I once fished in a tournament where anglers from Waukegan, IL squared off against anglers from Michigan City, IN to determine which community could call itself the Coho Capital of the Great Lakes. I can’t remember which side won but I’ve caught lots of cohos since then close to both cities.
This smallmouth was one of many caught when we were fishing in the shadow of the lighthouse marking the mouth of the Niagara River at Buffalo, NY.
I’ve fished for walleyes in various locations around the Great Lakes—Green Bay, Wisconsin, Saginaw Bay, MI, Lake Ontario and even on Lake Superior, but if any place deserves the title of Walleye Capital, it’s Lake Erie. I’ve also fished places that either proclaimed to be or were awarded the title of being the (pick one) crappie, bluegill, catfish or other species of fish “capital.”
Each year, Bassmaster magazine produces a list ranking the top 100 places to fish for bass in the U.S.A. Lakes across the country earn their spot on the list, but who wants to go to the 99th best place to fish. What’s of interest to bass anglers with a bit of wanderlust is fishing at a place at or near the top of the list. Let’s take a look at the Top 10, according to the number-crunchers at Bassmaster magazine.
One might expect Florida or other southern states to be represented inordinately, and to be sure, a few southern lakes are in the top tier. But also on the list is a lake in a West Coast state, an East Coast state, as well as some Gulf Coast states. What caught my attention, however, is that four of the Bassmaster’s Top 10 are in the Great Lakes states—right in the backyard of most Great Lakes Angler magazine subscribers. In fact, New York’s portion of the St. Lawrence River called the Thousand Islands area was given the number one ranking over all the rest. This area is certainly an extension of the Great Lakes since where Lake Ontario ends, the St. Lawrence River and the Thousand Island area begins. I’ve not fished it, but it’s certainly on my bucket list. Coming in at number four is Lake St. Clair, in Michigan. Often dubbed the Sixth Great Lake or the Littlest Great Lake, that’s an easy claim to understand for anyone looking at a map. Lake St. Clair is certainly large enough to be called a lake, as opposed to being a wide spot in the river connecting Lake Huron and Lake Erie. It’s not a bay, it’s a separate lake and I personally think of it as a Great Lake. I’ve bass fished at Lake St. Clair and it would certainly make my top-spot list.
Bassmaster awarded the seventh position to Lake Erie/Upper Niagara River in New York. I’m not sure if that means all of Lake Erie (it certainly could) or just the portion of the Niagara River upstream from the Falls and the part of Lake Erie near Buffalo, NY. In Lake Erie, every spot with a bit of structure is a bass fishing hotspot so the entire lake should be given its due. I’ve fished for bass near Buffalo and can understand it being singled out, but if I’d been on the committee, I’d have included the part of the Niagara River below the falls on down to where it feeds into Lake Ontario. On the few trips I’ve made to each of those places, the lower Niagara River showed me more action than what I’d found above the falls.
Jumping into the 10th spot is Mille Lacs Lake in Minnesota. Minnesota is a Great Lakes state and Mille Lacs is a huge lake—but far different than the named Great Lakes. I’m sure it has always been a good bass fishing lake but for most of my life, walleyes were the major attraction at Mille Lacs. Woke-minded interpretations of ancient treaties with Native Americans changed that by allocating most of the walleye harvest in Mille Lacs to tribal netters.
Mille Lacs fishing guides and resorts began targeting bass instead of walleyes and what they found was the bass fishing is phenomenal. How good is it? Good enough to rank in the Top 10, measured against thousands of bass lakes covering millions of acres across the country.
Though anglers come from around the world to fish in and around the Great Lakes, most Great Lakes anglers and most of the subscribers to GLA magazine live in a Great Lake state. For many, the target is salmon and trout or walleyes and perch. This Top 10 list shows there’s more opportunities for Great Lakes anglers, including bass. All you have to do is take advantage of those opportunities.
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2 comments
The Treaty was signed in 1837. Mille Lacs was well managed through the years by State of Minnesota with plenty of fish for all until the 1990s when a court ruling by an activist judge decided he was smarter and more powerful than the Minnesota fisheries department.
What’s “woke” about honoring treaty rights?