Recreation
Bassmaster Magazine has released its 2025 rankings of America’s 100 Best Bass Lakes, with California’s Clear Lake taking the top national spot. The comprehensive survey analyzed over 500 bodies of water across the country, examining tournament results, state fishery data and input from thousands of anglers.
Clear Lake, spanning 43,785 acres, topped the rankings after researchers analyzed tournament results from every major circuit over the past 12 months, studying weights, catch rates and consistency while consulting with state fisheries biologists.
The top 10 bass lakes for 2025 include several Great Lakes waters alongside traditional southern fishing destinations. O.H. Ivie Lake in Texas claimed second place, having produced 30 Toyota ShareLunker bass through the first four months of 2025, including seven fish weighing more than 13 pounds. Lake Fork, also in Texas, rounded out the top three.
Other lakes making the top 10 include the St. Lawrence River in New York, Lake Casitas in California, Orange Lake in Florida, South Carolina’s Santee Cooper Lakes system, Minnesota’s Mille Lacs Lake, Lake Erie near Buffalo, New York, and Lake St. Clair in Michigan.
Ohio anglers also have reason to celebrate, as Lake Erie’s western basin around Sandusky earned the fourth spot in the Northeastern division. Despite not yielding the numbers of smallmouth it once did, the lake’s many islands and reefs continue to produce heavy limits, with tournament results showing it took 25.78 pounds to win a 32-team field in April, including twelve teams with five-bass limits over 20 pounds.
California led all states with 10 lakes in the top 100, followed by Texas with nine and New York with seven. The rankings reflect significant changes from previous years, with some former champions falling off the list entirely while new hotspots emerged.
The survey team noted that some lakes that dominated in past years didn’t make the cut in 2025, reflecting how dynamic and unpredictable fisheries can be, while others exploded on the scene with impressive tournament results.
The complete rankings appear in the July/August issue of Bassmaster Magazine and on the Bassmaster website.
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