The Best Fishing Towns in the US in 2025

Fishing is one of America’s favorite activities. While some enjoy catching their own dinner, others see it as a spiritual experience. As each state in the US boasts solid fishing, it’s not always easy to choose where to go.

To help you decide, we at FishingBooker dug into our data to find the best towns in most US states. Below, we’ll explain the methodology behind the study and share the ranking of the top fishing towns across 40 US states.

Methodology

We selected 6 criteria based on FishingBooker’s internal data from over 100,000 fishing trips and related reviews and reports in the past year. The criteria are:

• Number of available fishing charters
• Average review score
• Average recommended score
• Number of guides with the Angler’s Choice Award (FishingBooker’s award for the top guides on the platform)
• Number of bookings
• Minimum price of a fishing trip

All of the above criteria were taken from the past year alone. We also made sure that there was at least three bookings in the location in the last 365 days. Because of this, we couldn’t make meaningful rankings for 10 out of 50 states, so they have not been included in the study.

Using the accumulated data, we assigned each location in each state between 1 and 10 points for each of the 6 criteria, based on groups of 10 percentiles for each point increase. This means that the maximum number of points a location could get was 60.

This is how we got the ultimate list of the best places in each state, ranked from best to worst.

Top Fishing Town in Each State

In the table below, you’ll find the top-ranking town for each state. In Indiana, two towns shared the top spot! If you want to see the full rankings for each state, you can do so here.

Top 20 Fishing Towns in the US for 2025

This year, we’ve gone a step further and created a nationwide leaderboard, highlighting the Top 20 Fishing Towns in the US for 2025. The rankings are based on the same criteria we used for the state-by-state comparisons, but this time we looked at how the top performers stack up on a national scale. In some cases, towns earned the exact same number of points, which means they share a ranking position – so you’ll notice a few numbers in the list below overlap. These standout destinations include:

Your Next Fishing Destination Awaits

Whether you’re dreaming of chasing trophy fish in the Florida Keys, casting a line along the Gulf Coast, or exploring a hidden gem on the Great Lakes, these towns prove there’s no shortage of incredible fishing spots across the US. The only question is – which one will you check off your bucket list first?

Joris

Joris swam into Balkan waters in 2015 and was permanently hooked. Although not a frequent angler himself, he loves helping others to find their next fishing adventure.