Brag about your state's bass fishing.

[Bankbeater]

Missouri has a wide variety of fish species in a wide variety of bodies of water.

[ScottW]

5 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

You don’t like weiss? 

Haven’t been there yet in all honesty. Since retiring this past March I’ve been getting back into fishing again. I’ve fished Guntersville and Neely Henry years ago so things have probably changed since then.

[padlin]

On 10/12/2022 at 6:32 PM, ol'crickety said:

What do you love about your state's bass fishing?

 

What I love about fishing in MA is getting out on ponds with no homes on them and no power boats, which is a good thing as the bass size and population isn't worth bragging about.

 

 

[NittyGrittyBoy]

*cough cough* GA has the world record bass.

 

Anyways, I grew up fishing central Fla, fishing some of the very best phosphate pits there was. Bass fishing was phenomenal. But upon moving to South GA, I have fell in love with river bassin'.

 

There's nothing like river fishing for bass, I wouldn't give it for any lake out there. I've had the best days and some of the worst days river fishing the altamaha, satilla, ohoopee, st.marys rivers but wouldn't trade it for anything! 

[fishwizzard]

12 hours ago, Deleted account said:

The fishing in Southern MD is horrible, move along, nothing to see here...

It’s full of thorns, ticks, and mosquitoes.  For sure never ever hike more then a mile from your car.  

[redmeansdistortion]

10 hours ago, redmeansdistortion said:

DNR busts a lot of poachers when the spring walleye run is on.  By law in the state of Michigan, you can't be in possession of more than two daily limits.  Either two in the freezer, or one in the freezer and one on your person.  Guys will go out every single morning and catch a limit.  Many of them have bragged to me about it.  The COs aren't as dumb as they like to think, they take notes and know who's taking more than they should.  They'll sit at the boat launches and wait for suspects to return and check their live wells or even accompany the offender home to look at his freezer.  First offense they write a ticket and take your fish, second time they confiscate your gear and write a bigger ticket, and strike three is the same as strike two but with a fishing ban that could be from one year to a lifetime dependent on severity.

Speaking of poachers.  Our DNR managed to nab snaggers and donate 460lb of fresh salmon. https://upnorthlive.com/amp/news/local/poaching-investigation-recovers-460lbs-of-salmon-dnr-donates-to-families-in-need

[Deleted account]

1 hour ago, fishwizzard said:

It’s full of thorns, ticks, and mosquitoes.  For sure never ever hike more then a mile from your car.  

LOL. I own 3 fowl hunting pants, and I don't hunt birds...

[N Florida Mike]

4 hours ago, crypt said:

I am in central Florida..........that's all I really need to say. 12 months a year fishing for whatever is swimming.freshwater,saltwater. lakes, ponds,rivers,etc. got it all here. guess I did have more to say.......LOL....

FLORIDA IS IN THE HOUSE !!!! 

WE don’t have smallmouths , wall eyes or muskies, but other than that, WE GOOD…

[Mr. Aquarium]

Massachusetts has some impressive bass fishing. I have at least 500 bodies of water within an hour drive from my house. Beside the massive amounts of water, the bass grow big to!  Our state record is 15lbs.  Many 8lbs bass and a few bigger are caught each year.  You can fish a variety of places. From shallow, clear grassy places to deep sand bowls and offshore fisheries.  If you like stained shallow weedy ponds, we got those to. The capes winters are a bit warmer then the rest of the state, so the growing season is a bit longer. I definitely think MA is a top northern strain bass state.  We also have some incredible smallmouth as well. Maybe not as good as the Great Lakes. But some of these smallies grow big! 

12 hours ago, padlin said:

What I love about fishing in MA is getting out on ponds with no homes on them and no power boats, which is a good thing as the bass size and population isn't worth bragging about.

 

 

MA has some d**n good bassin, you have to remember there’s 2 different strains of bass. The northern largemouth, the Florida strain, and it’s hybrid. Florida strain can’t grow here, it’s to cold. But for northern strain largemouth, it’s pretty dang good. 

[Jaderose]

23 hours ago, scaleface said:

In Missouri , bass are everywhere .  One doesnt need an expensive bass boat to enjoy good fishing , Small public waters are frequent.  

Missouri is awesome.  We got everything from Truman, Table Rock and LOZ to 1 acre park ponds and they all have bass in them.  

[Swamp Girl]

Missouri and Massachusetts sound great. This thread is eye-opening. 

[1984isNOW]

14 hours ago, padlin said:

What I love about fishing in MA is getting out on ponds with no homes on them and no power boats, which is a good thing as the bass size and population isn't worth bragging about.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

Massachusetts has some impressive bass fishing. I have at least 500 bodies of water within an hour drive from my house. Beside the massive amounts of water, the bass grow big to!  Our state record is 15lbs.  Many 8lbs bass and a few bigger are caught each year.  You can fish a variety of places. From shallow, clear grassy places to deep sand bowls and offshore fisheries.  If you like stained shallow weedy ponds, we got those to. The capes winters are a bit warmer then the rest of the state, so the growing season is a bit longer. I definitely think MA is a top northern strain bass state.  We also have some incredible smallmouth as well. Maybe not as good as the Great Lakes. But some of these smallies grow big! 

MA has some d**n good bassin, you have to remember there’s 2 different strains of bass. The northern largemouth, the Florida strain, and it’s hybrid. Florida strain can’t grow here, it’s to cold. But for northern strain largemouth, it’s pretty dang good. 

 

This just isn't true my friend, anybody can bump into a decent fish anywhere, even here, and yes our record is 15 pounds...

 

Which was set almost 50 years ago, and will not change. But @padlin was right - compared to just about everywhere else in the country MA bass fishing is like a plain donut - yeah its a donut and that's nice, but next to the french cruller and the jelly donut its not something you would ask for on purpose unless it was the only option you had. 

 

My point boils down to this - there are more numerous larger fish and generally larger fish in other states. Also there are a lot of people here who will take absolutely every fish they catch and eat it, regardless of size. I've seen decent fisheries devastated by this over harvesting.

 

You're right, we can fish here, but our only brag can be that we have bass. I just re-read that and hope I don't come off contentious, just don't want anybody getting the false impression MA is a great place to fish- we make due. (adding @ol'crickety because I just saw your post, coming from Maine you'd have to drive to the absolute bottom of MA for any "decent" fishing in Plymouth or Cape Cod, which is absolutely not worth the drive) 

 

But I will say the brag might be that we appreciate our bigger fish more because they are fewer and farther between.

[Mr. Aquarium]

47 minutes ago, PUTitinYOURmouthFISH said:

 

 

This just isn't true my friend, anybody can bump into a decent fish anywhere, even here, and yes our record is 15 pounds...

 

Which was set almost 50 years ago, and will not change. But @padlin was right - compared to just about everywhere else in the country MA bass fishing is like a plain donut - yeah its a donut and that's nice, but next to the french cruller and the jelly donut its not something you would ask for on purpose unless it was the only option you had. 

 

My point boils down to this - there are more numerous larger fish and generally larger fish in other states. Also there are a lot of people here who will take absolutely every fish they catch and eat it, regardless of size. I've seen decent fisheries devastated by this over harvesting.

 

You're right, we can fish here, but our only brag can be that we have bass. I just re-read that and hope I don't come off contentious, just don't want anybody getting the false impression MA is a great place to fish- we make due. (adding @ol'crickety because I just saw your post, coming from Maine you'd have to drive to the absolute bottom of MA for any "decent" fishing in Plymouth or Cape Cod, which is absolutely not worth the drive) 

 

But I will say the brag might be that we appreciate our bigger fish more because they are fewer and farther between.

I have to disagree, yes people do keep fish and it sucks. But for the ammount of 6 plus pound bass  I’ve seen caught, caught myself  and hooked(lost) is pretty remarkable. In one month, last Mid march to Mid April. I had 3 bass over 7lbs. 8-2, 7-5 and 7-1 from 3 different places. While it may be better else where. Of course Florida, Texas, Cali are better. But for Northern states, Massachusetts is one of the best.  This past week  my buddy who fishes the North Shore had 28lbs for best 5. 2 6s 2 5s and a high 4. 
I know of a 10lb bass caught last week as well from central Ma. I know quite a few guys  that caught 8lb plus bass this season. It may not be all the time but  the fact that there’s a legit shot of catching true giant bass around here is awesome.    Trust me I would absolutely love to catch multiple giants in a day, it’s not like that around here.  Tournament bags weighing 20lbs for single day are needed to win.  

[roadwarrior]

Well, I think that is remarkable.  That would be a big day here in Tennessee.

[Swamp Girl]

I agree with roadwarrior. That's incredible fishing. 

[TnRiver46]

We’ve even turned it into an album

cover 

[Chris186]

There is absolutely nothing to brag about in my state, that’s why I fish the next state over!

[Mr. Aquarium]

I’ve had a 21-5  smallie bag for best 5 in one day in MA.  I can keep going. But Ma doesn’t have any good bassin. Place is dead and full of dink fish. Fish elsewhere. 

[1984isNOW]

@Mr. Aquarium  That's definitely some killer fishin my man, I'm glad I brought this up haha

[Deleted account]

1 hour ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

I have to disagree, yes people do keep fish and it sucks. But for the ammount of 6 plus pound bass  I’ve seen caught, caught myself  and hooked(lost) is pretty remarkable. In one month, last Mid march to Mid April. I had 3 bass over 7lbs. 8-2, 7-5 and 7-1 from 3 different places. While it may be better else where. Of course Florida, Texas, Cali are better. But for Northern states, Massachusetts is one of the best.  This past week  my buddy who fishes the North Shore had 28lbs for best 5. 2 6s 2 5s and a high 4. 
I know of a 10lb bass caught last week as well from central Ma. I know quite a few guys  that caught 8lb plus bass this season. It may not be all the time but  the fact that there’s a legit shot of catching true giant bass around here is awesome.    Trust me I would absolutely love to catch multiple giants in a day, it’s not like that around here.  Tournament bags weighing 20lbs for single day are needed to win.  

Folks who think the fishing isn't good in the North East or mid Atlantic don't know what they are talking about. There is plenty of numbers and size throughout. Sure there are some locations where you may need to travel some, but for the most part good fishing is within reach in a few minutes.

[Mr. Aquarium]

24 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

Folks who think the fishing isn't good in the North East or mid Atlantic don't know what they are talking about. There is plenty of numbers and size throughout. Sure there are some locations where you may need to travel some, but for the most part good fishing is within reach in a few minutes.

Amen to that. New England has taken off with the swimbaits.  Lot of new builders and big fish being caught 

[fishwizzard]

16 hours ago, Deleted account said:

LOL. I own 3 fowl hunting pants, and I don't hunt birds...

I go the other way, short-shorts and gallons of picardian spray, I want to catch the ticks before they attach.  

[thediscochef]

Texas is nice because we can fish year-round with good results. There's also several major reservoirs in my part of the state, I can be at 8 different lakes over 5000 acres in about an hour. I don't super often, but it's there. If you drive 2.5 hours, that number more or less doubles and includes Lake Fork and Possum Kingdom. The river fishing here is a mixed bag. There's a lot of species to target, and coastal fishing too. It's a great fishing state but I wouldn't consider it the best. I think that title has to go to CA simply for the diversity of species, though the droughts are affecting some. I understand the trophy bass potential of the big public CA bass lakes to be beyond that of all the public Texas lakes, even with the issues affecting the fisheries out there. What I would do to fish Castiac in its prime...

[TnRiver46]

11 minutes ago, thediscochef said:

Texas is nice because we can fish year-round with good results. There's also several major reservoirs in my part of the state, I can be at 8 different lakes over 5000 acres in about an hour. I don't super often, but it's there. If you drive 2.5 hours, that number more or less doubles and includes Lake Fork and Possum Kingdom. The river fishing here is a mixed bag. There's a lot of species to target, and coastal fishing too. It's a great fishing state but I wouldn't consider it the best. I think that title has to go to CA simply for the diversity of species, though the droughts are affecting some. I understand the trophy bass potential of the big public CA bass lakes to be beyond that of all the public Texas lakes, even with the issues affecting the fisheries out there. What I would do to fish Castiac in its prime...

Diversity in CA? Always seemed like that state lacked native species diversity to me, in fresh water anyway. I know nothing about saltwater 

[SC53]

Another Florida boy checking in.
Like N FL Mike stated, no brown bass, walleye or big pike but I think we cover the green bass. Our crappie fishing isn’t bad either.

Now throw in our saltwater fishing, from flats, inshore, beach and offshore, and I think our fishing’s pretty good. 
And the fact we can fish somewhere in the state year round, well there’s that?