St Lawrence River Named Best Lake for Bass in the Country

Where's the bass? New York tops the list of 100 Best Bass Lakes in the country.

For the past 8 years, Bassmarter magazine has ranked the Best Bass Lakes in the country. This year, the St Lawrence River was not only named best in the Northeast, it beat out all other lakes in the country for the top spot.

A Bassmaster tournament in August 2018 helped upstate New York become home to best lake for bass. Over 1,330 bass were reeled over the 4 day event with the winning fish weighing 6 pounds, 8 ounces.

Fisherman have seen huge fish in the St Lawrence River for years. In October 2016, Patrick Hildenbrand of Poughkeepsie reeled in an 8 pound, 4 ounce bass, tying a 1995 record. "When I finally got it in the boat I couldn't believe how big it was," said Hildenbrand. "I have caught a bunch of big fish before but never one that was 8.4."

There's more than big bass in the St Lawrence River too. Brian Hartman of Alexandria Bay caught a record breaking 18-pound, 2-ounce walleye.