We need rain! It’s been an unusually dry summer throughout Aroostook County. Tough conditions for regional farmers, home gardeners and even area brook and stream fishermen.
Roger Shaw of Mars Hill uses topwater plugs more than any other bass bait, in this photo he justifies why by catching two bass at once on a Heddon Tiny Torpedo.
(Contributed photo/Bill Graves)
I truly enjoy autumn angling, there’s just a different atmosphere; crisp invigorating fall air, colorful foliage and a woody, harvest-infused aroma unique to The County.
September offers a popular triad of shooting sports with black bear, early Canada goose and the premier moose week options, and a lot of folks forget that a variety of fishing opportunities remain available. Cool nights have the lakes rejuvenated with trout, salmon, splake and togue cruising near the surface and once again taking trolled lures and streamer flies. I enjoy a few late season wading outings on local streams and thoroughfares, but unless we get rain soon and a fair amount, I’ll turn to plan B,-B for bass that is.
Since Sunday hunting isn’t an option, what better day to enjoy a languid outing to southern Aroostook waterways resplendent with smallmouth ready, willing, and always able to offer aerobatic, acrobatic action. Best of all, these bronzeback beauties continue to explosively attack topwater plugs tossed by spin casters as well as plastic poppers and floating deer hair bugs cast by fly rodders. Pound for pound, few freshwater gamefish strike topwater baits with the fierceness of smallies and then fight with such vigor, often throwing the lures mid-battle. A challenging finned foe for every fisherman.
Top Waters plugs like those pictured produce great surface action for smallmouth bass during September.
(Contributed photo/Bill Graves)
My long-time buddy Bill Norsworthy introduced me to bass fishing, I’ve often thought just to get back at me for taking him goose hunting for the first time. Both sports generally become life-long afflictions of mixed joy and misery! All I had for gear back then was a medium weight spinning rod with an open-faced reel and a handful of floating Rapalas I generally used to troll for spring salmon and trout. To my surprise and great enjoyment the bass in Baskahegan Lake were more than willing to grab my meager offering and that has led me to a pair of tackle boxes with every size, shape, and color bass bait imaginable.
I’ve experimented with a wide variety of plastic worms, grubs, lizards, crayfish, and minnow imitations as well as shallow, medium and deep running plugs and lures, top water baits remain my favorite. Topwaters are floating baits of wood or plastic and measure 1 ½ inch to 5-inches long, I’ve found 2 ½ to 3 inch models to be most dependable. The styles that create a notable surface disturbance and noise when retrieved through the water really get the smallmouth worked up. Some plugs feature concave heads, others use a propeller or two or a wide plastic or metal lip to create a surface splash and a few are hollow with bearings inside to rattle around.
There are poppers, chuggers, walkers and splashers and they all are simple to use. Cast the plug near a likely bass hideout, near an exposed rock or stump, or along a weed bed or patch of lily pads and let the lure just sit there until the landing rings in the water disperse. Sometimes a big bass will devour it within a second of hitting the surface, if not, once the rings disappear lift the rod tip to hop or pull the plug forward 6 inches. This twitch usually entices a hit, and if not it’s just a matter of slowly and noisily reeling the topwater bait back to the boat. Somewhere along the retrieve a bronzeback should respond.
Writer Bill Graves uses a POP R rattling top water popper plug for autumn smallmouth bass fishing with steady success.
(Courtesy of Bill Graves)
Proven topwater hard baits for Aroostook waterways that every bass caster should own include Heddon’s Zara Spook and baby torpedo, and Rebel’s POP-R in a couple of colors. Arbogast offers two of the most famous and dependable bass plugs in the Hula Popper and the Jitterbug. There are several manufacturers who produce soft rubber and hard plastic frog imitations that truly look and swim like real amphibians. Big bass attack these with such gusto it seems like a hand grenade exploded just under the surface.
Topwater plugs offer the added advantage of at least one set of treble hooks, most have two sets and a few have three. The plus is far better holding power than plastic worms on single hooks and the one-hook fly poppers. The downside comes when unhooking a lively smallmouth with multiple sets of hooks flailing about, use a sturdy set of long-nosed pliers and avoid hand damage.
Optimal smallmouth options this month will require about an hour drive to surefire waterways, but when you can boat 15 to 20 bronzebacks in a half days fishing per angler, it’s well worth the trip. The Penobscot River in Medway always has plenty of water as it’s controlled by a hydrodam, and lot of bass and myriad spots to fish. Lakes that deserve a visit include Mattawamkeag, Hot Brook, Crooked Brook Flowage, Pleasant Pond and Baskahegan.
Despite current low water conditions, bass fishing remains fast and furious on many Aroostook waters, the weather and scenery are top rate as well. As we head into prime hunting seasons, there’s still time to fit in a couple of casting outings too.
