California’s Clear Lake was named top spot in the nation for big bass last year by Bassmaster Magazine. This monster weighed almost 16 pounds! (Clear Lake Outdoors)

B.A.S.S. annually aggregates tournament statistics from every bass-fishing state to name the top lakes by region and also pick the top spots in the nation. Surprisingly this year, the big fish bonanza’s lean westward and also into the northeast, rather than being centered in the South, the initial home of tournament bass fishing.

California’s 43,000-acre Clear Lake, about 90 miles north of San Francisco, was tops due to the astounding number of monster fish it turned out. Locals say this is primarily the result of heavy stocking of small rainbow trout by California Fish & Game Commission—the bass stuff themselves with the slow, dumb and nutrition-rich fish and grow like crazy in the clear depths of the lake. These fish are all Florida/Northern hybrids, the mix which has proven to produce giant bass pretty much where ever the best trophy fishing is found these days.

California’s Lake Casitas, a relatively small lake at 2,700 acres in Ventura County, has a similar ecology—lots of stocked trout resulting in lots of potbellied Florida bass, many in double-digits. The size of this lake and a $20 ramp fee prevents it from being a major tourist bassing destination, however.

Texas claims two of the big fish waters: 20,000-acre O.H. Ivie, first filled in 1990 and 27,000-acre Lake Fork built in 1980 have both been stocked heavily with Florida strain fish and have tons of shad as fodder for them. 

Ivie is noted for highly variable water levels. When the water goes down, the shore dries up and grows brush, and when it refills the “new lake” effect creates huge nutrient rich feeding areas for the fish. In some cases, Ivie fish have been shown to reach 10 pounds in just 3 years, about a third of the normal time!

The Smallmouth Boom

The St. Lawrence River and other northern waters are producing huge numbers of big smallmouths in recent years. 

Interestingly, since the smallmouth fishery has boomed across the north, in part due to clearer water created by invasive zebra mussels and more feed created by invasive gobies, four of the top 10, the St. Lawrence River, Mille Lacs, Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair, are primarily smallmouth waters, and 5-pounders are common catches throughout the prime waters. The east end of Lake Ontario, which feeds into the St. Lawrence, is also prime smallie country, even though it was not included in the top spots.

Smallmouth country has the advantage of being where there are serious winters, which means the fish are allowed to grow in peace for at least four months of the year, and this probably will allow these fisheries to remain very good for a long time. Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are also huge waters, where wind and wave action cuts down on the number of days bassboats are safe venturing out to smallmouth strongholds during open-water seasons, particularly in spring and fall. 

The Only Deep South Hot Spots

Only Florida’s Orange Lake, near Gainesville, booming because of frequent dewatering and refilling creating the new-lake syndrome, and the Santee Cooper Lakes of South Carolina are in the Deep South.

The Santee Cooper Lakes, Marion and Moultrie, make up some 170,000 acres of water, much of it loaded with standing timber, brushy flats and endless bass habitat. The lakes are also loaded with shad as well as blueback herring, both prime bass fodder, resulting in rapid growth. (They are also some of the best waters in the nation for landlocked stripers and for giant catfish, so if you’re not a bass addict, you can enjoy some variety fishing there.)

The Santee Cooper Lakes of South Carolina are among the top 10 this year, with 170,000 acres of prime fishing habitat. (Santee Cooper Country)

Alabama’s Lake Guntersville, which has been the nation’s top water in some seasons past, could only muster a 3rd place in the Southeast division this year. An invasion of eel grass has made the lake challenging to fish throughout the warmer months, but it still produces a whole lot of 5 and 6 pounders.  Some anglers expert at “scoping” put bigger fish in the boat during cooler months—pro Hayden Marbut weighed a five fish limit that went almost 35 pounds last winter!

Here are the top 10, per Bassmaster, for the past year.

1.   Clear Lake, California
2.   O.H. Ivie Lake, Texas
3.   Lake Fork, Texas
4.   St. Lawrence River (Thousand Islands), New York
5.   Lake Casitas, California
6.   Orange Lake, Florida
7.   Santee Cooper Lakes, South Carolina
8.   Mille Lacs Lake, Minnesota
9.   Lake Erie, New York
10. Lake St. Clair, Michigan

— Frank Sargeant
Frankmako1@gmail.com