In the world of Florida bass fishing, anglers might feel snubbed by the recent release of Bassmaster Magazine’s 2018 list of the country’s 100 best bass lakes. I mean, come on, don’t the editors at Bassmaster look at social media?
The giant largemouth bass being caught from places like lakes Kingsley, Tohopekaliga and Istokpoga have to count for something. Run a search on the Florida Trophy Catch website, fisheries like the Ocklawaha Area waterways are producing scads of huge largemouth bass.
Yet not a single Florida fishery made the top-10 of Bassmaster’s rankings, while Michigan’s Lake St. Clair and Mille Lacs Lake in Minnesota ranked fourth and fifth, respectively. Are they trying to tell us Florida bass fishing is worse than in Michigan or Minnesota, where the growing season is a fraction of what it is here in the sunshine state? In all of Minnesota, no one has ever caught a bass that weighed more than 9 pounds. The Minnesota state record largemouth, which has stood since 2005, weighed 8 pounds, 15 ounces. In Florida, a fish that size might not even warrant a photo.
For decades, fisheries biologists across the country have been trying to ramp up bass fisheries in their states by introducing Florida-strain genetics. It’s all so they can give their anglers fishing almost as good as what we have in Florida. Texas is a shining example of what intensive management with Florida-strain fish can do for fisheries in producing big fish.
Florida Bass Fishing and Rankings
When it comes to rankings, it all depends on how fisheries are judged. The nation’s best tournament bass lakes might better describe Bassmaster’s list. Using statistics gathered from tournaments as well as from state biologists, ranking decisions were made by a panel, which undoubtedly needed to consider geographic distribution for the sake of their publication’s public perception.
Looking at the statistics, it’s hard to argue against national rankings for lakes like Texas’ No. 1-ranked Sam Rayburn or Tennessee’s No. 2-ranked Chickamauga Lake. Those places are on fire right now. They are producing 40-pound, five-fish tournament sacks. But for raw numbers of truly big bass—those weighing more than 10 pounds—Florida must be right up there at the top of the list with California.
The bone thrown to our Florida fisheries was a ranking as the No. 3 state for total number of fisheries to make the top 100. Florida ranked third behind No. 1 Texas and No. 2 California.
Seven Florida fisheries ranked in the top 25 for bass lakes in the Southeast. They were: No. 4 Okeechobee, No. 5 Tohopekaliga, No. 7 Istokpoga, No. 10 Seminole, No. 11 Rodman Reservoir, No. 18 Harris Chain, and No. 24 Kenansville Reservoir.
Here we’re considering decent-sized impoundments, which makes sense. But when considering Florida bass fishing as a whole, it’s important to realize the state is a web of connecting waterways that offer the right conditions for growing big bass.
Overall, arguments can be made that Florida has better bass fishing than any other state in the country. Where else could one catch a 14-pound largemouth from a backyard drainage ditch?
By CAM Staff