Texas Has Two In Top 10

There is a stretch of more than 50 miles of the St. Lawrence River (Thousand Islands) in New York, as well as eastern Lake Ontario, that constantly produces chunky, hard-fighting smallmouth bass. It’s this reputation for consistently giving up large numbers of quality bronzebacks that has earned the fishery the top spot in the 2024 Bassmaster Magazine 100 Best Bass Lakes standings.

The St. Lawrence River took top honors in the 2022 rankings. After slipping to No. 2 last year, the St. Lawrence has reclaimed the coveted title — and rightfully so. In 2023 the unrivaled smallmouth fishery gave up more than 100 pounds to the top four competitors in the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament held there in late August; it took a staggering 105 pounds to win the event. The unrivaled smallmouth fishery appears to be getting even better, as five-bass tournament limits of more than 20 pounds now seem to be commonplace.

California, Florida and Texas lead the pack for the most fisheries in 2024’s Top 100 rankings with seven each. Arizona, Kentucky, Louisiana and Michigan all brought six bodies of water to the list, followed by Georgia, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee with five.

After taking the top spot in 2023, Texas’ O.H. Ivie Lake dropped to No. 2 in this year’s rankings, but the fishery is clearly no slouch. The 20,000-acre lake produced 35 Toyota ShareLunkers (8 pounds or heavier) in the first four months of 2024. Twelve of those fish qualified as Legacy Class bass — 13-plus pounds — caught between January and March and loaned to Texas Parks and Wildlife for use in its selective breeding program.

Bassmaster Magazine’s Top 10 Best Bass Lakes of 2024