I would say for all around fishing Kentucky is my favorite. I have a camp on Sebec lake in Maine and when I am there we can catch 50 to 100 smallies a day with "my" lure of choice. Meaning what ever I throw. The water is crystal clear and never gets muddy. The only downfalls are the water gets too hard in the winter, so hard I cant even get the boat to plane out, and the second is variety. Variety is not a big downfall if you have the ability to switch from casting to trolling. Maine has great bass, trout, and salmon fishing but they all take very different techniques and tackle. In Kentucky if I get tired of bass fishing I tie on a wire leader and a larger spinner and start fishing for muskie or I down size for crappie etc. etc. The cost to fish here is cheaper, boat registration is cheaper, gas is cheaper(cant believe I said gas and cheaper in the same sentence). I would rank Ky and Maine in a tie for 1st place depending on season. You cant beat Maine in July. 50s at night low 80s on the hot days.