by Bill Graves
“I’ve never fished that lake”, is a rare response from my mouth when someone asks me about an Aroostook waterway. It was one of those friend of a friend tales about a recent trip to a spot where the fishing has been outrageously great. Many times the stories are greatly exaggerated, but any true angler can’t help but wonder, What If?
Contributed photo
Roger Shaw lands a good looking small mouth bass while fishing on Mattawamkeag Lake in Island Falls.
Since I’m nothing if not adventurous and ever “hopeful” (my wife sometimes uses the term gullible), two days later found me pulling my boat up to the launch ramp at Mattawamkeag Lake in Island Falls. Roger Shaw of Mars Hill and Tom Walters of Madawaska Lake were my cohorts for the days outing, also first time visitors and just as “hopeful.” To our surprise over 25 other vehicles and trailers were scattered about the large parking area. Either the word had spread about the fast fishing or there were a lot of pleasure boaters out and about, we hoped for the latter.
Mattawamkeag is actually a two-section lake, an upper and lower segment connected by a long, winding and obstacle-strewn thoroughfare. Of course the bass and pickerel fishing is far better in the boulder strewn lower lake, so we had to run the narrow rocky gauntlet. During our slow, careful motor across the first lake, through the connector and into the second waterway, our trio was pleased to see a lot of party boats and pleasure craft and only two craft actually fishing.
Along with healthy populations of smallmouth bass and pickerel, Mattawamkeag boasts extensive numbers of white perch. Many sportsmen prefer a fresh perch fry to even trout or salmon, so at least half the visiting nimrods were in search of perch. “Smallies” were our target so I headed for the nearest stony shoreline and we all began casting a variety of baits in 3- to 6-feet of water around exposed sub-surface rocks.
Roger opted to cast a Heddon Torpedo, a noisy top-water gurgling plug, Tom tossed around an unweighted plastic worm and I Carolina-rigged a four-inch purple Senko worm. Purple seemed to be the flavor of the day as I boated the first bass, then hooked six more and boated three over the following 30 minutes.
Despite a brisk breeze bouncing the boat about, I worked us along a long shoreline with the electric motor. My boat buddies changed baits and began to pick up a few bass and some hefty and feisty pickerel. These hard-fighting, toothy water wolves often surpass the two-foot mark, and if a sport doesn’t mind deboning the larger ones the meat is excellent. From sad experience, I suggest a 12- to 18-inch heavier shock leader, more than a handful of seven dollar plugs have been lost when the pickerel’s sharp dental work severs light leaders.
Contributed photo
Along with plenty of smallmouth bass, Mattawamkeag Lake offers a large population of hefty pickerel like this sharp -toothed water wolf. They are a blast to catch on topwater plugs.
Newcomers to Mattawamkeag might opt to head directly to Big Island, just as we did, and then slowly work around the edges. Norway Island and West Cove offers two more spots with plenty of rock outcroppings and shoals. A vast weed and reed bed near Hook Point provides super pickerel action on plastic worms during May and June, but July and August yield the most fun when top water plugs draw explosive surface strikes.
In about four hours of fishing our trio caught and released 24 bass and 11 pickerel. We probably hooked and lost another 20 fish, some at once and others right at boatside after a rambunctious tussle. The high point of the day for all of us was when Roger hooked and battled a hefty bronzeback. It turned out to be the largest smallmouth he had ever caught at 19 inches and an ounce under four pounds.
Needless to say our trip was a very enjoyable success, and we were pretty much rookies to this waterway. For any County bass busters, Mattawamkeag Lake is the closest option from most central Aroostook towns and villages. Use I-95 to Route 2 in Island Falls and watch for the public boat launch sign. Novice and veteran anglers alike will find the pickerel, perch and bass cooperative and the lake convenient, and hot weather means hot fishing.
