Texas remains among the absolute top destinations for bass fishing in these United States, something that Bassmaster Magazine again has recognized, with 10 lakes in the Lone Star State making its annual Top 100 rankings for best bass fisheries in the nation in 2019.
Sam Rayburn Reservoir (No. 3 this year and No. 1 last year) and Lake Fork (No. 5) cracked the Top 10 of the Bassmaster list.
New York’s St. Lawrence River earned the top spot in the rankings, with Bassmaster highlighting its smallmouth bass fishery as being the reason why it took the top spot. Here’s what was said about the St. Lawrence: “Over the past seven years, this incredible smallmouth fishery has cracked the Top 10 in Bassmaster’s 100 Best Bass Lakes rankings two times. In both 2015 and 2018, the St. Lawrence (also known as the Upper St. Lawrence River) ranked eighth on the list. This year, though, the New York fishery would not be denied as the No. 1 bass fishing destination in the country. There are plenty of tournament results to back up this claim, but there is no need to look any further than the Carhartt Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops held June 19 through 21. In this event, a 26-pound, 6-ounce limit of smallmouth was weighed in. However, the most astounding statistic is that the average weight of the entire 149-team field was 20.3 pounds. The winning team from Sam Houston State University averaged 24-4 per day. The Carhartt Big Bass Award for that event was a 6-pound, 7-ounce giant. Suffice it to say, the St. Lawrence not only has big smallmouth swimming around the many islands dotting its waterscape, but a lot of them.”
Other Texas bodies of water that made the list of the Top 100 include Toledo Bend Reservoir, Falcon International Reservoir, Lake Conroe, Caddo Lake, Lake LBJ, Lake Ray Roberts, Lake Texoma and Lake O’ the Pines.
James Hall, editor of Bassmaster Magazine, said the process of creating the rankings takes more than two months. “State fishery agencies across the country are polled and rank the fisheries in their states based on stocking efforts, catch rates and angler access. Then, B.A.S.S. Nation conservation directors add to the potential lakes list based on the thousands of tournaments they hold across the country. And finally, the data from dozens of tournament organizations, as well as big bass programs from various states, are analyzed to create the ultimate list of the Top 100 lakes. The rankings are debated by a blue-ribbon panel of fishing industry insiders. The final result of this research and debate is Bassmaster’s 100 Best Bass Lakes rankings published in the July/August issue of the magazine.”
