Smallmouth bass fishing flies under the radar in Maine, a state which sees many tourists seeking to catch brookies and landlocks. However, the bass fishing is world class and with warm summer water temps, this is prime time. Hoping to get some smallie action, my brother and I did a guided float trip of the middle Androscoggin(our guide was excellent, PM me for additional info if you're interested in the guide).
This is a beautiful river that, not that long ago, was polluted by paper mills. These days, it's a fantastic smallie fishery and a few miles upriver from where we fished (above Rumford) it's a well known trout fishery.
Anyway, the bass fishing was top notch. Didn't keep count but we caught a lot of fish, with many in the mid to upper teens. My two best fish - one on a Clouser and the other a pencil popper - came in on my rod length marks both at 19.5 inches. Weather was mostly sunny with a high around 80; water temp was 66 and clear.
This river is mostly sand and gravel bottom with some boulder gardens, grass beds, and lots of shoreline blow downs - great smallie habitat. With the bright sun, not surprisingly, the bass were under the shade of the trees in deeper pools. The morning popper bite was slow with the fish very gingerly rising and I struggled to stick a fish. With the warmer weather in the afternoon, the fish really turned on and we did best with subsurface stuff. Just a blast.
If you're gonna be in Maine sometime, especially if the trout rivers are warm, by all means go for bass. The Androscoggin is a first class river with lots of fish and many large ones in the mix - highly recommended!
This is a beautiful river that, not that long ago, was polluted by paper mills. These days, it's a fantastic smallie fishery and a few miles upriver from where we fished (above Rumford) it's a well known trout fishery.
Anyway, the bass fishing was top notch. Didn't keep count but we caught a lot of fish, with many in the mid to upper teens. My two best fish - one on a Clouser and the other a pencil popper - came in on my rod length marks both at 19.5 inches. Weather was mostly sunny with a high around 80; water temp was 66 and clear.
This river is mostly sand and gravel bottom with some boulder gardens, grass beds, and lots of shoreline blow downs - great smallie habitat. With the bright sun, not surprisingly, the bass were under the shade of the trees in deeper pools. The morning popper bite was slow with the fish very gingerly rising and I struggled to stick a fish. With the warmer weather in the afternoon, the fish really turned on and we did best with subsurface stuff. Just a blast.
If you're gonna be in Maine sometime, especially if the trout rivers are warm, by all means go for bass. The Androscoggin is a first class river with lots of fish and many large ones in the mix - highly recommended!
