Smallmouth bass
offer big action this month
MAINELY OUTDOORS
by Bill Graves
One afternoon last week, I stood morosely gazing out a back window of the house as rain cascaded on my 20-foot Lund fishing boat. I was supposed to be happily trolling a favorite regional lake for trout and salmon that day. Four of the seven days that week it rained, or the wind blew so hard I saw crows walking to make faster headway.
Contributed photo
WHEN AUGUST RAIN or “dog days” weather ruins trout and salmon fishing, try smallmouth bass fishing. Roger Shaw and Clair Sylvester of Mars Hill prove the action is so good, it’s possible to catch doubles on topwater baits.
My loving and dutiful better half informed me that lack of fishing and being housebound seemed to be making me edgy. Her phraseology was more colorful and succinct! Since I’d been eyeing the small pond forming in a low lying area near the house, wondering if my boat might float there, or if I should start gathering pairs of animals for the boat, maybe I really did need to go fishing.
August is always one of my personal favorite months to cast for bass since they are particularly receptive to top water plugs on a spinning rod, or best of all, poppers on a fly rod. When a noisy Jitterbug or water churning Heddon Torpedo entices a bass to strike, the liquid explosion of water immediately followed by a skyward somersaulting leap makes the whole trip worthwhile. On most outings this month, that exciting topwater tail-dancing routine may be enjoyed at least a dozen times.
One of the pluses for neophyte bass anglers is spinning or bait casting outfits used for trout fishing will work for bronzebacks. Even some of the plugs work, on my first bass outing many years ago I used an orange, floating size 7 Rapala with just as much action as it produced for spring trolling trout and salmon. A 5-6 weight fly rod with floating line works just as well for smallies as for brookies.
There’s no question that certain bass lures and flies created specifically for bass work more frequently than makeshift substitute baits usually used for other species. My favorite five include a couple of sizes of Heddon Torpedoes, an Arbogast Hula Popper, a Rapala Skitter Pop, a Cotton Cordell crazy shad and a High Roller RipRoller in a green and yellow combo. There are at least a hundred hard baits for bass that sputter, splash, chug, and gurgle across the surface to attract smallies, and most work regularly so pick a few you like and try them.
As for small poppers used on fly rods, I suggest colorful plastic heads with feathers extending rearward, all formed around a single hook that casts easily, floats well and pops loudly each time you twitch the rod tip. Even more realistic are flies formed of dyed deer hair and trimmed to resemble frogs, toads, crickets. grasshoppers, mice, and large bugs. Bronzebacks simply explode on these realistic weedless flies and fight formidably on light rods.
Likely lakes for August topwater action include Pleasant Pond and Mattawamkeag Lake in Island Falls and of course East Grand near Danforth. This trio of popular waterways garner a lot of angling attention so for a bit more solitude and less fishing pressure, get off the beaten path. Visit Brackett Lake in Weston, Plunket Pond in Benedicta, Wytopitlock in Glenwood or Molunkus Lake, where even youngsters and novice bass casters are sure to enjoy steady action.
I also like to fish flowing waterways for bass and can highly recommend the Penobscot River in Medway or the St. John River in Fort Kent. A handful of really great smallmouth lakes lay just outside Aroostook’s southern border but are well worth the drive. Explore Baskahegan, Upper and Lower Hot Brook and Crooked Brook flowage, all in upper Washington County and full of bronzebacks.
Recent rains won’t deter the topwater bass action, so any sportsman seeking a fishing outlet or just looking for some variety from the usual troll and cast tactics should consider bass. Any smallmouth action is fun, but when topwater action peaks this month it can really turn into a habit.
