How many states have you fished and what is your opinion of them?

[FryDog62]

9 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

It's not at the top of my list but the wife is a fan. I think SC offers a lot of the Pros of Florida without a lot of the Cons.

Bluebasser, have you ever kayak fished in SC… or are there certain bodies of water that seem like they would be better? Their reservoirs are huge, maybe there are some smaller lakes/rivers too. I do plan to get to Murray (9 hour drive from where I’m living now in FL). 

[Swamp Girl]

Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Maine, and Ontario.

 

I lived in Wisconsin for thirty years and concentrated on the big water, i.e. Lakes Superior and Michigan and the Mississippi River. All three have amazing fishing. I liked the Mississippi because I could catch seven to nine species in a day. It also held 20-pound pike.

 

I fished farm ponds and Lake Erie in Ohio and you all know how I fare in Maine, but Ontario has the best fishing by far. I had many 100-smallmouth days in that gorgeous north country. I even had two 250+-smallmouth days in Ontario, when I'd catch 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and even 7 smallmouth in a row. Those two days, the fishing was so hot that I fished from four in the morning until ten at night, stopping to eat one meal and snacking in the canoe otherwise. By the third day, I was spent.

 

Ontario is the best fishing, but it's also the hardest fishing, as you have to travel logging roads, portage your canoe, and sleep on rock It's a young angler's game, so if you're still young, go north while you still can, young man!

[Bluebasser86]

1 hour ago, FryDog62 said:

Bluebasser, have you ever kayak fished in SC… or are there certain bodies of water that seem like they would be better? Their reservoirs are huge, maybe there are some smaller lakes/rivers too. I do plan to get to Murray (9 hour drive from where I’m living now in FL). 

No, I've only fished from a boat. Big reservoirs don't scare me in the kayak though. I've fished big ones here like Truman from my kayak, just have to break it into an area you want to fish and try to break that area down as much as possible. My plan is to live close enough to the ocean that I can do that though. Ocean fishing is so much fun and the fish fight so much harder.

[Catt]

@FryDog62 & @Bluebasser86

 

Most of my time on Toledo Bend was out of a 12-16' Jon boats. What I learned real quick was where all the public boat launches are. I also have a number of community launches I can use.

 

Depending on predicted weather patterns I select where I going to launch.

[Bluebasser86]

26 minutes ago, Catt said:

@FryDog62 & @Bluebasser86

 

Most of my time on Toledo Bend was out of a 12-16' Jon boats. What I learned real quick was where all the public boat launches are. I also have a number of community launches I can use.

 

Depending on predicted weather patterns I select where I going to launch.

I don't even need a launch in my kayak, just public access. I got 14th in a 176 kayak tournament at Truman launching from a spot that was just a dirt bank where the dirt road ended, but it was public so it was fair game.

[Catt]

@Bluebasser86 Toledo Bend has 1,200+ of shoreline, most of is open to the public. There are plenty of old dirt road that end at the waters edge. 

[flatcreek]

Ga. bama,tenn, sc,Florida ,Washington State, Alaska

NC

[Siebert Outdoors]

Not all are bass fishing but I really haven't been to a state I fished I didn't like.  I'm fishing. LOL

 

Non US.

Canada and Mexico,

 

USA

CA, MO, AR, TN, KY, GA, MS, AL, UT, MI, SC, FL, TX, IL   I think that's all of them. 

 

 

[TnRiver46]

@FryDog62, the Atlantic Ocean ! 

[FryDog62]

MN, WI, SD, Ontario, ND, MO, IA, SC, FL, CA, AR, MO.  
 

Best so far: SD, then MN, then FL… but I just moved to FL and am only scratching the surface.  The best is hopefully yet to come 👍

[Mobasser]

I've fished in Iowa, Nebraska, Arizona and Kansas. I'm from Missouri, and like it the best. 

[Mobasser]

I hope to make a trip to TN next year.

[FryDog62]

9 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

No, I've only fished from a boat. Big reservoirs don't scare me in the kayak though. I've fished big ones here like Truman from my kayak, just have to break it into an area you want to fish and try to break that area down as much as possible. My plan is to live close enough to the ocean that I can do that though. Ocean fishing is so much fun and the fish fight so much harder.

Not so much being intimated by a large reservoir in a kayak... but also wondering any smaller waters that would be great for a yak, maybe harder for some of the larger boats to access. I'm trying to maximize use of the kayak for 1-2 years before I buy another bass boat..

[flatcreek]

I forgot Mississippi on Pickwick

[DaubsNU1]

Grew up in Nebraska, lived in Missouri from 1991-2005. Fished South Dakota and Iowa. Fished Canada three times. 

 

Missouri for LMB's.  South Dakota for 'Eyes and SMB's. Canada for big 'Eyes and SMB's.

[TnRiver46]

5 hours ago, Mobasser said:

I hope to make a trip to TN next year.

[Susky River Rat]

I have fished PA, MD, NJ and WV.

 

PA- lakes suck for bass fishing stay on a river for bronze backs. Certain lakes were decent for musky.

 

MD- haven’t been there to much but, the flats and around port deposit were awesome for bass and blue cats. I would like to go back down for snake heads.
 

NJ- I only fished there for musky and it was pretty good.

 

WV- I only fished one lake down there but, for a few days at a time. I try to go there every year. I haven never bass fished it. The musky fishing is great. Still a grind but, the weather never seemed to cooperate. 

 

[Bankbeater]

MO., IL., AR., and OK.  Being in the St. Louis area I either fish in Missouri or Illinois with the same amount of drive time.

[shimmy]

Virginia

Utah

Minnesota

Wisconsin

 

Neat to see everyone's places. I agree with other's thoughts that MN is the best place for numbers for largies. Central Wisconsin has been the worst for largemouth fishing by far for me. Everyone fishes and keeps what they catch year round within a 1 hour radius of my home. I generally have to drive a distance to hit better bodies of water. Fish are stunted everywhere. Have to travel to the northern or western part of the state to start fishing waters similar to MN. I fished very rarely in Utah, so I never gave it a good go. Most of the lakes were too far away for me. I have never really fished in a state that had numbers of double digit bass so my mark of a big fish has always been the 6 pound mark. I never had a good boat to go explore other lakes in northern Virginia. Even with a better fishable boat, I wasn't flexible enough to adapt and catch some of the bigger bass they have there. I definitely would have spent more time fishing lakes with bigger bass, be more versatile with lures, explore glide baits more, fish more swimbaits, and try to master a body of water. I have been binging a youtuber (SBfishing) in VA and he is a great example of watching an angler grow in knowledge, application, and then start catching giants (relative for northern VA) yearly in his tournaments. He also seems like a very humble dude as well. Very humbling and a good reminder to always learn more and try new patterns/styles of fishing. 

[Boomstick]

I have only fished in 4 states plus Lake Nippising in Ontario in Canada.

 

Massachussetts - my home state. I catch some bass, but generally it's tougher fishing and more pressured. 

 

Vermont - Live a couple towns from the border, home of some of my favorite fishing spots, nice and quiet and I've caught most of my largest bass in Vermont lakes.

 

New York - There's a little bit of everything in New York. Great Sacandaga lake is great as are all the lakes in the Adirondacks where many of the lakes are connected - was a lot of fun. Have fished the St Lawrence but it's difficult to content with current so ended up largemouth fishing in Goose Bay which is contained from the current where I caught a few.

 

North Carolina - Went to North Carolina to fish in April last year. Only had a week, started learning the lake my last couple of days and caught large numbers of bass my last two days but nothing big. Didn't even get to one arm that had an old creek bed that I bet would have produced well.

 

Ontario, Canada - Fished Lake Nippising. Almost caught a nice walleye, missed my spinnerbait. Caught a few bass. Nothing large. Needed more time to learn the lake.

[DogBone_384]

On 10/31/2023 at 6:41 AM, padlin said:

Ma and Me would be my favorites

MA? You have to be referring to the Quabbin or Cape Cod!

[Swamp Girl]

4 hours ago, Boomstick said:

I have only fished in 4 states plus Lake Nippising in Ontario in Canada.

 

Massachussetts - my home state. I catch some bass, but generally it's tougher fishing and more pressured. 

 

Vermont - Live a couple towns from the border, home of some of my favorite fishing spots, nice and quiet and I've caught most of my largest bass in Vermont lakes.

 

New York - There's a little bit of everything in New York. Great Sacandaga lake is great as are all the lakes in the Adirondacks where many of the lakes are connected - was a lot of fun. Have fished the St Lawrence but it's difficult to content with current so ended up largemouth fishing in Goose Bay which is contained from the current where I caught a few.

 

North Carolina - Went to North Carolina to fish in April last year. Only had a week, started learning the lake my last couple of days and caught large numbers of bass my last two days but nothing big. Didn't even get to one arm that had an old creek bed that I bet would have produced well.

 

Ontario, Canada - Fished Lake Nippising. Almost caught a nice walleye, missed my spinnerbait. Caught a few bass. Nothing large. Needed more time to learn the lake.

 

Nippising is a freshwater sea. Big, BIG water. Scary big.

[Boomstick]

11 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

 

Nippising is a freshwater sea. Big, BIG water. Scary big.

Yes it is. We were on the west end so you can always see land there.

[Swamp Girl]

2 minutes ago, Boomstick said:

Yes it is. We were on the west end so you can always see land there.

 

Still scary big, but if I were younger, I'd like to paddle that western shoreline. I'm sure there'd be windbound days even with westerlies predominating. 

[RipzLipz]

IN - Home & there are bass in this state, @Bluebasser86 🤣

 

AL, AR, CO, GA, FL, IL, MI, MN, TN, TX, WI in the USA

 

Canada - BWCA/Quetico (Basswood) & Rainy Lake

 

My thoughts/opinions:

 

Canada is a bucket list trip for anyone looking to chase smallmouth. The canoe trips in Quetico are amazing & you might be surprised how big a LMB can get up there should you run into any. Rainy Lake is full of 3-5lb smallies. Pike can be a nuisance after a few ruined spinnerbaits or cut lines (in BWCA/Quetico).

 

Any Great Lakes trip can provide the smallmouth of a lifetime, including St. Clair. Great Lakes smallmouth should be differentiated from the rest like FL strain LMB - they’re just different to me than any other smallies I’ve caught. Do they ever STOP eating?🤣 Don’t overlook LMB opportunities. Oceans up there so be smart in your boat & watch the weather/wind.

 

AL, AR, GA, FL, MN, TX & WI are outdoorsmen’s paradises all for varying reasons. I liked them all but FL & TX stood out due to the sheer number of large bass caught every year. Really liked TX though - Fork was very easy to find ramps & trailer to different areas. Lakes get fished hard but still produce. Same thing with G’ville & Eufala in AL as far as pressure.

 

Really think TX has a great program with the Share A Lunker deal. IIRC, any bass 13lbs or larger that is donated alive to the state & the angler receives a free replica of the fish. For me, the real kicker is for the remainder of that fish’s life, half of all offspring go back into the original lake from where the fish was caught (if public) & the remaining offspring are stocked throughout the state. Big fan of spreading the gene pool like that as well as keeping it in the original lake. 👍