakes DFW sets the same 12" min length, 5 bass limits statewide for 50 years. Lakes are stocked with bass during their initial introduction, after that they are on thier own! It is amazing the bass have done so well with no management beyond local clubs setting aside restricted spawning areas for a few months.

Peace, didn't want to be snarky as my son would say. The 100 best bass lakes B.A.S.S. publishes annually always gets to me.

Happy 4th to you and your family.

Tom

[LxVE Bassin]

On 7/2/2017 at 4:49 PM, IndianaFinesse said:

Still better than here in Indy, no Indiana lake has never made the top 100 list.  I you rank the states by the average tournament winning bag, Indiana ranks dead last in the country.

 

I get happy when I can get a bass that exceeds 1.5 pounds out of Geist. It seem like the most of big bass are caught on night crawlers when people are fishing for blue gill. I know the struggle.

[IndianaFinesse]

21 hours ago, LxVE Bassin said:

 

I get happy when I can get a bass that exceeds 1.5 pounds out of Geist. It seem like the most of big bass are caught on night crawlers when peopl are fishing for blue gill. I know the struggle.

Haven't ever fished geist before, almost went there for a tournament area months ago but it was cancelled because of the amount of debris in the water.  Shoot @BigBassLoveSenkos a pm, he might be able to help you out with geist.

 

BTW, it is possible (although unlikely) to catch some bigger bass in Indiana, I was lucky enough to catch an 8.2 pound bass the spring before last.