N.Y. bass waters drop in national rankings, remain leaders in the Northeast

Clayton, N.Y. — After placing at the very top among bass fisheries in 2024, the St. Lawrence River dropped to No. 4 in Bassmaster Magazine’s annual Top 100 Bass Lake rankings. Lake Erie, meanwhile, fell two slots from seventh to ninth.

The two popular New York bass fisheries, however, remain ranked one-and-two respectively in the Bassmaster’s Northeast rankings, with Lake Champlain being fifth and Cayuga Lake being ranked eighth. New York waters among the top 25 Northeast fisheries are Oneida Lake (17), Otisco Lake (19) and Chautauqua Lake (22).

California’s Clear Lake takes the crown as the best bass fishery in the country for 2025, and California leads the pack this year with an unmatched 10 lakes in the Top 100, followed by Texas with nine and New York with seven.

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The 2025 rankings were developed through a combination of tournament data, fishery reports from state wildlife agencies and feedback from thousands of anglers across the country. More than 500 bodies of water were evaluated in the process.

Neither of Bassmaster nor MLF’s top professional circuits are holding major tournaments on New York waters in 2025. Typically, the Bassmasters Elite Series and MLF Bass Pro Series target the St. Lawrence/Lake Ontario fishery, Lake Champlain or Lake Erie, and also Cayuga and Oneida lakes.

In 2024, Cory Johnston won with 102 pounds at a 1000 islands region Bassmaster Elite Series event. Bassmasters website said over 100 anglers boated 20 pounds daily on average during the event.

As for Lake Erie, the website said Lake Erie Research Unit aquatic biologist Pascal Wilkins surveyed 120 bass boats earlier this year. “There were typically two anglers per boat,” Wilkins said. “One in eight boats had caught over 50 bass in a day’s fishing.”

And when the winds blow anglers off Lake Erie, bountiful bass fishing awaits in the Upper Niagara River.

Full rankings can be found in the July/August issue of Bassmaster Magazine and on Bassmaster.com.