Lake Fork named top bass fishing spot in US

By KLTV Digital Media Staff.

Published: Jun. 29, 2021 at 10:52 AM CDT|Updated: Jun. 29, 2021 at 11:05 PM CDT

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — East Texas is home to four of the 100 best lakes for bass fishing, according to Bassmaster Magazine, including the No. 1 pick.

Lake Fork, renowned for producing giant bass, has been named the No. 1 bass fishery in the U.S. for 2021.

Overall Texas had 10 fisheries on the Top 100 list — Fork, Sam Rayburn, O.H. Ivie, Toledo Bend, Ray Roberts, Conroe, Falcon, Choke Canyon, Texoma and Caddo — creating a tie with California for the state with the most fisheries in the 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,” said 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.

Lake Fork, just 65 miles east of Dallas, is a slice of heaven for anglers hungry for hogs. A whopping 20 ShareLunkers — largemouth bass measuring at least 24 inches in length or 8 pounds — were caught on Fork in the first four months of 2021, with a 15.27-pound giant hooked in March.

The rankings identify the top lakes in the nation based on head-to-head comparisons, as well as the Top 25 lakes in four geographical regions — Central, Western, Southeastern and Northeastern.

“We divide the nation into four regions and rank the lakes in each region to give anglers perspective on the fisheries they can most likely reach,” Hall said.

Bassmaster Magazine’s 100 Best Bass Lakes of 2021

Top 10

1 Lake Fork, Texas

2 Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California

3 Santee Cooper Lakes (Marion/Moultrie), South Carolina

4 St. Lawrence River (Thousand Islands), New York

5 Clear Lake, California

6 Sam Rayburn Reservoir, Texas

7 Lake St. Clair, Michigan.

8 Jordan Lake, North Carolina

9 O.H. Ivie Lake, Texas

10 Pickwick Lake, Alabama/Mississippi/Tennessee