Survey - How far do you have to drive to fish?

[Andrew Zuber]

Just for curiosity sake...

How far do you have to drive to get to your favorite LOCAL bass fishin' hole???



I can be in some 'decent' water in 10 minutes, but my favorite is about 25 minutes away...



az

 

[Mark Hofman]

To get to any productive waters, I have to drive at least 45 minutes. Most lakes are at least a couple of hours away, and I'll drive as far as five hours (one way) to get to a couple of my favorite spots.



But then, I don't fish the Missouri or Mississippi Rivers, which are ten to twenty minutes away. A few parks and State Recreation Areas are closer, but they are usually too crowded to make it worth going there. In Alaska, they'd call it "Combat Fishing".

 

[Scott Smith]

15 Minutes to the Motherland of Smallmouth Fishin..Lake St Clair.



3 Hours to my cottage and a lake (which I shall not name) that I could fish blindfolded and catch a sack full of toad smallmouth.

 

[fatrap]

One hour if their biting (see complaint post) two hours to my favorite place. The Missouri River(pronounce Misery River) is a few minutes. Its so fast you could float to Kanas City before you cold fly there. Three to four hours with something holding smallmouth.

fatrap

 

[Al Greco]

25 minutes to my favorite Falls of the Neuse Lake (check out this this month's Bassmaster magazine -- there is an article on this lake) There are several great lakes within an hour's drive - Kerr lake (Buggs Island) Jordan lake, Gaston Lake and Harris Lake.

 

[Bryan McDonough]

3 closest lakes all 1.5 Hrs away. Fayette County, Lake Livingston, Lake Conroe. Sam Rayburn and Toldeo Bend Approx 3.5-4 Hrs.

 

[Shaun Boggs]

45 MIN. to Detroit River

50 MIN. to Sandusky Bay

I think I'll Go Now, Thanks

 

[Bruce Freeman]

1/2 hour to Conowingo lake

45 min to the Chesapeake Bay

4 hours to Lake Anna

6 hours to Lake Onidea

12 Hours to Lake Monroe

BF

 

[Kraig Clement]

Lake Lewisville 2 miles

Lake ray roberts 17 miles

LAKE FORK!!!! 90 Miles Yehaaaaaa!!!!!!!!



Gotta love bass fishing in TEXAS!!!!!!

Kraig

 

[Jim B]

A 5 min walk around the block to ma favorite "local' lake, its almost in my back yard. I fish alot in NH and have to drive over 3 hours to go where i want to go.

 

[Jon Puhalski]

90 seconds from my driveway to the ramp at my hometown lake. (Highland)

32 minutes to my favorite Lake (Twin)

One hour to the states largest water, Candlewood.

I feel pretty lucky in that within a 1/2 hour drive I can be on a half dozen small but decent quality lakes. Some even with a max speed limit of 10 mph. Pain in the neck to get from spot to spot but no skiers or PWC's.

 

[Rich D]

15 minutes to the Three Rivers, about 2 hours to Pymatuning.



Rich D

 

[Rob LaMoy]

10 minutes north or south gets me access to 4 launches on the BEST bass fishery in the country. From there, my rig can take me to all the honey holes. This is why I haven't moved south yet.

 

[David Jordan]

3 minutes to the small lake near by ( bad ramp)

12 minutes to Big Island Pond Atkinson, NH

25 minutes to Massabesic

45 To Bow lake

65 Minutes to South end of Winni

About 10 other quality lakes 250 acres or bigger within 1 hours. Maybe that's why all those mASS anglers are always fishing in NH



Dave

 

[Bob G.]

15 to 45 minutes puts me at 5 different ramps that I have used on Champlain. I mainly use one that is a 20 minute drive and I can fish the northen section of the lake.



Bob G.

 

[Terry Heydt]

25 minutes to closest (electric only)

35 minutes to better fishing (18HP limit)

45 minutes to unlimited HP, but less-than-ideal fishing

2 hours to northern NJ, and much better fishing



Wife and I were actually discussing this just the other night. If/when we moved, to where would it be? Taking all the really important aspects into consideration (eg: best fishing, good water, etc...lol), and still trying to avoid a major culture-shock (we're NOT going to CA), looks like Rob might get new neighbors (IF/when we decided to pull up stakes). (I voted for VA or vicinity, but wife hates the drawl I so easily get down thata ways...).

 

[Carlos Hathcock III]

5 Minutes to Aquia creek (Southern Potomac River)

15 minutes to Quantico (Middle Potomac River)

30 minutes to Leesavalinia (Upper Potomac River)

2 Hours to Lake Anna



Carlos

 

[gone bye bye]

15 minutes to St Clair....the second best smallie lake in the world (Erie is the BEST...lol)



Mini

 

[Larry Harp]

Local city lake I don't fish much because of $14 fee, too many skiers and too few bass...15min

Several good small bass lakes I fish often...45min

Bass fishing heaven in southeast Oklahoma or northeast Texas 4 to 6 hours.



Harpo

 

[William Brooks]

Ohio River - 10 minutes but quote from local marina owner, "Boating and fishing has been the worst in 40 years on the Ohio because of constant fluctuating water levels. Barkley Lake, Rough River, Kentucky Lake, Pataka Lake, Kentucky Lake are all 1 1/2 hours from home but normally worth the drive.

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

1/2 block to salt water, ugh..

1 hour to the Potomac - too busy and too hectic..

45 min. to 1 hour for a few places on the Esatern Shore of Maryland.

1 1/2 hour to many large ponds and lakes in Delaware where I usually go. Thinking of re-locating there when I retire (very soon) for the fishing and tax benefits.



Bill

 

[JAMES MOORE]

Within thirty minutes to over a dozen lakes,best known Black Lake where my camps at, St Lawrence River, 2 hrs to Champlain and Oneida Lake, less than an hour to numerous Canadian lakes. Fishing Heaven

(note: 6 months out of the year. The other six, froze.)

 

[Chris F.]

35 miles Cedar Bluff Res.

47 miles Webster Res.

55 miles Wilson Res.

 

[Texas Transplant]

Wylie is the closet, and the one I go to for just fishin', it's about 3-4 minutes away at the closest, and about 15 minutes to the secondary ramp.



Within an hour are three other lakes, Mt. Island (river lake above Wylie); Norman - larger lake above Mt. Island, and finally Wateree which is about 45 minutes south, which is also on the same river chain (below Wylie).



Also have about 15 others that are within 1-3 hours away. Included in this list are Murray, Santee Cooper, Hartwell, Russell and Clarks Hill (Thurmond).



Pretty rich pickin's down here in SC.



Tex

 

[Bruce Yeaton]

To throw a line in the water, 5 minutes. To actually fish... 1/2 hour and pay the $30 launch fee at my favorite local spot.

3 hours and 170 miles for my favorite spots in Maine.

 

[Rick Burnette]

Club lake is 65 miles 1.5 hrs. Mobile Delta is 30 minutes

Just depends on weather and TIDES and if wife is going. LOL

 

[Mike Levesque]

Without the boat, about 5 min to Busse lake (forest preserves), LM bass, cats,crappie,Northern,Walleye,etc.



about 2 min to a local drainage pond in a nearby office park, LOADED with crappie,bluegill,largemouth,etc.,and almost no pressure probably because it's so small people just pass on by.....



a number of small no boat ponds with some good largemouth and crappie numbers,although not much size, mostly in forest preserve ponds within about 20 min to 1/2 hr.



WITH the boat,



Loon, (Lake county)$10 launch fee, but this very small weedy lake is full of good size LM, crappie,bluegill, muskie,northern,and walleye, (it was well stocked for a while, and there are still a few Northern and Muskies to be had, but numbers are dwindling on those). This lake's about 1 hr and 15 minutes.



Fox chain of lakes, and Fox river,etc, about 1 hr away, also stocked with an assortment of fish, free launch at usually crowded state park launch, and a number of marinas around the lakes also with launch ramps (some fee) but offers a variety of fish and some good sized (for this area)walleye at certain times.



Heidecke,Braidwood,etc, cooling lakes, offering Stripers, cats,LM,Walleye,Tiger Musky,etc, but it's hit or miss depending on water temps. About an hour away.

Yikes! sorry this post was so long! egMike

 

[Stacey Smothers]

20 minutes to Reelfoot Lake

1 hour to Kentucky Lake

 

[Jack Long]

1 hr. 15 min. to Kentucky Lake

1 hr. to Percy Priest

1 hr. 15 min. to Wheeler Lake

1 hr. 15 min. to Wilson Lake

1 hr. 30 min. to Pickwick Lake

2 hr. to Guntersville Lake, and this one is the best by far!!

 

[Richard Whittemore]

Lake Sinclair, 60 miles, most frequent.

Favorite is 1263miles, Chittenden Dam in Chittenden, Vermont, for trout.

 

[Bill McElroy]

45mins to 'Clair....1hr to Erie....and 15-20mins to a multitude of the inland lakes around my house. (25 mins to Mini's house, which is on the way to 'Clair)....I love where I live,..but I hate the Oakland County traffic, taxes, roads, and the fact that there's SOOO MANY inland lakes, that it takes 1/2hr to get ANYWHERE!!..LOL...(Gotta go around lakes all over the place!!) Oh,..and every road is a "Lake Road" too....ahahah...trying to give people directions is a real treat,..they think we live in a swamp!

 

[Rob LaMoy]

That's easy Mac, they live on Lake Shore road. On Champlain, that's about 110 miles of road just in NY, that passes through about a dozen or so towns. I love it when people say they live on Lake Shore rd! WHERE? In Rouses Point, Chazy, Point Au Roche, Plattsburgh, Keeseville, Cliffhaven, Port Henry, Crown Point, or Ticonderoga??? LOL

 

[Pierre Voisine]

30 minutes to either Ottawa river, the rideau, or the St-lawrence...the thrid best waters in the world after Erie and 'clair...



Pierre

 

[Travis Smith]

Have 2-3 lakes within 20 minutes of my house 3 lakes with no boats within 1 mile of fourwheeler riding of my house and my favorite laregemouth spot is 2 1/12 hrs away and favorite smally spot is 1 hr away. We also have noumerous lakes that connect to the big lake (lAke Michigan) that i fish.







T.S.

 

[J B]

Closest lakes are Fayette (75 min), Somerville (75 min), Conroe (60 min), Livingston (90 min). Sam Rayburn/Toledo Bend (3.5-4 hours).

 

[Gene B]

I can be fishing a small but good bass lake within 25 minutes of home(I'll be there tonight with a young guy from our church) and 3 bigger lakes within 45 minutes. I can be to St.Clair in 1hr 45 minutes (selfridge).



Gene

 

[Roy Cody]

I live about 5 miles from Lake Erie, (Lorain)



Most inland lakes are about 1 - 1 1/2 hours from me (East)



RoyC

 

[Marke Cicero]

From my house reffer to Mac's post.

10 hours to Rob and Bob G's houses then reffer to their posts

12 hours home to NH then reffer Dave's post



St. Clair

Champlain

Winnipesaukee



My new favorite lake is the best smallie lake in whatever state I'm in at the time....LOL



Marke

 

[Lon Weekly]

It used to take 30 seconds out the back door to my little boat and 20-45 minutes to use my PT185 around the KC area. But now, 1 minute to my dock on Table Rock!



WooHoo!

 

[TrepMan]

Used to take 25 min to 40min depending on the lake, but found a house this spring the wife loves, I love, is across the street from my boys school AND is 7.5 mins door to ramp to the lake!



If i want good trout fishing on the river, 45 mins.

 

[Tim King]

I can be on one of the local lakes in 10 minutes and if I want to drive for an hour no matter what directin I can be on a number of lakes that have good fishing ( for Kansas)!!



I have 11 lakes ranging from 150 acres to the largest in Kansas all within an hours drive so I guess I can't complain about the fishin' just the damn wind!!



Tim

 

[Todd Groettum]

I Live in Northern Minnesota and have 1000 lakes within 50 miles of me .They all hold fish and they are all my favorites.I can walk out my door and be fishing the swan river faster than the andretti's can do a pit stop

 

[Larry Harp]

On ESPN today they said that in the state of Michigan you are never farther than 85 miles from a Great Lake. Thought that was interesting.



Harpo

 

[David Hunt]

2 hours to Lake Anna or 25 minutes to the upper Potomac. 10 minutes to a local pond that is fun for bluegills.



david....

 

[Ken Sabin]

I can be in the Potomac in 15 minutes, 90 minutes to Lake Anna

 

[Tony Britt]

Dude,

I live in Lake City Florida,and most of the "old" times lakes have dried up. However, there is a lake (Alligator Lake) about five minutes away - no jet skiers, but too many lilly pads.

In lake city there are four boatable lakes within 10 minutes and the Suwannee River about 20 minutes away. Rodman Resevoir is an hour away, St. Johns River is 90 minutes away, Lake Seminole is 2 hours and 15 minutes away.

 

[Dan J.]

I live on Lake Lanier, 45 min. north of Atlanta, GA. I walk out on the dock, hop in, and go to some of the best (if not THE best) spotted bass, striper and crappie fishing in the South! Lake Hartwell (SC/GA border) is 45 min. from me and many other well known Southern fisheries (Allatoona, Sinclair, Oconee, Jackson, West Point, Bartlett's Ferry, Eufala, Carter's, Blue Ridge, Nottley, Chatuge, Keowee, Jocassee...) are within a couple hours drive. However, it's very hard to beat what my home lake has to offer regularly!

 

[John Schifano]

5 minute walk to docks, or 5 minute drive to ramp.

Lake FORK, Texas.

Eat your heart out guys.......

All in fun,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,John

 

[Ken Wise]

5min Staunton Lake, 15min Litchfield Lake Lou Yeager, 25min Glen Sholes in Hillsboro, 45min Miss.river, 1hr30min Lake Shelbyville, 45min Carlyle 25min Coffeen,15min Gillespie Lake, 3hr30min Lake of the Ozarks, 2hr30min Kinkaid,

 

[C C]

In Mass home is 1.5 miles from the Merrimack River boat ramp. From work im 5 miles from the Concord River boat ramp. From my NH house it's a 200 yard golf cart ride to the boat dock where my boat sits in the water waiting for me and 20 miles to the Connecticut River. Too many other lakes around to list.