The accolades continue to roll in for the great bass fishing in Upstate New York. Bassmaster sponsored two Elite tournaments in the past few weeks on the St Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, and Lake Champlain. But it's Lake Ontario the pros are still talking about after landing the largest smallmouth bass in tournament history.

Long before the tournaments, the pros at Bassmasters had been singing the praises of Upstate New York bass fishing. In their annual rankings of best places to fish, New York has 4 of the Top 25 Lakes of the decade.

you can catch the smallmouth of a lifetime surrounded by Instagram-worthy scenery.

Pro fisherman, Paul Mueller from nearby Connecticut may the loudest cheering for upstate fishing after he landed a tournament record  7 lb 13 oz smallmouth during the tournament. In an interview with ESPN 2 who carried the tournament live, said it was a catch of a lifetime.

I feel like a little kid in a candy store with that fish,” Mueller said. “That fish would be a state record in Connecticut by one ounce. I feel like I’ll never catch another one like that.

Oddly enough while Mueller's catch may have been a tournament record, it wasn't a New York one. The largest smallmouth bass in state history came from the St Lawrence River near Cape Vincent in 2016. That monster scaled 8 lb 4 oz.

Read Mike Suchan's rave reviews and tournament recap of New York bass fishing at Bassmasters.com.

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