1 Kissimmee Chain, Florida
Lakes Tohopekaliga, Cypress, Hatchineha and Kissimmee make up the “headwaters of the Everglades,” offering roughly 80,000 acres of superb wintertime bass fishing.
Fact: Dean Rojas holds the B.A.S.S. single-day record with 45 pounds, 2 ounces on Toho, Jan. 17, 2001.
Do: Look for big females moving up in the shallows.
Don’t: Underestimate the way a cold front can give Florida bass lockjaw.
2 California Delta, California
With more than 1,000 miles of waterways, including the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers, this is a big-bass factory that should be on every angler’s bucket list.
Fact: Mark Tyler holds the B.A.S.S. big-bass record with a 14-pound, 9-ounce fish from the delta on April 15, 1999.
Do: Fish the weeds in the middle of sloughs as well as south-facing…