Is anyone still dazzled by Al's 52 bass over five pounds? Now, I've probably hit 50 with four-pounders, but five-pounders are much less common in Maine. I can't imagine EVER catching that many five-pounders in a single year. Not even half that number.

I don't have a lake that I'd consider home.

The wife and I travel to 15 different lakes and setup camp.

Most are very clear and very deep mountain reservoirs in VA / WV.

I'd give them all ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐.

19 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

I read these reviews and think, "I want to fish there. And there. And there."

Your canoe might not come back in one piece but, you’ll have stories for the rest of your life. 

16 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

Is anyone still dazzled by Al's 52 bass over five pounds? Now, I've probably hit 50 with four-pounders, but five-pounders are much less common in Maine. I can't imagine EVER catching that many five-pounders in a single year. Not even half that number.

I think you have outstanding fishing.  Five pounders are not common in Iowa either, 2019 was a year I will never forget and I hope I have enough fishing time to see a repeat!

2 hours ago, Lottabass said:

I think you have outstanding fishing. 

 

I agree. I love it here, but when I lived in Wisconsin and fished the Mississippi, Lakes Superior and Michigan, and northwestern Ontario, I loved that too.

 

2 hours ago, Lottabass said:

I hope I have enough fishing time to see a repeat!

 

Me too! Fingers crossed for you!

 

 

38,000 acres but I only fish a tenth of that.  It's a mostly spotted/Alabama bass lake with LM and stripers.  It used to be a 5 but the past few years it's gone down to a 2 1/2.

Its interesting that most people just like their own waters so much and not many prefer another body of water.

 

I happen to live on Lake Fork, not much needs to be said on this lake. The potential to catch a really nice fish is pretty high, from pretty much anywhere on the lake. Id say the average fish caught is 4 to 5lbs. Most any other lake I fish 2lbs is probably the typical size.

 

The biggest con of Fork is how pressured it is. Id bet its one of if not the most pressured waters in the country. Some weekends I plan to go do my thing and find out there is yet another tournament happening. Some times its straight up not worth getting out, some tournaments can bring in 2000 boats. I have watched boats queue up and wait in line to fish the row of docks along my shoreline 7 or 8 boats deep. It amazes me they will sit and wait and try a dock that was literally just picked dry by 6 boats right in front of them. I am on the less preferred side of the lake , so that helps. Most people stay on the east side. It is nice to be able to sneak down at lunch time or end of the day after work in the middle of the week for a couple hours.

 

So Id rate it at a 4.5 for the sole reason of being so popular, otherwise it would be a 5 all day.

Theodore Roosevelt Lake is home. 21,000 acres or so, 300 foot deep in main channel. Brushy, and fluctuating water levels keep it that way too. After a couple years of staying in the 90% plus range, fishing is phenomenal. 
 

Had a few bad years because of gizzard shad introduction, but game and fish stepped up with the Florida strain stocking and this lake is back in a big way. A couple weeks ago there was a 35lb sack in a tournament. 

 

#12 on Bassmaster’s Western list, I personally give a 9/10. 

@FishNTexan I had the pleasure of fishing Lake Fork one weekend for a tournament with some prefishing time. I agree with a 4.5 star assessment. Extremely pressured, but the quality of fish is still everywhere there. It’s a fun lake to fish with a wide variety of cover and structure. 

27 minutes ago, Alex from GA said:

It used to be a 5 but the past few years it's gone down to a 2 1/2.

 

What happened to it, Alex?

 

14 minutes ago, ElGuapo928 said:

A couple weeks ago there was a 35lb sack in a tournament. 

 

Whoa!

 

20 minutes ago, FishNTexan said:

Id say the average fish caught is 4 to 5lbs.

 

I didn't know that there was a such a lake. A 4.5 average is stunning. I work so hard to catch a four-pounder here and there.

 

20 minutes ago, FishNTexan said:

I have watched boats queue up and wait in line to fish the row of docks along my shoreline 7 or 8 boats deep.

 

However, this makes me happy with my three-pounders.

The lake I probably frequent the most I would rate a 3 out of 5 overall.  I call it my "home" lake because it's only 10 minutes away.

 

This season, it's fishing like a 5 out of 5 though.  It's on pace to be the best season I've had out there since I started fishing it in 2015.  It's about 240 acres in size, and it's your typical largemouth lake with weeds, depth, docks, pads, and other bass structure.

 

The reason I generally would not rank it higher is because it can get over run with recreational watercraft in the summer time on a nice day.  To the point where it's unbearable.  But for the most part, I can avoid that nonsense by fishing early, late, or when it's cloudy/raining.  Also, in more than one years past, its been pretty tough.  Those years were marred by constant heat and drought.

 

Here are some recent catches.  The number of quality fish this season is pretty staggering thus far.  A 34 inch pike and a 22 inch walleye by accident have also come out of it since May in my boat.

 

 

 

@gim: Your boy has sure grown. A lake ten minutes away is a big perk. I know some wonderful bodies of water that are an hour away. It's hard to sacrifice fishing time to reach them when my two main ponds are five and twelve minutes away. More time in the car is less time on the water. Good job on those big fish, Gim!

@Swamp Girl he caught that walleye in June on the first cast with his new Daiwa setup that he won at a crappie contest in May.

 

I was utterly shocked.  In 10 years, I have not seen a walleye like that out of that lake.  I catch them relatively frequently myself in the 12-17 inch range, but nothing that big.

 

After he caught it he said "I gotta sit down and have some pringles." 😂

The pond I usually fish: 2/5.

 

It's super shallow (no deeper than five feet in its deepest hole) choked with heavy weeds for most of the year, urban and heavily pressured, and pretty small (I can walk all the way around it in 10-15 minutes). And yet, it gave me a 4+ pound bass last year that would have been much heavier in a healthier body of water. And 15-17 inch bass are not uncommon. Extra points to my pond for being five minutes from home, hence why I fish it so often. 

 

The Chippewa River: 

4/5 

It's a lovely medium sized river that can get pretty wide and deep in certain stretches. It holds all manner of smallmouth, a few largies, pike, walleye, trout, catfish, and even the extremely rare muskie. My favorite approach is to wade the river where possible, and many long stretches are perfect for wading. I know there are probably many far better rivers out there, but the Chippewa feels like home to me. 

Everglades better than most all year.  During low water levels simply the best in the country for numbers with ridiculous  catches of Black bass, Peacock Bass, Oscars, and Mayans!  Hundreds can be caught in a full day.  

21 minutes ago, geo g said:

Everglades better than most all year.  During low water levels simply the best in the country for numbers with ridiculous  catches of Black bass, Peacock Bass, Oscars, and Mayans!  Hundreds can be caught in a full day.  

 

When you say "hundreds can be caught in a full day," do you mean hundreds per angler? I ask because I had two 250+ bass days in a row ONCE in my life. I was in my twenties and those two days exhausted me. If you're catching hundreds per angler per day, how do you sustain the effort? I had a 70 bass and a 75-bass mornings last year and those two mornings drained my tank. I could have topped 100 each outing, but couldn't sustain the effort at 68 years of age, which leads to my second question: How old are you?

The best candidate for my "home water" is not technically my most frequently-visited, but one that  offers the widest range of experiences and largest variety of environments and habitats I get to enjoy on a regular basis. It is the body of water that is both the the closest to home, and the farthest away that I fish: The Grand River.

 

The Grand is Michigan's longest river, at 252 miles, flowing mostly east to west, and emptying into Lake Michigan. I have floated, paddled, bank-fished, or waded much of it's lower 100 miles. The closest access point is 7 minutes from my house. The farthest I visit with any regularity is about an hour away. 

 

Of all species of fish known to swim in the state of Michigan, about 2/3 can be found in the Grand at lest some part of the year.  Tournaments are held pretty frequently all summer in the lower sections, and KVD has said that the Lower Grand was one of his favorite places in the state to fish tournaments when he was coming up.  However, if anything, it remains underfished for bass for much of its length.  

 

Upstream of downtown Grand Rapids, the Grand is a classic smallmouth river, with rocky substrate, and alternating riffles and runs.  Downstream, it widens and slows, approaching Lake Michigan, and merges into a network of swampy backwaters and flooded creek mouths (the bayous), with acres and acres of weedy, brushy largemouth habitat. 

 

How does it rate? That's complicated.  Trying to compare the Grand River of Michigan to Lake Fork or The Delta or Mille Lacs or Okeechobee ...or "Lake Mederchuck" for that matter is silly, so I won't. The Grand not a "destination".  

 

It's easy to get skunked, as there's a lot there's a lot of unproductive water and the fish move around a lot.  There is no consistent, clearly identifiable lair of giants, although quite a few master angler qualifying bass (21" and up), both largemouth and smallmouth, are pulled out of there every year, all  along the lower sections.  The most common experience is to catch "a few" - maybe even "a bunch"- that are "pretty good".  Pick the right place at the right time, and you could have a 50+ fish day, mostly keepers with multiple over 4lb.  And for this area, that's pretty great. 

 

Ultimately, as someone who likes variety and challenge, wants to avoid crowds and have a good chance of catching some nice fish, with a reasonable chance at a PB, and all close to home, I have to give it 5/5. 

 

On 7/20/2025 at 11:20 AM, Swamp Girl said:

Is anyone still dazzled by Al's 52 bass over five pounds? Now, I've probably hit 50 with four-pounders, but five-pounders are much less common in Maine. I can't imagine EVER catching that many five-pounders in a single year. Not even half that number.

Yep....I had to think about this for awhile but Al catches a 5lb bass every week!    Dang!!

Living the good life and I'm glad for you!

28 minutes ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

Yep....I had to think about this for awhile but Al catches a 5lb bass every week!    Dang!!

Living the good life and I'm glad for you!

 

More like two a week given Iowa's winter. Plus, look at the photo of where he catches them. Those aren't open water bass. 

21 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

When you say "hundreds can be caught in a full day," do you mean hundreds per angler? I ask because I had two 250+ bass days in a row ONCE in my life. I was in my twenties and those two days exhausted me. If you're catching hundreds per angler per day, how do you sustain the effort? I had a 70 bass and a 75-bass mornings last year and those two mornings drained my tank. I could have topped 100 each outing, but couldn't sustain the effort at 68 years of age, which leads to my second question: How old are you?

Like you I only stay out there a max of 4 hrs at 70+ years old.  But 30 years age I have had 200 catch days during low water levels.  That’s for a full day.  Concentrated fish will hit out there almost every cast.  Water levels change the whole landscape of the glades.

The Lake I grew up on I'd give a 3/5. Consistent, nice variety of cover and depths, but small enough to cover most of it in a day. No giants, in fact I'd be shocked if anything over 6lbs lived in there, but just really solid producer of numbers and averages decent fish. 

 

I kind of group lakes around me into three categories: Numbers lakes where you can catch lots of dinks, Lakes where the average size is really good but having all those medium fish seems to snuff out the potential for giants, and lakes where the numbers usually suck but the chance at a true giant exists. I think it's fun to fish all of them but the mindset going into the day is usually different. 

Everglades, about 7800 square miles. I rate it 5 plus stars all day or all night long. I can catch hundreds bass if I want to, not uncommon to catch 7-8 pounders back to back, really an unlimited Mecca that is truly untouched and totally unbelievable. A living adventure that is truly unique and astonishing, full of life like never before seen.  Nothing compares, really. I’ve fished all over and them big everglades bass are truly fierce and will give off a fight like no other. The sharks of freshwater, I call ‘em. I’m surprised they don’t have teeth! 
 

First cast 8 pounder as an example 

 

 

 my secret lake.   I rate it 4 stars.  why?  because it sucks to go there.  dirt road, so everything gets a coating of fine dust.  everything.  the ramp goes dry by July.   then the only ramp is run by a woman that likes to sleep in.  she doesnt open up the gate to pay until 8:30.  winter time when it is wet, you need 4x4, but at least the dust is gone.  

 

it is also 4 stars because it sucks to go there.  so only a few fishermen ever go.   90% of the time, I am alone.   the fish are bigger than usual, and angry.  best fighting LMB in my area.  you rarely see a bassboat because all the dirt and grime.  but theyre there occasionally.  but they cant go where I go.  I go shallow.   dink one star because the pontoon boaters dont care about grit.  they go..

 

its a fun lake.  I love it and I will be there this winter.  I'll wear a dry suit so I dont die..and I will get a whopper.  

3 hours ago, geo g said:

Like you I only stay out there a max of 4 hrs at 70+ years old.  But 30 years age I have had 200 catch days during low water levels.  That’s for a full day.  Concentrated fish will hit out there almost every cast.  Water levels change the whole landscape of the glades.

 

Thank you for explaining. I think IF I fished all day on my best days in Maine, I could land 150 bass, BUT I can't fish all day anymore.

12 hours ago, Zcoker said:

really an unlimited Mecca that is truly untouched and totally unbelievable. A living adventure that is truly unique and astonishing, full of life like never before seen.  

 

Awesome fishery no doubt. Challenge is invasive species: Burmese Pythons. Hope you can keep them in check.

Good Fishing