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Truth be told, when it comes to bass fishing here in the Ark-la-tex, we are a little spoiled. And rightfully so!

We have proven again that the finest bass fishing in the entire United States is right here in our backyard, or lakefront as it were.

This time around, Bassmaster has named Texas' Lake Fork as the Number One Bass Fishery in the whole country. To top it off, two other Texas lakes, Sam Rayburn (Jasper, Texas) and O.H. Ivie Lake (just south of Abilene, Texas) also were Top 10 finishers.

Rayburn was scored as Number 6 and O.H. Ivie as Number 9.

This news comes on the heels of Toledo Bend's recent two year stint in 2015 and 2016, as Bassmaster Magazine's Number One Bass Lake in the Country.

In a press release from Bassmaster magazine we learn that in spite of the COVID pandemic, Lake Fork was able to withstand the added fishing pressure and rise to the top of the magazine's rankings.

“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,” explained Bassmaster Magazine Editor-in-Chief James Hall.

 

“Folks found respite in the outdoors, and many of them fished for the first time. That may have put more pressure on lakes than normal, and some fisheries were impacted. Still, other lakes, which may not have been exposed previously to tournaments, shined brightly.

 

“These rankings provide a bucket list of destinations for anglers.”

Here's the listing of the Top Ten Best Bass Lakes of 2021 from Bassmaster.

Lake Fork, Texas

Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California

Santee Cooper Lakes (Marion/Moultrie), South Carolina

St. Lawrence River (Thousand Islands), New York 

Clear Lake, California

Sam Rayburn Reservoir, Texas

Lake St. Clair, Michigan

Jordan Lake, North Carolina

O.H. Ivie Lake, Texas

10 Pickwick Lake, Alabama/Mississippi/Tennessee

Once again, pointing out how spoiled we are to awesome bass fishing here in the Arklatex, I only need to bring up the Top 25 Best Bass Lakes from the Central Region where we find that Lake Fork is #1, Sam Rayburn is #2, O.H. Ivie is #3, Caney Creek Reservoir here in Louisiana is #5, Toledo Bend is #6, Lake Ray Roberts (Fort Worth, Texas) is #8, Lake Erling (just north of Springhill, La. in Taylor, Ark.) is #18, Caddo Lake is #22 and Grand Bayou (Coushatta, La.) is #24.

To see the entire article which includes the Top 25 Lakes from each region, just go to Bassmaster.com

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