Embracing a fish ‘From Away’

by Isaac Niblack

Smallmouth bass hardly need much of an introduction as a species.  One of the most widespread gamefish in America, they are pursued in every aquatic environment and with every type of tackle. Smallies, or bronzebacks as they are known, are native to the Great Lakes, Hudson River, and Mississippi River basins.  

Here in Maine the story is one of territorial expansion and embracing a new frontier of fishing.  Following the industrial revolution, a severe amount of native fish habitat was lost due to damming, clear cutting practices, and pollution.  On the east coast, from the Chesapeake through Maine, rivers and streams were rendered unlivable for many native species, most notably native brook trout and Atlantic salmon. Brook trout were always one of the first fish to go, known even at that time as ‘the living arrow’ for the health and viability of waters.  Prevailing ecological sentiments at the time prioritized the philosophy of progress over conservation (although these opinions were not homogenous). In response, private and state programs stocked species like carp, bass, brown trout, and rainbow trout to waterways that once held squaretails, Atlantic salmon, sturgeon, shad, herring, and more. 

So how does this directly involve smallmouth bass as a fishery?  Well, at the time there was a cultural notion that fishing was vital to a perceived ‘masculinity crisis’ believed to plague our young nation. In response to this, an early version of what would become the Fish and Wildlife Service was founded to create a sustainable resource for men to engage in the sport of fishing. 

Dr. Livingston Stone headed up this agency, and it originally focused on bringing pacific salmon back east before accidentally discovering the McCloud River rainbow trout that we know as steelhead (a story for another time). However, during the subsequent stocking and fish rearing boom in the late 1800s smallmouth bass were brought into the state of Maine with sources citing 1868 or 1869 as the fateful year. Smallmouth are extremely prodigious reproducers, consistently outgrowing and outcompeting native fish for food, especially when a river is experiencing a warming or polluting event. Additionally, they were also known as a quality, if rather unspectacular, culinary fish.  We still have guide traditions in Maine that incorporate smallmouth bass as shore lunch, but the primary focus of anglers was and remains their hard fighting, aggressive personality. 

So where can you catch Smallmouth Bass in Maine?

Smallies are the star of the show in many of Maine’s iconic rivers. From the Penobscot to the Kennebec to now the Rapid, smallmouth have made footholds in every large river system in Maine.  Despite their widespread distribution, we at New England Fly Company focus on a few high quality waters to pursue these fish.

Local to Portland, we have the Presumpscot, Little Androscoggin, and the Androscoggin River itself as primary fisheries.  The Presumpscot is defined by a series of dams from its headwaters on Sebago Lake to the tidewater in Falmouth. Every section of river has its own personality, allowing us to target smallmouth in a variety of settings from quick moving currents to slackwater eddies. 

Grand Lake Stream is a famed river for landlocked salmon, one of the four native watersheds for salmon in the state of Maine. But increasingly, the smallmouth bass has become the primary target of anglers. Moving from the short tailwater section to the main lake, that transition becomes a great place to target this thriving population of bass.  Other local guides on the lake cook daily shore lunch in the summer months consisting of a smallie fish fry, guide coffee, and more.

The lower Kennebec River holds a wide variety of fish in general, but it is on the stretch from Skowhegan to Waterville that smallmouth rule the river.  This also allows us to offer season long trips on each section of the Kennebec emphasizing a different species of fish. Trout and salmon in the headwaters and smallmouth as we approach the head of the tide.

The Penobscot River transitions from prime salmon and brook trout habitat from the Ripogenus Dam down to Millinocket where it starts to take on a new personality. Primarily accessed by canoe, kayak, or drift boat, the Penobscot is now synonymous with smallmouth fishing. By the time you float and paddle your way into Old Town (yes, the birthplace of that famous canoe brand), the river is dominated by large, aggressive, and innumerable bronzebacks. The number of fish taking your fly might astonish even the most experienced smallmouth fisherfolk. 

For folks in the western and southern parts of Maine, the Saco River is best fished from drift boat, canoe or kayak, but it provides a large amount of smallmouth habitat as it winds 100 miles from the border with New Hampshire to its famed tidewater striper fishery. Tailwater fishing on these stretches, usually reserved for temperature sensitive salmonids, instead attract scores of smallmouth and larger warm water species. The dam system beginning in West Buxton and falling south can provide some of the fastest and consistent action throughout the hottest slack months.

What flies do we use for Smallmouth Bass?

Streamers and poppers - can you even have more fun than those two flies? In the spring, smallmouth come out of a state of near dormancy to spawn in shallow shoals and streams.  Large females can get highly territorial over their nesting spots, making streamers ticked slowly on the bottom near tailing fish a very productive strategy.  We enjoy using large tequeely flies, clousers in chartreuse and white, wooly buggers, and gartsides to entice an aggressive, territorial bite. 

After the spawn, smallmouth congregate around structure to ambush and stalk prey. Log jams, rock piles, and current seams will often remain productive for months.  If present in the river system, golden shiners are a favorite forage. Which naturally makes the golden retriever with its shine and striking color a phenomenal choice for waters as they get a bit murkier in the warmer months.  Of course, summer would not be complete with throwing poppers through weedbeds, lily pads, and under overhanging trees for hidden bass.  We love the Boogle Bug at New England Fly Company, but foam poppers, small gurglers, and even large terrestrial imitations like hoppers and beetles will get topwater action.

As the shadows lengthen and colors start popping around New England, smallmouth start eating for the lean winter months. Large streamers once again become the order of the day with buggers, leeches, sculpins, and clousers being the ticket to big bass. On the off days that the streamer bite slows down, we’ve found dead drifted golden stones with a tailing caddis imitation like a disco perd can entice even the pickiest bronzebacks.