Telling Texans where to go bass fishing this season is like giving them a pass to a buffet that features all their favorite foods. There simply isn't a bad choice to make. As usual, anglers in the Lone Star State can head in any direction and find great fishing.

What follows is a regional look at the best of the best. Here are the lakes you ought to plan on fishing this season if you don't fish any others.

SOUTH
Biologist Randy Myers, who works out of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department district office in San Antonio, made it easy to start with this region because of his comments about Lake Falcon.

"Everything is lining up to make Lake Falcon the best bass lake in Texas -- or anywhere -- this season," he said. "It's shaping up to be the best season ever on Falcon"

Myers said fishing was off through late 2008 and early 2009 because water levels rose significantly. They're back down now, and he said the lake has been "on fire."

"Falcon simply will be outstanding this season," he predicted.

As might be expected, he also mentioned Lake Amistad and Choke Canyon as having great prospects.

"We had what I would call a little blip in the fishing on Amistad," Myers said, "but things started picking back up through the late summer and into last fall (2009). The fishing should improve this season, and I believe we'll be back to the days when anglers could go out and catch a whole lot of 2-pound bass."

Choke Canyon may not give up quite so many big bass as it has in the past, Myers said, but he believes the action will be good, and consistent.

"In 2009, the water fell all year into late September and early October," he said. "Because of that, the bass stayed shallow all year long. Heading into 2010, I believe the fishing will be excellent there, and anglers should expect to catch a lot of bass. I just don't expect to see as many big fish from the lake as we have recently."

Farther south, biologist John Findeisen talked about a spot that anglers should plan on visiting if they're after big Lone Star largemouths -- Choke Canyon Reservoir, about halfway between San Antonio and Corpus Christi along I-37.

"I know of eight 15-pound-plus bass taken from Choke Canyon in 2009," Findeisen said, "and several of them were released. There were lots of double-digit bass caught there last season, and things are setting up for another good year in 2010."

He said a late-season/late-summer creel survey in 2009 revealed that anglers were catching 30 to 40 bass per eight-hour outing on Choke Canyon, and he said the lake's habitat and forage base are in great shape.

"Heading into last fall, Choke Canyon was down about 9 feet," he said. "Barring a lengthy lack of rain that will keep the lake from coming back up, I believe this season is going to be another outstanding one there."

Another lake Findeisen pointed to -- and one that may not get so much attention -- is Coleto Creek, a power plant reservoir near Victoria. The lake offers about 2,500 surface-acres of water open to public fishing, and Findeisen said about a third of that area has great submerged vegetation.

"Coleto Creek has about 800 to 900 acres of the public fishing area in vegetation," he said. "In addition to native species, it also has hydrilla and Eurasian milfoil. The combination of flooded hardwood and grasses provides outstanding cover for bass and other game fish.