https://www.bassmaster.com/best-bass-lakes/slideshow/top-10-best-bass-lakes-of-2026/1487474

And in case you missed it: 25 Lakes and Rivers That Bass Anglers Must Visit

The July/August issue of Bassmaster magazine lists the top 100 bass fishing lakes in the US.

Of the lakes in that list, how many have you fished?

I have fished 12 of them including 3 that made the top 10 overall.

6 minutes ago, Kayak Koz said:

The July/August issue of Bassmaster magazine lists the top 100 bass fishing lakes in the US.

Of the lakes in that list, how many have you fished?

I have fished 12 of them including 3 that made the top 10 overall.

Only 11 for me, but hope to increase that this next year...

3, 5, 7 of the overall top 10

1, 2, 4, 5 (live on), 8, 17 and 22 of the top 25 Northeast.

I fished on one from the top 10 list.

10 from the top 25 northeastern division.

And how the heck do they not include Lake Menderchuck ?

Gotta be on there somewhere.

A-Jay

8 hours ago, Glenn said:

And in case you missed it: 25 Lakes and Rivers That Bass Anglers Must Visit

That list is much more accurate than Bassmasters for sure!!

Mike

Three. The St. Lawrence River, Lake Erie, and Lake Champlain.

Good to see NY heavy representin’ again.

1 hour ago, Jar11591 said:

Three. The St. Lawrence River, Lake Erie, and Lake Champlain.

Good to see NY heavy representin’ again.

New York is the Texas of the Northeast.

I've fished Erie and Bays de Noc. Two of the Northeast lakes are close, but I doubt I'll ever fish them because I enjoy cozy, quiet water.

Is there a list somewhere that I, as a non-BASS member, can access?

29 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Is there a list somewhere that I, as a non-BASS member, can access?

Bassmaster.com

42 minutes ago, bowhunter63 said:

Bassmaster.com

And Minnetonka dropped off the list - which is surprising considering the bags that have come in during local tourneys.

12 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

And Minnetonka dropped off the list - which is surprising considering the bags that have come in during local tourneys.

Mille Lacs and LaCrosse are still on the there in the Central Zone in the top 10.

Both are better options than Minnetonka these days.

Bassmaster

Best Bass Lakes 2026: Central - Bassmaster

Central division: Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin.

Dworshak Reservoir. Just saying.

1 from the top 10,

7 from the top 100.

0.

I fished 2 from the list of ten : St-Lawrence (the best) and Toho/Kissimee

I fished 5 from the list of 25

One glaring omission is that Lake Okeechobee, Fla. is not listed anywhere.

Fished 3 of them.

Good Fishing

9 hours ago, gim said:

Both are better options than Minnetonka these days.

Probably - but given my health, Tonka and close environs is pretty much what I'm restricted to....and shore only.

46 minutes ago, GreenTrout said:

One glaring omission is that Lake Okeechobee, Fla. is not listed anywhere.

Fished 3 of them.

Good Fishing

That’s why thier list means nothing.

Whatever criteria they use is misguided and misinformed.

I think they do it to give the locals of those lakes something to brag about so they run out and buy a magazine which will increase thier circulation quota for the month.

Anyway

I fished 4 of the Top 10

The first 5 and 13 total of the 25 in SE

Mike

25 minutes ago, Mike L said:

Whatever criteria they use is misguided and misinformed.

Did you even read the headings below each lake listed?

They're based on scientific polling, population data, and tournament bags. Not like they pluck these out of thin air. There's real information being used to do this.

Certainly some lakes might be over rated or not listed. But to call it misinformed is inaccurate.

17 minutes ago, Mike L said:

That’s why thier list means nothing.

Whatever criteria they use is misguided and misinformed.

I am also suspicious of why they create such lists, and who do they serve and why. Fi$hing touri$m?

But, from another Florida perspective I see it this way...

Florida has by various counts and estimates anywhere from 7,800 lakes and ponds to 30,000. And more than 1000 springs pumping out more than 65 million gallons of crystal clear water every day creating crystal clear rivers too.

So from my Florida perspective whatever lists they can come up with that includes non-Florida lakes like way up north or, waaaay out west, those would be on my list below the Florida list.

Now in my 60's, I have some 7,600 to 29,800 Florida lakes and ponds to fish first, and 975 springs before I can even think about Chicka what?

Retiring to Florida IS the bass fishing bucket list destination.

I've fished a few of them, Fork being the highest up their list. Pretty disappointed to see my power plant lake on the list for the top 25 central lakes. It's not even the best lake in Kansas, but it's one of my favorites and the best reservoir that is "close", to me. It gets enough pressure as is, I guess I just have to hope that it will hold up it's normal ways of being very stingy to any newcomers.

37 minutes ago, gim said:

Did you even read the headings below each lake listed?

They're based on scientific polling, population data, and tournament bags. Not like they pluck these out of thin air. There's real information being used to do this.

Certainly some lakes might be over rated or not listed. But to call it misinformed is inaccurate.

Yes, When they first started the rankings and haven’t since.

I assume it hasn’t changed.

And neither has my opinion.

Have a Great Day

Mike

27 minutes ago, Mike L said:

And neither has my opinion.

I can respect your opinion on much of this. Clearly you've fished many of these water bodies so there's some leverage there.

I don't see any other annual country-wide rankings of bass fisheries out there though, so this is what we use. I like data, and this has at least some element of that used. Tournament bags are raw data, and the data doesn't have an opinion. That's all I'm saying.

I'm sure there are hundreds if not thousands of places to bass fish that aren't mentioned. Perhaps that's by design too. Once a lake is on this list, it often gets highly pressured. I remember when Mille Lacs first entered the foray here. It was a blitzkrieg. So maybe not getting mentioned may be a blessing in disguise in that respect.