How far do you go?

[DanielG]

The view outside my front door. The lake is 4 1/2 miles long and varies 1/4-1/2 mile wide. We renovated an old family camp to a year round home upon retirement and live here. A bit of heaven in southern Maine. The lake is semi clear and goes shallow to deep, up to 90 ft. The fish aren't huge but the fishing is often good. Bass I catch average about 1 1/2-3 lbs. Some trout and salmon and huge crappie among a few other species.

So, my boat is tied to the dock from approx April/May to Oct/Nov. I'm out almost every other day. Sometimes dawn and dusk. I grew up here and know it like the back of my hand. I've snorkeled all over it as a kid. It's.... Comfortable. So fortunate.

 

 

 

[SC53]

My favorite lake, the Stick Marsh is 2 hours away right now.  I’ll be moving to Debary Florida in a couple weeks so my drive will increase by 30 minutes. But I will be 1/4 mile from one ramp and 10 minutes to another on the St. John’s river. 

[BassinCNY]

I'm fortunate and I know it. 5 minute drive if I hit the one traffic light to where I fish the most which is the Seneca river. It's great fishing until they spray it in July. Then it's a 10 minute drive to Onondaga lake but they spray that too so it's a 15 minute drive to the closest launch on Oneida but I usually drive another 15 minutes to my preferred launch. I have a bunch of lakes within an hour of me. I'm really happy here.

[Tizi]

Right out my back door (vacation house - soon to be retirement house):

 

 

[Bankbeater]

I have a city park about 2 miles from my house, and a state conservation spot about 20 miles away. Unfortunately both of those places see some very heavy pressure. The closest reservoir size lake would be between 2-1/2 and 3 hours away depending on which one I am heading to. 

[Way north bass guy]

I’m about 100yds from three fantastic little lakes that my son and I often drag the tinny out into for a nice mixed bag of smallmouth and largemouth, but for the big boat, I have to drive a whole 4 minutes to fish ?. I probably have easily over 100 different lakes I can launch in that are within a 1/2 hour drive of me, not to mention the massive amount of water known as Georgian Bay, which is a five minute drive. The only hard part is deciding which one to hit next. 

[A-Jay]

2 hours ago, The Bassman said:

When I first joined these forums I searched Google maps. Felt really dumb as it sank in.

Yea - Sorry about.

Never intended to have that happen.

Hope you can understand.

A-Jay

[Log Catcher]

I am about an hour away from Taylorsville Lake or Cedar Creek lake. There are some closer spots I like to fish on the Ky River but fishing has been very poor there the last few years. I can be on a couple of creeks in about 30 minutes I fish if I don't want to make a long drive.

[MIbassyaker]

No home lake, but I have about 3 dozen small (a couple hundred acres or less) natural lakes, bayous, impoundments, and gravel pits within an hour's drive I rotate between. The closest few are each about 7 min away.

[Bluebasser86]

My "Home Lake", as in the one I live closest to is less than 5 miles from me. My favorites are mostly in the 1-1.5 hour drive range which is as far as I'll drive for a day trip.

[GreenPig]

11 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Since I live on an island in Minnetonka - any direction I go hits water. Far as to the two launch points on the lake I use...5 minutes to one, 10 minutes to the other. I'm in the red circle on this map

I could hear my wife now. Why are you taking tackle with you to go to the doctor, veterinarian,  grocery store etc. If I lived on an island I'd always be late getting home.

11 hours ago, A-Jay said:

I never have to drive more than 90 minutes for Brown Bass ~

Couple of the best Lake Menderchucks are about half that.

The closest Lake Menderchuck and the one I'm on the most, is perhaps a 4 minute drive.

And there are 'several' Lake Minichucks very close by (5-10 minutes) that I'll frequent often to fish from in the Old Town Canoe.

 Now my favorite Green Bass waters require a whole different level of commitment & a passport.

A-Jay

Might be a quicker trip if you take your Lund from Maryland down the coast. With all that storage you could do it.???????

[GreenPig]

My driveway to Tobesofkee(recreational) lake ramp is 4 minutes but 9 out of 10 times I'll drive 30 minutes to Juliette(fishing) lake.

[Sam]

The "big ones" aka Florida Strain Bass, are in the Chickahominy River, east of Richmond and west of Williamsburg.

 

You have to take Route 5 from where I live, which is a dangerous road on a good day, to get to the Route 5 ramp at the mouth of the Chick.

 

Or, you can go Route 60 and go south in Providence Forge and take the back roads to River's Rest in the middle of the river.

 

The third option is to go Route 60 to Rock-A-Hock by the dam where the big ones hang out.

 

And if you can find your way through the maze of roads, twists and turns, you can launch at Brickyard Landing below the dam.

 

In all of the above I have to plan for between an hour and a half to two hours of travel time.

 

Since the tournament weigh-ins are on the Historic James River at Osborne Landing, I usually launch there and fish the river in both directions. Time of travel from my house to Osborne Landing towing the Ranger is about 45 minutes. So far I have nailed a 4.5 pound Florida strain bass by the power plant that I suspect was released at Osborne Landing.

[The Bassman]

9 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Yea - Sorry about.

Never intended to have that happen.

Hope you can understand.

A-Jay

Hey, I'm laughing at myself. I wouldn't be advertising my spots if I was catching smallies like that.

[N Florida Mike]

35 feet ! This is my view. Makes it easy to throw a trip together! That’s not the whole lake either- there’s twice as much as you can see here.Have fished it since 1974. It’s a shallow, weedy lake . Full of eel grass mostly. We have an undeveloped island that has good lay downs all around it. We have a fair amount of docks I can skip under, and some deeper holes. Bass population is excellent, bream population is somewhat below average, and we have a fair catfish population. Also have some giant grass carp. So thankful and blessed to be able to live here.

 
I can also choose to fish the St Johns river system ( closest ramp is 2 miles from me ) The bigger lakes start about an hour and 1/4 away to the west or southwest. We also have dozens of ponds and small lakes to fish starting 5 minutes from the house up to 30 minutes away.

Then we’ve got a multitude of saltwater options since I live around 15 miles from the coast. Great place to live if you love fishing! 

 

[Spankey]

The river is pretty much my home spot. I can be at 3 ramp locations anywhere from 20 min. to 40 minutes from home. Locations are pretty much equally as good from one to another. 
 

The lake is a home spot for me also. Fishing that more and more often. The river has suffered some Mother Nature issues. I fish the norther most part of it.  That’s about 45 min. I could be at it quicker if I wanted to fish the lower section. My times are not rushed, sort of just take my time and diddly bop my way up.  
 

Not that it’s a big road trip or anything but I make to the Big “D” and the Susky a few times a year also. 

[FishinBuck07]

13 hours ago, BassinCNY said:

I'm fortunate and I know it. 5 minute drive if I hit the one traffic light to where I fish the most which is the Seneca river. It's great fishing until they spray it in July. Then it's a 10 minute drive to Onondaga lake but they spray that too so it's a 15 minute drive to the closest launch on Oneida but I usually drive another 15 minutes to my preferred launch. I have a bunch of lakes within an hour of me. I'm really happy here.

You live in the same area my younger brother lives in, also my mother.  My brother fishes all the places you fish, he loves the river for sure.  I get to fish up there once a year with him for about a week.  Beautiful area with all the water around there.

[Dens228]

My top spot is 30 minutes away.  I always try to mix things up, looking for new water to put the kayak in.  I try to keep it within 90 minutes but have gone up to three hours away. 

[MittenMouth]

15 hours ago, A-Jay said:

I never have to drive more than 90 minutes for Brown Bass ~

Couple of the best Lake Menderchucks are about half that.

The closest Lake Menderchuck and the one I'm on the most, is perhaps a 4 minute drive.

And there are 'several' Lake Minichucks very close by (5-10 minutes) that I'll frequent often to fish from in the Old Town Canoe.

 Now my favorite Green Bass waters require a whole different level of commitment & a passport.

A-Jay

Looks like you’re going right by my house- I’ll start packing!

[A-Jay]

36 minutes ago, MittenMouth said:

Looks like you’re going right by my house- I’ll start packing!

Pack on the light side - 

My glove box doesn't hold that much

A-Jay

[fishballer06]

My home lakes are all 1-2.5 hours away. My favorite lake is about 7 hours away, in central Ontario. 

[BassNJake]

Where I put in at is 2 left hand turns and probably a mile from the house

I'm glad I take advantage of it.

On this very short trip I pass 2 houses where the bass boats have not moved for at least 5 years.☹️

[TnRiver46]

22 minutes ago, BassNJake said:

Where I put in at is 2 left hand turns and probably a mile from the house

I'm glad I take advantage of it.

On this very short trip I pass 2 houses where the bass boats have not moved for at least 5 years.☹️

I was on your lake all weekend, I always get a kick out of seeing the vintage ski boats in different yards on the way into pt 19 and Anderson co Park

[Jermination]

2 hours ago, BassNJake said:

Where I put in at is 2 left hand turns and probably a mile from the house

I'm glad I take advantage of it.

On this very short trip I pass 2 houses where the bass boats have not moved for at least 5 years.☹️

I actually weighed a few in out of the dead sea on saturday lol 

[ohboyitsrobby]

10 minute drive to the nearest ramp on lake ouachita. Takes about 2 minutes to drag the canoe to the creek in the back yard that leads to said lake. Live within an hour of half a dozen quality lakes and 4 or 5 good rivers. Biggest problem is finding time to take advantage of it all.