Anyone else have this problem?

[Mr. Aquarium]

I live in MA near the cape. I have over 500 places to fish within an hour of my house. So many places to fish. Some places are big, some are small ponds, some shallow, some deep!  I try to learn a few ponds each year. 

[Vilas15]

Yes. Up at the cabin theres over a thousand lakes combined between the county we're in and the next one. Its taken about 10 years to learn about 10 pretty good and try another 10 a few times. Gotta know a spot and have some good info to make it worth driving any more than a half hour past all the nearest lakes. They're all different and I can now pick a lake depending on time and year and what species I'm looking for which has drastically improved success rates.

[Susky River Rat]

It’s more than an hour drive but I have the susky to explore 

[Zcoker]

I might have this problem. I fish the everglades, which is thousands of square miles and encompasses most of the lower half of the entire state. I live about an hour away, same as you. That's a whole heck of a lotta marsh to cover! I could fish a lifetime and not even begin to cover a fraction of it. 

[Jar11591]

I live in the foothills of the Adirondacks, which means I have over 3000 lakes and ponds to choose from, and thousands of miles of rivers, streams, creeks, and brooks, all within 3 hours of my driveway. My list of places I want to try is endless.

[A-Jay]

Michigan has 11,000 inland lakes, more freshwater shoreline than any other state in the nation, tens of thousands of miles of rivers and streams, and more than 3,000 miles of water trails.

There are over 370 lakes in the county we live in alone.  When I first moved here in 2007, it was overload. 

Currently, I routinely rotate and focus my efforts on about 10 or so. Plan on adding at least one special place in 2024. Haved learned what types of places I prefer and why.  Big fish drives most all of that. 

👍

A-Jay

[Mr. Aquarium]

Love the replies!  Crazy amount of water out there. Most of them in my area don’t have info on how deep or if there’s good fish! 

[Zcoker]

Now if you take into account living less than an a few minutes away from the ocean, then that's even more water to cover. I fish both. Both keep me very, very busy! 

[A-Jay]

25 minutes ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

Love the replies!  Crazy amount of water out there. Most of them in my area don’t have info on how deep or if there’s good fish! 

I can usually get a very good idea of what the lake & bottom contours look like in advance.

But regardless of reports or 'reputation', 

I always need to fish them to find out for myself.

Some 'good' places have turned out to be really bad,

and a few 'bad' places have been straight up money. 

Takes a lot of time, but I'm fishing.

https://youtu.be/jOxHsuV83KA?feature=shared&t=13

A-Jay

[Bass Junke]

@Mr. Aquarium like you I live in Southern Mass. I will say that every body of water in Mass is within an hour of me. While we are at it pretty much all bodies of water in R.I. and most of Connecticut are all within an hour from me. Lot's of options. With that said, I only buy a license for Mass. Most bodies of water in R.I. close to me are reservoirs and off limits. Never fished in Connecticut.  

[Zcoker]

I used to live in North Adams, Mass. Great places all over to fish up there! 

[gim]

2 hours ago, Vilas15 said:

Up at the cabin theres over a thousand lakes combined between the county we're in and the next one.

 

Based on your screen name I assume you're in Vilas County.  I'm not familiar with that area personally, but I think its probably very similar to places in Northern MN.  Mostly cabin country, very few large urban areas, and a lot of minimally-pressured lakes to fish.

[Mr. Aquarium]

1 hour ago, Bass Junke said:

@Mr. Aquarium like you I live in Southern Mass. I will say that every body of water in Mass is within an hour of me. While we are at it pretty much all bodies of water in R.I. and most of Connecticut are all within an hour from me. Lot's of options. With that said, I only buy a license for Mass. Most bodies of water in R.I. close to me are reservoirs and off limits. Never fished in Connecticut.  

I’m in Marshfield on the ocean. Half way between the Cape and Boston. Ri is just over an hour to the boarder. Never really fished bass there. Mostly cuz there’s so much water out this way I still Need to learn. Also places I’ve fished for years I’m still learning. 

[Swamp Girl]

Yeah, I've a wealth of water to fish, but I limit it to the water closest to me. I only have so many hours to fish and I don't want to spend those hours in a car. Two of my favorite places to fish are less than ten minutes away. My favorite bog is 25 minutes, but it's worth the drive. My alewife pond is nearly an hour away. If it were closer, I might fish it and nothing else.

[MIbassyaker]

Yup, same here --there are hundreds of places I can fish within an hour of my house -- natural lakes, rivers, creeks, impoundments, gravel pits, swampy bayous, neighborhood ponds, and a giant freshwater sea.   They range from inches to hundreds of feet deep, with nearly every kind of natural and manmade habitat imaginable -- wood, rock, shallow vegetation, deep vegetation, brush, docks, piers, seawalls, rip-rap, sand, etc.  And depending on which one I visit, and when, I could catch virtually any species of fish that swims in the state of Michigan.

[Swamp Girl]

Michigan's a great state to fish, for sure. 

[Vilas15]

3 hours ago, gimruis said:

 

Based on your screen name I assume you're in Vilas County.  I'm not familiar with that area personally, but I think its probably very similar to places in Northern MN.  Mostly cabin country, very few large urban areas, and a lot of minimally-pressured lakes to fish.

Yes. Borders Oneida. Most lakes I frequent are 400 to 1000 acres. Most of the time theres 3 to 5 trailers at the launch, sometimes none, and one time I think I saw over 10.

 

Now with a boat at home I'm on the Madison chain more where the lakes are bigger and there's more traffic.

[crypt]

for me that's not a problem but a bonus......I live 5 minutes from the St. Johns River and 5 minutes he other way to the Indian river.......best of both worlds. thats why I live in Fl.  best place besides southern Louisiana to be for salt and fresh at the same time. gotta love it !!!!!!!

the other way not he.....my bad

[Bird]

Not nearly as much water as mentioned above but roughly 25 lakes inside of a 90 minute drive.

My personal favorite lakes have campgrounds so I bring the wife and the dog and spend the week.

[TnRiver46]

We have tons and tons and tons of water but no natural lakes and very few ponds (mostly just for cows on private land. It’s all rolling downhill. Without TVA we would all live on top of a cliff just to stay above the floods. Chattanooga’s old school prime real estate is actually up on rock cliffs, you can still see the English ivy they brought across the ocean hanging off the rocks 100 feet above your head when you are fishing the river 

 

I live right near water and wouldn’t have it any other way. I must fish to live. Often.

 

[papajoe222]

I don't count the hundreds of retention ponds in the area southwest of Chicago, only lakes and although there are a handful within an hour's drive, the power plant lakes that are home to the big girls are much farther.  A normal 'day' of fishing is actually only four hours on the water and three to four driving.  I love to drive, but I love fishing more, so I put up with the fishing pressure on my local lake the majority of the time.

[12poundbass]

@A-Jay is in northern Michigan @MIbassyaker is on the west side of Michigan and I’m in the middle of the state and I have the same luxury as those two. Lakes, rivers, more lakes, and more rivers. There are miles and miles of rivers surrounding me and dozens of lakes within a 15-20 drive of my house.

 

I’ve looked towards the east side of the state and there doesn’t appear to be nearly as many lakes over there. Those people can have St Clair and Saginaw Bay, I’ll keep my little lakes.

[Mr. Aquarium]

Half the battle is where to fish! 

[softwateronly]

5 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

@A-Jay is in northern Michigan @MIbassyaker is on the west side of Michigan and I’m in the middle of the state and I have the same luxury as those two. Lakes, rivers, more lakes, and more rivers. There are miles and miles of rivers surrounding me and dozens of lakes within a 15-20 drive of my house.

 

I’ve looked towards the east side of the state and there doesn’t appear to be nearly as many lakes over there. Those people can have St Clair and Saginaw Bay, I’ll keep my little lakes.

Can I be an honorary SW Michigan guy? The lakes we're on and the lake my in-laws are on account for 3 of 60ish bodies of water I could be on within a 30min drive.  Michigan is rather remarkable for it's amount of fishable water.

 

scott 

[DogBone_384]

On 12/27/2023 at 11:28 AM, Mr. Aquarium said:

Most of them in my area don’t have info on how deep or if there’s good fish! 

That's why you're Mr. Aquarium!