Minnesota’s Mille Lacs Lake has long been known for exceptional walleye fishing and ice fishing, but the smallmouth bass fishing on this more than 130,000-acre lake north of Minneapolis is what catapulted it to the top of Bassmaster Magazine’s 100 Best Bass Lakes rankings.
According to B.A.S.S. research, 20-pound five-fish limits of smallmouth bass are a regular occurrence, 30-pound sacks show up in some events, and two 36-pound limits were weighed in during events last fall. Those numbers are almost unbelievable on a smallmouth lake, considering a 36-pound limit would average out to more than 7 pounds per bass.
Here’s the rundown of Bassmaster’s top-12 bass lakes in the nation:
- Mille Lacs Lake, Minnesota
- Sam Rayburn Reservoir, Texas
- Clear Lake, California
- Shearon Harris Lake, North Carolina
- Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California
- Lake Berryessa, California
- Lake Erie, New York
- Santee Cooper Lakes, South Carolina
- Lake St. Clair, Michigan
- Falcon Lake, Texas
- Thousand Islands area St. Lawrence River, New York
- Chickamauga Lake, Tennessee