MONTGOMERY, Al. — Two West Virginia waters made the 2014 Top 100 bass fishing waters in America as ranked by Bassmaster Magazine.
The New River ranked 91 in 2014. The river debuted in the top 100 at #35 in 2013.
“Upstream of Claytor Lake is best for numbers of smallmouth; downstream is best for big fish.” wrote Bassmaster’s editor. One knock on the folks at Bassmaster, they called it the New River in Virginia with no mention of West Virginia. Since they referenced Claytor Lake, they can be offered a pass, but the picture used with the story is an aerial shot of the New River Gorge in West Virginia.
Stonewall Jackson Lake was the highest ranking West Virginia water. Stonewall stood at 78. The Bassmaster gang apparently liked the change which enabled anglers to keep a few this year.
“The DNR just implemented a catch-and-keep regulation on this lake, which should improve its trophy potential. There are just too many bass in the lake — kind of a good problem to have,” wrote Bassmaster.
There were a few other waters ranked which were not in West Virginia, but will be familiar to Mountain State bass fishermen.
–Upper Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, 95
–Pymatuning Reservoir on the Pennsylvania/Ohio border, 71.
–Lake Erie, Ohio out of Sandusky Bay, 56.
–Smith Mountain Lake, 30.
–Presque Isle Bay, Lake Erie, 28.
–Lake Erie, Buffalo, 3.
Click here to access the Bassmaster Top 100 bass waters of 2014