It’s Official! Best Spot for Bass Fishing is Here In Upstate New York
Looks like Bassmaster Magazine can't get enough of our nice fat bass!
The popular angler publication named the St. Lawrence River as the best spot for bass fishing in the entire country. In fact, their latest rankings of '100 Best Bass Lakes of 2022' included some other New York waterways: Erie/Upper Niagara River (#8 overall), Champlain (#4 Northeastern Division), Cayuga (#12 Northeastern Division), Oneida (#18 Northeastern Division) and Chautauqua (#25 Northeastern Division).
New York tied Michigan with six lakes on the list, good for fourth place. The state with the most fishing spots in the Top 100 was Texas, with 11.
The St. Lawrence River also ranked #1 overall for bass fishing back in 2019.
Regarding the 2022 Top 100 list, Bassmaster Magazine Editor-in-Chief James Hall had this to say:
We are always a little surprised when going through the data how many fisheries make the rankings and then fall off, as well as by those lakes that just always make the list. Creating the rankings takes more than two months as we dig through current tournament data as well as state fishery information on stocking efforts, catch rates and angler access.
STORIES OF OUR HUGE BASS ARE LEGENDARY
It's no secret New York has huge bass. Just this past June, a new state record for smallmouth was set, when Thomas Russell reeled in an 8lb, 6oz bass from Cayuga Lake. The previous record holder was 2oz lighter and came from the #1-ranked St. Lawrence.
The complete breakdown of the Top 100, be sure to pick up the September/October issue of Bassmaster Magazine.