6 Bucket List Bass Fishing Lakes You Need to Visit Before You Die

From Lake Fork to Lake St. Clair, these iconic U.S. bass lakes belong on every hardcore angler’s bucket list.

Clear Lake in California is a special place. That's why it, and these five other legendary waters, should be on every true bass fishing fan's bucket list. | Photo by Tim Little

A Bucket List for Bass Fanatics

Some people take bucket list barbecue tours. Others try to visit as many major league or minor league baseball stadiums as they can. The golf nuts want to play all of the hallowed courses where majors are held.

I just want to fish (well, I also want to eat barbecue, but only if it’s near good fishing).

In particular, I want to fish for bass on the watery equivalent of Augusta. I love smashing ‘em on out-of-the-way or unknown lakes, but for me bassing at its best is a cultural and historical effort as well as just a pure smashfest. I want to go to the places that have historical significance, and once I’m there I want to catch ‘em in the most iconic way possible for that region. Sure, you could probably catch big bass with a Senko or using a minnow and forward-facing sonar to great effect in these same places, but as long as I’m dreaming, I want some sort of presentation purity, too.

If you’re building a bucket list, consider my top 6 (in no particular order) places to start:

Sure, you've heard of them, but have you fished them? Beaver Lake, Arkansas, Lake Guntersville, Alabama, Lake Okeechobee, Florida, Clear Lake, California, Lake St. Clair, Michigan, Lake Fork, Texas | Google

1. Beaver Lake, Arkansas
2. Lake Guntersville, Alabama
3. Lake Okeechobee, Florida
4. Clear Lake, California
5. Lake St. Clair, Michigan
6. Lake Fork, Texas

1. Beaver Lake, Arkansas: Where Competitive Bass Fishing Was Born

Beaver Lake is the site of B.A.S.S. founder, Ray Scott's first big tournament. | B.A.S.S.

Why It’s On the List: This is where Ray Scott held the first official Bassmaster tournament, the 1967 All American, won by luremaker Stan Sloan. Just for the history it’s pretty cool, but it’s also a winner because it has all three main species of bass – largemouths, smallmouths and spots – and you can catch them all in the same day. The Ozarks region happens to be beautiful, too, with rolling hills and everything from bluff banks to pea gravel holding bass.

A beautiful sunrise over iconic bass fishing destination, Beaver Lake in Arkansas. | ID 317978174 | © Chon Kit Leong | Dreamstime

How I’d Want to Catch Them: In the fall, when the leaves change, you can go out and chunk and wind a Whopper Plopper, and when it’s really cold this is the area that made the Wiggle Wart famous. There’s just a lot of variety. But the way I’d like to catch them the most is with a suspending jerkbait. This is the region where anglers of days gone by relied on carefully-weighted Rogues, but to people of my era (40s to 50s) it’s famous for popularizing JDM jerkbaits, particularly a Megabass Vision 110. I want to catch all three species with a GP Pro Blue 110 on a cold February or March day.

2. Lake Guntersville, Alabama: Frogging Heaven on the Tennessee River

Guntersville is, or has been, the home to many of the sports highest-level bass pros. | Photo by Craig Lamb | B.A.S.S.

Why It’s On the List: Scott may have held his first event in Arkansas, but Bama is still the heart of bass fishing. It produces tons of pros and lures many from other places to move there. There are all kinds of fisheries, including clear spotted bass lakes, but I want to go full Bubba style on the TVA impoundment known for thick grass. Despite being near two fairly large cities and getting tons of pressures, The Big G keeps on pumping out big bass and big bags.

I want a day at Guntersville when the sweat is dripping down the back of my neck, the bass are buried up in the thick stuff, only willing to come out when old Kermit rides overhead. | Photo by Craig Lamb | B.A.S.S.

How I’d Want to Catch Them: With a frog! Yes, a red Rat-L-Trap is a springtime Classic, and the A-Rig made its first major appearance here, but I want a day at Guntersville when the sweat is dripping down the back of my neck, the bass are buried up in the thick stuff, only willing to come out when old Kermit rides overhead. The strikes are blistering and the sound of singing braid is music to my ears.

3. Lake Okeechobee, Florida: Iconic Grass Mats and Prop Bait Monsters

Lake Okeechobee is famous for having miles and miles of green weedy big bass habitat. | B.A.S.S. | Craig Lamb

Why It’s On the List: There’s gotta be a Florida fishery on this list, right? There are probably some that are more consistent than the Big O, which is in a bit of a funk now, but it always bounces back, and this is another historical stalwart. It’s big, it’s shallow and it’s been integral to the careers of people like Roland Martin as well as all sorts of tackle developments – from the “Okeechobee Special” spinnerbait to the “Okeechobee Craw” soft plastic color. Even when it’s not at its best, there’s always the feeling that there’s a giant around the next patch of weeds.

You'll always have the feeling that there’s a giant bass around the next patch of weeds on Okeechobee. | Photo by B.A.S.S.

How I’d Want to Catch Them: As noted above, there are lots of techniques that were developed here, and soft plastics from ribbontail worms to Senkos to soft swimbaits probably catch more fish than anything, but I’d rather go with a prop bait like a Bagley’s Bang-O-Lure or even one of those made by local legend Sam Griffin. Plop it in a hole in the grass, get the blade to barely turn, then wait until a giant just about gives you a heart attack. That’s living.

4. Clear Lake, California: Oversized Swimbaits and Trophy Bass

Nestled in the mountains of the North Coast Range, Clear Lake delivers giant bass with a generous helping of gorgeous scenery. | Photo by Kurt Mazurek

Why It’s On the List: I struggled with this one because I love the California Delta, and felt obligated to put a true river system on the list, but when I think of Cali I want a swimbait in my hand. Clear Lake is where Steve Kennedy put them on the map for most of us easterners, setting a then-BASS-record in 2007 using big baits he’d just acquired upon arrival.

How I’d Want to Catch Them: If I’m going clear across the country, I want to go full local with a bait the size of a tennis shoe – preferably something handmade in someone’s garage that you had to get on a special waiting list or drop to obtain. When I see the fish come up under it, I want to worry that I’ll be unable to pay my mortgage if I lose the lure. That’ll make it all that much sweeter when a double digit comes over the side of the boat.

5. Lake St. Clair, Michigan: Urban Smallmouth Paradise

Lake St Clair is big and beautiful and loaded with bass. | Photo by Craig Lamb | B.A.S.S.

Why It’s On the List: There needs to be a Great Lakes smallmouth option on the list, and while St. Clair isn’t technically a Great Lake, it’s more or less the same. It’s a bit smaller and shallower than the others, which should make it easier to break down. It also has world class populations of not just smallmouths but walleyes and muskies, too. Furthermore, it’s one of the greatest urban fisheries in the world, proof that you can fly into a major airport hub, grab a slice of local pizza and then whack ‘em shortly thereafter. Oh yeah – the smallmouths grow big, too.

Bass pro Cory Johnston hooked up with a big bronzeback on Lake St Clair. | Photo by Shane Durrance | B.A.S.S.

How I’d Want to Catch Them: Dropshotting and dragging a tube are probably the most iconic and popular ways to catch big Great Lakes smallmouths, but on St. Clair they also catch big bags on deep diving crankbaits like a Rapala DT16 or a Strike King 6XD. I want to feel one of those bronze freaks grab it and run the other way, then feel my heart in my throat when he launches himself 5 feet in the air with a face full of treble hooks.

6. Lake Fork, Texas: Legendary Lone Star Largemouths

Lake Fork is home to the largemouth bass state record 18.18-pounder and seven of the top 10 fish entered in the Texas ShareLunker program. | Photo by B.A.S.S.

Why It’s On the List: First of all, the Texans might hunt me down if I didn’t include one (or more) of their fisheries on the list. Second, at some point in your life you need to go fishing where there’s a legit shot that you’ll catch a bulging-eyed giant. Fork may not be as big as Sam Rayburn or Toledo Bend, it may not be as consistent as them, and it may not be as of-the-moment as OH Ivie, but it produces true trophies every year. Moreover, when you drive into the surrounding area, you know you’re in a fishing community right away.

If you can get to Lake Fork and somehow find yourself in the boat of Texas bass legend Keith Combs, you can put a big double check mark on your bucket list. | Pete Robbins

How I’d Want to Catch Them: Sometimes it seems like most of Fork’s trophies are caught inadvertently by crappie anglers with tiny jigs, but that doesn’t seem like a high-percentage proposition. I suppose I could throw a jig on timber or crank offshore, but I’d really like to catch one sight fishing. The idea of seeing a skittish 10-plus on or around the bed and really having to commit to making it bite over the course of several hours could be mind-blowing.

What’s On Your Bass Fishing Bucket List?

Obviously this is just a starter set. I know that I didn’t pick a true spotted bass trophy factory like Lanier in Georgia or Bullards Bar in California. I didn’t pick a tidal river, which pains me, because I cut my angling teeth on the Potomac River. What else did I miss? What else is on your list, or do you want to catch them on the same places but in some other way?