Best State/location for Fishing trip getaway in US

[hungryforpike]

greetings everyone,

 

 

I have a quarterly business review coming up with one of my clients and I have recently learned that he is just as crazy about freshwater fishing as I am. So as opposed to the regular boardroom blah power point..I am going to drag a group of us into the states for some business and fishing. I have never freshwater fished in the US (always deep sea fishing) so I have no clue where to go. I am looking at heading down early to mid November and am looking for great pike and bass some place warm-ish. Any suggestions on resorts/guides or bodies of water?? Appreciated as always gents...

 

 

HFP

[BillM]

You're not going to find a pike bonanza in any of the southern states... You'd have to go north (Just like up here) to get into some big ones. Bass however won't be an issue.

[hungryforpike]

You're not going to find a pike bonanza in any of the southern states... You'd have to go north (Just like up here) to get into some big ones. Bass however won't be an issue.

 

Ifigured the pike may be harder to nail down based on the time of year..if I can find a place that gives access to properly monsterous bass.. that too will work.

[Christopheraaron]

texas or florida for bass, western states for trout, just stay up here for musky, alaska for pike, another option is louisiana for redfish or florida for flats fishing.

[hungryforpike]

texas or florida for bass, western states for trout, just stay up here for musky, alaska for pike, another option is louisiana for redfish or florida for flats fishing.

 

 

i think staying up here in teh cold is not happening, so this may just have become a bass only trip. Texas or Florida are on the table then..know of fishing resorts or specific lakes?

 

 

HFP

[OhioFisherman]

Pike fishing here in the states is sort of limited to the northern tier of states, even Ohio is certainly not a good place to look for pike action or size. Pike were incidental catches here in Ohio for me, always in the early spring on tribs of Lake Erie and a 5-7 pounder was considered good size here.

 

LOL warmish? by mid November it is a gamble in any of the northern tier of states. Some years I could fish until Thanksgiving here, other years it was snowing.

 

Cave Run lake in Kentucky has muskies? and since it is 2-3 hundred miles south of me the weather should be better? Never checked but it also should have large and smallmouth bass.

[gordy28]

Orlando area has good largemouth fishing through the Kississmee (sp?) Chain of lakes. Google Orlando bass guides and you'll get a sense of the opportunities.

I've never fished in Orlando but have stayed-lots of hotel and rental options

And if anyone is so inclined great affordable golf

Cheers

Gordy

[Freshtrax]

Landlocked stripers in Nc.lake tlillaryn and Jordan. Hard to beat 4 rods firing at once and each has a 15 pound bass on the end of the line.

[hungryforpike]

Landlocked stripers in Nc.lake tlillaryn and Jordan. Hard to beat 4 rods firing at once and each has a 15 pound bass on the end of the line.

 

 

By "Stripers" I assume you mean large mouth? 15lbs largies can not be the norm for down there..that is just staggering. Will have to do some homework..

 

I did the google florida piece.. soooo many options for down there.

 

 

 

HFP

Edited October 24, 2012 by hungryforpike

[Christopheraaron]

By "Stripers" I assume you mean large mouth? 15lbs largies can not be the norm for down there..that is just staggering. Will have to do some homework..

 

I did the google florida piece.. soooo many options for down there.

 

 

 

HFP

 

He means striped bass, they are native to the atlantic and some parts of the pacific but have been introduced into some lakes around the states. For largemouth I'd check out lake fork (texas), lake okeechobee (florida), or lake powell (utah). Another species to consider would be peacock bass in florida.

[Freshtrax]

Yea striped bass got landlocked when they built dams and now thrive. That was Jordan lake and tlillarynand has some too I think

[misfish]

He means striped bass, they are native to the atlantic and some parts of the pacific but have been introduced into some lakes around the states. For largemouth I'd check out lake fork (texas), lake okeechobee (florida), or lake powell (utah). Another species to consider would be peacock bass in florida.

 

The WWW, is such a great form of info eh Christopher.

[Christopheraaron]

That's all from watching WFN actually.

[misfish]

That's all from watching WFN actually.

 

 

Cheaper to surf, then watch/pay for that site/channel. IMO

Edited October 25, 2012 by Misfish

[Christopheraaron]

It's not that bad, at $12 a year

[BillM]

Alaska for pike? Too much WFN I think :)

Edited October 25, 2012 by BillM

[Christopheraaron]

Alaska for pike? Too much WFN I think :)

 

I take Ontario over Alaska for pike, but he was asking about the states so I though I'd throw it in there. And Sinclair, I agree, deep sea is boring to watch, I like the bass, musky and pike.

[hungryforpike]

I take Ontario over Alaska for pike, but he was asking about the states so I though I'd throw it in there. And Sinclair, I agree, deep sea is boring to watch, I like the bass, musky and pike.

 

 

After much, much internet reading..it looks like Lake Forks in Texas may be the place to go. The bass people are pulling out of there are simply insane....

[adempsey]

I remember watching a fishing show on a lake that's in Texas and spans across the border into Mexico (either Amistad or Falcon Lake). They were catching some MEGAbass there.

Edited October 25, 2012 by FishLogic

[Christopheraaron]

I remember watching a fishing show on a lake that's in Texas and spans across the border into Mexico (either Amistad or Falcon Lake). They were catching some MEGAbass there.

 

Thanks FL falcon was the other I was going to mention, just couldn't think of it.

[Billy Bob]

Orlando area has good largemouth fishing through the Kississmee (sp?) Chain of lakes. Google Orlando bass guides and you'll get a sense of the opportunities.

I've never fished in Orlando but have stayed-lots of hotel and rental options

And if anyone is so inclined great affordable golf

Cheers

Gordy

 

I did the Orlando bass fishing a few times....it's OK at best....but there are FANTASTIC bass fishing on Disney Property and I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone....it's a VERY strictly managed fishery by Disney and has a VERY good population of HUGE bass....HOWEVER, it's strictly Catch & Release fishing only....the PLUS part is you don't need a fishing license and you will be the ONLY boat fishing that complete lake...if your serious about going to Florida/Disney PM me and I'll dig up the phone numbers and info you need to have to "hook up" with the right guide and area to fish in Disney.

 

Bob

[craigdritchie]

You would be best to try and narrow down what kind of fishing experience you want to have. It's fine to say "I want to catch bass" but there are a zillion ways to do that and some of them may not appeal to you. For example, there are a couple of lakes in western Arizona coughing up largemouth bass in the mid-teens right now - HUGE fish, for sure - but you may fish for a week to get one bite. It's still fishing on bottom with dead bait, by the way. Is that what you want? Or do you want to catch numbers of four-pound buckets on topwaters? They're totally different experiences.

 

You will also need to figure out what kind of budget you're looking at, since some of these places will cost a few bucks, and others will cost couple of grand a week - per person. How much are you willing to spend on this?

 

Do you want to stay in a larger town with lots of high-end restaurant choices? Or do you want to rough it and eat out of a can? That makes a huge difference in where you will go.

 

Maybe narrowing things down a little would help you find what you really want. Otherwise you'll keep getting all sorts of different ideas thrown at you, and no real sense of what will work and what won't.

Edited October 25, 2012 by Craig_Ritchie

[hirk]

Like Craig said, what do you want? I have fished central florida and texas,they are very different,florida has weed and clear shallowee water and texas has off colour water with flooded timber mostly and more depth. I fished Fork in its hay day 20 yrs ago and it was decent but dont expect big fish over 10lb as they are scarce. I found for me the fishing in texas to be much better and more enjoyable to fish because its different than here were as florida was pretty similar too ontario weed lakes just clearer water.

[fishinDon]

Like others said, I'd try Okeechobee in Florida for big Large Mouths. Meets criteria 1) warm and 2) big fish. Doesn't have pike, but like others said, I don't really think you'll find good fishing for Pike in the South (warm).

 

Google: "lake okeechobee florida bass fishing." You'll notice a couple big names come up in the Bass fishing world (or at least they are big in the states). They run guide service or have links to a bunch of them. If Roland/Scott Martin are willing to put their name on the line, you can bet it must be good.

 

Good luck, have fun and post some pictures!

Don

Edited October 25, 2012 by fishinDon

[hungryforpike]

Like Craig said, what do you want? I have fished central florida and texas,they are very different,florida has weed and clear shallowee water and texas has off colour water with flooded timber mostly and more depth. I fished Fork in its hay day 20 yrs ago and it was decent but dont expect big fish over 10lb as they are scarce. I found for me the fishing in texas to be much better and more enjoyable to fish because its different than here were as florida was pretty similar too ontario weed lakes just clearer water.

 

 

 

 

Great direction guys, here is a little more information. From an expereince perspective, I like the idea of clear water and weed lakes so we can fish surface and shore line type environments. From a fish in boat expectation..not looking to land a trophy, would like someplace where we can yank 4lbs or 5lbs fish regularly with the chance at something larger. This is NOT to be a camping experience, need a place relatively close to an international airport that has proper, nice, lodgings available... hotel, cottage, etc... As for the cost..I am planning a 3 day trip over the weekend and not looking to do this on the cheap. Also, whatever guide service I connect with needs to be a professional, full time business with lots of experience. Had never considered disney, but if you don't mind PM'ing me details...I will certainly consider it.

 

 

HFP