5 Louisiana Lakes Make Bassmaster Magazine's 'Top 100 Lakes' for

They don't call Louisiana "Sportsman's Paradise" for nothing. Fishing and wildlife opportunities are excellent with the state's many bayous, swamps, and coastal marshes.

And our lakes aren't too shabby either.

Every year Bassmaster Magazine puts out its list of the Best Bass Lakes in America and once again, Louisiana is well represented.

A total of five Louisiana lakes made the list. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries manages each one.

How is the list compiled?

It takes Bassmaster about two months to compile all the information they need to create their list.

Bassmaster contacts the fisheries departments in every state to get feedback on the current state of their bass lakes. They also survey B.A.S.S. Nation presidents and conservation directors in every state for their feedback on the best fisheries they've experienced in the past 12 months.

Then, they dig into tournament results and fish-catch surveys from every lake mentioned, as well as some they come across independently, to create a master list.

Finally, numbers are crunched and a blue-ribbon panel of industry insiders votes on the rankings.