Best state for bass fishing?

[RobbyZ5001]

Big Bass- Cali

Best all around LM- Texas

Best Smallies- Pa

[-HAWK-]

I can't believe no one has said florida yet...I love being able to work a spook in december! or catching an 11lb lunker in a small pond in the woods in march ( my avatar) yea, it gets hot here, but when the fish are biting, you don't care as much.

stick marsh, toho, george, etc etc etc...and lets not forget the big O...

Shhh..... Lets keep it on the DL Mike. The less pressure the Better.

[Ky_Lake_Dude]

East Texas or Florida

[MaineBassMan]

This country if full of great bass fishing lakes. There are a lot of places that I would love to take a trip to and try fishing, Lake Fork and Erie are my top two. However I would not trade the fishing in Maine for any of them permenantly. We have thousands of lakes to fish, many of which get very little pressure. Most of the time I go fishing I may only see 1 or 2 other boats on the water, but most of the time we are the only boat.

Don't have speed boats, partiers and jet skies bothering you, I have experienced this in southern Maine so I stay away from there now. We have great smallmouth and largmouth fishing.

However our state has a high unemployment rate and the Winters can be long and not everyone can hack it up here. Plus the state is just starting to recognize Bass fishing as a great resource. Too many oldtimers stuck on salmon and trout.

Not trying to say that my fishing is better then other states, its just what I know and its home.

[bassmaster3000]

I do not vote Washington!  

[ring fry]

Gotta go with Texas, specifically East Texas.  California would be a good choice except.............................it's California.  

[Randall]

Georgia!!! Not because I live here but because of the variety of species and size. If you live in West Central GA where I do you can drive a few hours and get to more types of fishing than anywhere else that I know of. First the fact that GA has shoal bass almost makes it the best place alone. A six pound shoal bass is the hardest fighting bass there is on the face of the earth pound for pound. A smallmouth or spot is no match at all for a shoal bass.

We don't have many left but we do have some great smallmouth lakes in north GA where you can catch five smallmouths that go over twenty pounds. And if you want you can drive to north to Alabama and Tennessee in a couple of hours for the more well know lakes.

Drive an hour or two to the North and I can be on the two best Spotted bass lakes in the world. Lanier is the best for numbers of quality fish and they bite like crazy at times on swimbaits and topwaters. It just don't get much more fun than watching big spots hit on the surface. Lake Burton is in North GA but will break the WR for spotted bass in the next two years. There are already plenty of eight pound spots being caught there and a non certified fish that looked by appearance to be a spot that was just under 10lbs. The fish have both stocked trout and BB herring to feed on. I almost even hate to say it since it the kind of thing most don't know about but Burton is full of ten pound plus LM that are trout eaters that will hit a swimbait.  

I can get to all the lakes in East Alabama to from where I live. Guntersville is close enough as well as the Coosa chain so I don't need to live in Alabama to fish there.

Last an my personal favorite is all the small lake fishing in GA. Most of the trophy LM fishing in GA has been destroyed on the big lakes by hybrids and spotted bass. But the small lakes are still great places to catch all species but with LM being the species on most lakes.  We have Lake Varner which is a great big bass fishery. It has always been a great winter and spring lake for big bass but it now has hydrilla which in the summer and fall makes it an incredible lake for topwater and frog fishing. One guy described it to me last last fall after fishing at Guntersville for over a month as "Guntersville on Steroids" after seeing multiple giant fish hit his topwater frogs and swimbaits in one day.  We also have new lakes opening this year which haven't been fished as well as a bunch of more lakes due to open in the following years. Big bass, peace and quiet, and no jet skis = happiness.  ;D

For just one species I might go somewhere else. For all of them I will stay in GA.

[adclem]

If I had to move one place based on my type of work and the quality of fishing it would be either Texas or Florida.  Here great things about the lakes in these areas.

Later,

[Randall]

This country if full of great bass fishing lakes. There are a lot of places that I would love to take a trip to and try fishing, Lake Fork and Erie are my top two. However I would not trade the fishing in Maine for any of them permenantly. We have thousands of lakes to fish, many of which get very little pressure. Most of the time I go fishing I may only see 1 or 2 other boats on the water, but most of the time we are the only boat.

Don't have speed boats, partiers and jet skies bothering you, I have experienced this in southern Maine so I stay away from there now. We have great smallmouth and largmouth fishing.

However our state has a high unemployment rate and the Winters can be long and not everyone can hack it up here. Plus the state is just starting to recognize Bass fishing as a great resource. Too many oldtimers stuck on salmon and trout.

Not trying to say that my fishing is better then other states, its just what I know and its home.

I had a guy tell me once after we caught a bunch of big bass that his trip to Maine was still his favorite fishing trip since he prefered numbers over size.  Said he went out with a guide in a jonboat on a small river and caught over 100 smallmouth  from three to five pounds and never saw another boat. I never thought of Maine as a good place to fish but he says for two months during the summer he goes to Maine just for the fishing and no other reason since he retired.

[EastTexasBassin]

I'm going to have to go with East Texas.

(yeah, I know, my name gives it away)

[TN basstracker]

I would have to agree with RW.  It would either be Alabama or Tennessee for me.  You have numerous lakes all very close in both states in which you can target LM, SM, or Spots.  Great Smallie fishing across the State on TN (with the world record smallie coming form Dale Hollow) and just a short drive from anywhere in North Alabama.  Just my best picks for the best all-around fishing.

[Raul]

If I were to choose a state to where to move I would go Texas without thinking it too much, specifically in the Laredo-Brownsville strip. There you have some of the best Texas lakes ( Falcon and Choke ) plus some of the best Mexican lakes ( Sugar, El Cuchillo, Guerrero ) and if you want to go salt you can always go to South Padre Island in Brownsville.

Besides there 's always good hunting in that area.

[GLADES]

My vote is

1.Texas

2.Florida

3.Tenn

4.Georgia

5.California

[Captain Obvious]

He's to young to move to Florida ;D ;D

And Texas has variety too

State programs have begun to put small mouth and spots in some lakes

it has yet to be seen if they will do well here but we do have them

And the fishing up in north Texas isn't to bad ether  

[TopWaterSA]

For Largemouth bass, I think I'd say South Central Texas.

1.  Falcon Lake

2.  Lake Amistad

3.  Choke Canyon

A little further

4.  Lake Fork

5.  Sam Rayburn

Perry

[haveme1]

No one has said Mississippi.  

Heck all along the Miss. river the old river lakes.

All the way north to south of the state.

The Ross Barnett Reservoir/ Pearl river.

Several man made lakes the your guaranteed to catch the limit.

[Fishing Rhino]

The best state to fish in for bass is......................the state you happen to be in at the moment.  It's impossible for you to fish in any state, other than the one you are in.

I suppose you could cast across a state line to be in one state and fish in another.

[DINK WHISPERER]

FLORIDA all the way!!!!!!!!!

[whitwolf]

The best state to fish in for bass is......................the state you happen to be in at the moment.

You got that right.....

[UrbanRedneck]

If you are looking for diversity as well as quality you cant argue with California.  I lived in AL for a while and I can tell you those fisheries are a joke compared to California.  But hey, if you like 2-3 pound bass then move to AL.

Plus, their is no other state with as diverse fishing opportunities as Cali, the saltwater fishing is unbelievable.

And trust me, if you want a government job in an environmental postion, Cali is the place.

[dogfish1]

i would say north carolina, because you have so many first rate lakes and a couple of rivers that hold so many fish species. kerr lake, lake gaston,falls lake, jordan lake ,harris lake,lake norman, badin lake,lake tillery,on and on.then theres neuse river, trent river, cape fear river. man what a fishery nc has. don

[done]

The best state to fish in for bass is......................the state you happen to be in at the moment. It's impossible for you to fish in any state, other than the one you are in.

I suppose you could cast across a state line to be in one state and fish in another.

Actually, on Lake Wylie you can do that. LOL. I never go out on the lake without a NC and SC state license. As twisted as that lake is, it can be really easy to cross a state line without realizing it.

[Fishing Rhino]

The best state to fish in for bass is......................the state you happen to be in at the moment. It's impossible for you to fish in any state, other than the one you are in.

I suppose you could cast across a state line to be in one state and fish in another.

Actually, on Lake Wylie you can do that. LOL. I never go out on the lake without a NC and SC state license. As twisted as that lake is, it can be really easy to cross a state line without realizing it.

Sawdy Pond, just down the road from me is in RI and Mass.  But, a license in either state is all you need.  Reciprocity is a great thing.

[Under the Radar]

My vote goes to a

Positive State of Mind

[Tanker4lyfe]

um sorry guys id have to say CALIFORNIA may not have smallmouth except for the far north but you just cant beat all the medium sized inpoundments that regularly pull out 15lb plus bass. 15lb bass caught on a swimbait in 40ft of water unbelievable. i would say 2 of the best lakes in the world are amistad and falcon in texas