It's always up near the top, but this time Lake Sam Rayburn not only wins the South, but our Texas gem of a lake is ranked as the best lake in all of America for catching fish.  

Bassmaster Magazine looked at lakes and reservoirs across the country for 2018, and decided that Lake Sam Rayburn takes the crown for being the best bass lake in the nation.

The lake stretches across more than114,000 acres east of Lufkin, and it holds an abundant supply of fish.  Thousands of them.  Well, until you catch 'em anyway.  Anglers of all ages are pulling bass out of the lake like crazy, according to Bassmaster's list of the Best Bass Lakes in America.

Magazine editor James Hall put it this way.  “While some lakes were boasting of a single 30-pound, five-bass limit being caught, Rayburn was spitting them out in rapid succession. And to top it off, a 40.28-pound limit was recorded in June.”  Nice work East Texas anglers.  You helped the lake gain some well-deserved national attention and probably had some fun while you were at it.

To decide on the best bass lakes, Bassmaster considered the weight of the fish caught during tournaments, stats from the fishery and the size of the fish produced.  The magazine also said parks officials at the lake are really good at fighting invasive algae that threaten to take over parts of the lake and choke out some habitat.  Lakes in Tennessee, California, Michigan, and Minnesota rounded out the top five.

Lake Sam Rayburn draws 1.5 million visitors each year, and they're about to get more thanks to the #1 ranking.  That will help the East Texas economy, which benefits all of us.  See you at the lake!  And the fish fry.

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