Mille Lacs Ranked #1 Bass Lake by B.A.S.S.

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:

  1. Mille Lacs Lake, Minnesota
  2. Sam Rayburn Reservoir, Texas
  3. Clear Lake, California
  4. Shearon Harris Lake, North Carolina
  5. Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California
  6. Lake Berryessa, California
  7. Lake Erie, New York
  8. Santee Cooper Lakes, South Carolina
  9. Lake St. Clair, Michigan
  10. Falcon Lake, Texas
  11. Thousand Islands area St. Lawrence River, New York
  12. Chickamauga Lake, Tennessee
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