MAINELY OUTDOORS
by Bill Graves
At first glance, driving 100 miles each way to go fishing seems a bit extreme, but considering that’s the closest distance to any smallmouth bass waterway the choice is clear. There’s no question that brook trout and salmon remain Aroostook angler’s favorite finned quarries, but when low, warm water conditions turn off that action like a light switch, bass fishing is just heating up. Smallmouth are more acrobatic and aerobatic, and inch for inch will outfight any other regional species.
Contributed photo
Outdoor writer Bill Graves gets ready to release one of over a dozen smallmouth bass fooled into grabbing a soft plastic bait last July on the Penobscot River.
Also called bronzebacks or black bass, smallies are plentiful in a large number of lakes, ponds, and rivers and fairly simple to catch even for novice anglers and youngsters. Although special techniques and a few tricky tactics may be required to hook trophy smallies in the 4- to 5-pound class, smaller bass prove far more receptive to baits.
Smallmouth attach deer hair poppers on fly rods; topwater poppers and chuggers; shallow, medium and deep running hard plastic plugs and lures, as well as buzzbaits, spinnerbaits and skirted jig heads. For consistent fast and furious bass busting action however, nothing beats soft plastic baits. It’s the realistic shapes, colors and motion of these pliable plastic products that fool smallies into striking again and again.
Imitation soft baits include crayfish, snakes, frogs, lizards, grubs, eels, baitfish, leeches and arguably the best all around bass bait, the plastic worm. During August, I truly enjoy casting noisy top water plugs that create lots of surface commotion or surface poppers on a fly rod. When an agitated smallie explodes on the intended meal as it skitters across the water the strike is a sight to behold, and makes the entire trip worthwhile.
During June, July and September however, it’s the imitation worms that consistently work wonders. My first venture into casting soft baits consisted of a small gold leaf spinner combined with a three-inch auger-tailed grub, pumpkin seed in color. This combo worked on every waterway regardless of water or weather conditions. Then one day two or three years into my bass fishing career, a long-time friend and more experienced bass angler taught me how to Carolina-rig 4 and 5-inch worms.
I caught more and larger bronzebacks from that day forward. When there’s some current, as in streams and rivers, a bullet weight is threaded onto the line to help the worm stay near bottom. For still waters no extra weight is needed to help a worm undulate enticingly through the shallows. Two years ago, I learned of a new technique called wacky worms. A small aluminum tool is used to slip a thin rubber ring around the middle of a worm and then a weedless hook is inserted under the ring. When retrieved, the worm bends in the middle, flopping and twisting about as if injured. Bass pounce on wacky worms and hook-ups increase since they seldom just grab the tail.
Yum, Gulp, Zoom and Strike King all offer a wide variety of lengths and colors of worms, and many are salt, garlic, or scent impregnated to increase attraction. Gary Yamamoto Senkos are my favorite since they are a denser plastic, which actually sink slowly if not kept in motion. Reeling slowly, with a bit of rod tip bobbing, yields irresistibly realistic motion through the water. Proven colors on regional lakes and rivers include black with blue flakes, watermelon with red and green flakes, root beer with gold flakes and ox blood.
The Penobscot River holds large numbers of black bass along its entire length and offers dozens of boat launch sites, and it can even be fished from shore. Baskahegan Lake near Brookton, Pleasant Lake in Island Falls, Crooked Brook Flowage and East Grand Lake in Danforth, Plunkett Pond in Benedicta and Brackett Lake in Weston are some of the other closest smallmouth waters for central Aroostook anglers.
Stock brokers have touted plastic as a great investment for decades and this also holds true for bass casters, but the cost is minimal and the dividends far more fun. Soft plastic worms are producing steady results currently on all neighboring smallmouth waterways and should continue for several more weeks. Twenty-fish days are common with a few two and three pounds smallies every trip. Now isn’t that worth traveling a few extra miles while local gamefish have severe cases of lockjaw?
