Maine Bass Fishing

[Mainebass1984]

Some waters are beginning to open up in southern and central Maine. Another season of Bass fishing in Maine is upon us.  How many Maine bass fisherman are on here ? Feel free to post reports, conditions, questions and anything else regarding Maine bass fishing. I will try to post as much as I can and I hope some other Maine bass fisherman will do the same.

[Smokinal]

Still waiting for my home lake to open up above the Augusta area. Live lake web cam shows black, mealy ice so it isn't long now! That will be my first stop with jerkbait in hand.

Anyone been out in Maine yet?

Reports?

[Mainebass1984]

My next day off will be my first day on the water, April 21st. I am pretty sure that where I want to fish will be ice free. I am hoping for water temperatures around 43 degrees. With the forecast for the next week it is definitely a possibility. A jig will be my go to bait that first day. I will also have a crankbait, drop shot, texas rigged craw, swimbait, spinnerbait and jerkbait tied on. The water is very high right now which always is good for early spring fishing, in my experience anyway.

[MainelyBass88]

Checked Sabattus yesterday, the edges were all open and the ice was really dark. Should open up soon. Also know some smaller ponds in Western Maine are starting to open up. Might be fishing that area this weekend, even if there's still some ice left. 

[Mainebass1984]

1 hour ago, MainelyBass88 said:

Checked Sabattus yesterday, the edges were all open and the ice was really dark. Should open up soon. Also know some smaller ponds in Western Maine are starting to open up. Might be fishing that area this weekend, even if there's still some ice left. 

 

I wish I was getting out this coming weekend. Even if a place is half frozen you can still catch bass ! Good luck !

[Smokinal]

6 hours ago, MainelyBass88 said:

Checked Sabattus yesterday, the edges were all open and the ice was really dark. Should open up soon. Also know some smaller ponds in Western Maine are starting to open up. Might be fishing that area this weekend, even if there's still some ice left. 

Good to hear! Give us a full report!

[BassB8Caster]

I'm in western maine. Starting to see water along the shorelines on most lakes and ponds. Looking good forward to this season. This would be a productive topic to keep going as the season opens up. Once ice is out, obviously the water is really cold. In the smaller ponds, where are the best spots to target? Shallows where the water should warm faster? Freshwater inlets? 

[Smokinal]

3 minutes ago, BassB8Caster said:

I'm in western maine. Starting to see water along the shorelines on most lakes and ponds. Looking good forward to this season. This would be a productive topic to keep going as the season opens up. Once ice is out, obviously the water is really cold. In the smaller ponds, where are the best spots to target? Shallows where the water should warm faster? Freshwater inlets? 

I do very well in an area just like that just after ice-out. It's a large, secluded cove with water between 4-9 ft and the main stream comes in there. But that bite only lasts a couple of weeks then it's out to the main lake where the bite can really vary from shoreline areas to deep drops. I fish the shallow areas with a jerkbait, soft swimbait like a Keitech and spinnerbaits. When I have to go deeper for them a blade bait in either silver or gold, depending on cloud cover, works well. And a jig is never a bad idea. 

[BassB8Caster]

1 minute ago, Smokinal said:

I do very well in an area just like that just after ice-out. It's a large, secluded cove with water between 4-9 ft and the main stream comes in there. But that bite only lasts a couple of weeks then it's out to the main lake where the bite can really vary from shoreline areas to deep drops. I fish the shallow areas with a jerkbait, soft swimbait like a Keitech and spinnerbaits. When I have to go deeper for them a blade bait in either silver or gold, depending on cloud cover, works well. And a jig is never a bad idea. 

Great info. Thanks. This is my 3rd spring fishing for bass. I usually see some prespawn and spawn action, but have yet to get out right after ice out. Hoping to change that.  I know they will want to seek out warmer water. So sun contributes to that as well as fresh water. And of course cold water = sloooowww down. 

[WestBranch]

Seven Tree in Union is almost completely open. The boat launch is open.

Sennebec is part open, with very thin black ice n the rest.

Southern part of Togus is open.

Been out on all 3, not much luck.

 

I'm up at camp now ( just north of Lincoln) and the Penobscot, Piscataquis and mattawamkeag rivers are holy crap high and running hard.

[Mainebass1984]

12 hours ago, BassB8Caster said:

I'm in western maine. Starting to see water along the shorelines on most lakes and ponds. Looking good forward to this season. This would be a productive topic to keep going as the season opens up. Once ice is out, obviously the water is really cold. In the smaller ponds, where are the best spots to target? Shallows where the water should warm faster? Freshwater inlets? 

 

Typically the north west corner or cove of most lakes and ponds will have the warmest water in the early spring. Those areas have the most exposure to the sun through out the day. Any area that has any inlet also will have warmer water temperatures. These types of areas have done very well for me year after year. Not only is the inlet bringing in warmer water but it is also bringing in food. Sometimes they stack up right in front of an inlet at the first drop off, just waiting for food to drift by. A jig excels in that situation.

[MainelyBASS]

A few ponds south of Portland have opened up. Ive caught 10 fish in 4 trips. Biggest was a 4. All on a mop jig. Had to sell my boat over the winter due to having twin daughters and finances getting tight. This will be a discouraging season for sure without a boat. I have a friend who has a boat who said he might be able to take me out a bit this year, so I will hopefully get an occasional boat fix this summer. Im scheduled to fish 16 tournaments, all from the back of the boat unfortunately, but its better than nothing.  

[BassB8Caster]

1 hour ago, Mainebass1984 said:

 

Typically the north west corner or cove of most lakes and ponds will have the warmest water in the early spring. Those areas have the most exposure to the sun through out the day. Any area that has any inlet also will have warmer water temperatures. These types of areas have done very well for me year after year. Not only is the inlet bringing in warmer water but it is also bringing in food. Sometimes they stack up right in front of an inlet at the first drop off, just waiting for food to drift by. A jig excels in that situation.

Excellent info as usual from you. Early in the year is it better to wait the day out and fish afternoons, giving the sun time to warm the water some or head out first thing in the morning? One pond in particular that i cannot hit up has a pretty shallow cove on the north end with a stream coming in there. Should produce well. I have a lot of action there last summer. This area gets tons of lillies and grass and fish were all through it last summer. I was having a difficult time getting a good hookset out of my kayak last year there. But this year will be different. Im thinking of targeting this north end working my way back to where it drops off. Goes from 3-4 feet then to 8-10 then to 20-25. these drop offs should be great staging areas. 

 

Another question...work shallow to deep or deep to shallow. Primary target will be bigger fish. Jig will be tied on along with slow rolling keitech 5.8 impact fats

[BassB8Caster]

1 hour ago, MainelyBASS said:

A few ponds south of Portland have opened up. Ive caught 10 fish in 4 trips. Biggest was a 4. All on a mop jig. Had to sell my boat over the winter due to having twin daughters and finances getting tight. This will be a discouraging season for sure without a boat. I have a friend who has a boat who said he might be able to take me out a bit this year, so I will hopefully get an occasional boat fix this summer. Im scheduled to fish 16 tournaments, all from the back of the boat unfortunately, but its better than nothing.  

Hopefully you have better access to shore fishing than i do around here. I broke down 3 years ago and bought a kayak. Cost around 350. Perfect for the small ponds around me. A few times i have tried shore fishing (when i have a couple hours after work and i dont want to go through the whole kayak process) and it seams all the ponds around me have grown in shorelines and fishing from shore is nearly impossible. The kayak is a life saver. Not on the level of a boat, but maine has some awesome small ponds that the big boats stay out of (or are not allowed). 

[Mainebass1984]

1 hour ago, BassB8Caster said:

Excellent info as usual from you. Early in the year is it better to wait the day out and fish afternoons, giving the sun time to warm the water some or head out first thing in the morning? One pond in particular that i cannot hit up has a pretty shallow cove on the north end with a stream coming in there. Should produce well. I have a lot of action there last summer. This area gets tons of lillies and grass and fish were all through it last summer. I was having a difficult time getting a good hookset out of my kayak last year there. But this year will be different. Im thinking of targeting this north end working my way back to where it drops off. Goes from 3-4 feet then to 8-10 then to 20-25. these drop offs should be great staging areas. 

 

Another question...work shallow to deep or deep to shallow. Primary target will be bigger fish. Jig will be tied on along with slow rolling keitech 5.8 impact fats

 

Even in the early spring I try and spend as much time on the water as possible.  The drop offs sound like a good place to fish a jig. A Keitech should catch some fish too. I personally prefer a rage swimmer over a keitech. They seem to be more durable, especially the tail section. For the areas 10 ft and less a suspending jerkbait could be the ticket. A squarebill crankbait can not be overlooked. A slow rolled spinnerbait or chatter bait could be the ticket too.  Let the fish tell them what you want.

[WestBranch]

LOTS of small streams are now good sized lakes.

This one is supposed to be the molunkus stream in Macwahoc Plantation

[Mainebass1984]

18 hours ago, UpTheHill said:

LOTS of small streams are now good sized lakes.

This one is supposed to be the molunkus stream in Macwahoc Plantation

 

I love fishing a high water spring ! That looks a bit extreme though. Hopefully water levels will go down a bit in the next week or so.

[WestBranch]

1 hour ago, Mainebass1984 said:

 

I love fishing a high water spring ! That looks a bit extreme though. Hopefully water levels will go down a bit in the next week or so.

 

It's already dropping. Though we're expecting rain tomorrow.

Area flood warning goes thru mid week.

 

My camp and the logging road i take there is high and dry, so a good pair of boots and I'm in my happy place

[Smokinal]

Today should have opened up some water for us.

Anyone still see ice?

[BassB8Caster]

Ice is definitely melting. I didnt get to check any of the smaller ponds I typically fish but I live by Norway  (pennesseewassee) lake and it melted a ton this weekend.  I'm hoping to get some fishing in this coming weekend.  

[Mainebass1984]

2 hours ago, Smokinal said:

Today should have opened up some water for us.

Anyone still see ice?

 

This past Friday my dad and uncle were icefishing on Kezar Lake. Still 16" of ice then. Salmon fishing was good. Less ice now for sure.

[WestBranch]

Small lakes in southern aroostook county are still 1/2 ice, but opening fast. Large chunks of ice floating past the camp.

 

 

 

[MaineBassMan]

Hi all Mainers! Picked up the new boat last Thursday and finally got to break her in on the 15th of April. My Father and Father in law went with me, my Father in law has never really been bass fishing and we showed him one heck of a time. He actually caught the first bass of the day on his 4th cast! Luck! We nailed them, we ended up catching 50- 60 bass. Most of them were high 2 pound bass but we caught at least 10 over 3 lbs our 5 biggest bass totaled a little over 18 pounds. Cranks and jerk baits were the ticket but we also caught a few on swim baits. The new boat with I-pilot, Humminbird Helix 10, 2 12' Talons and Minn Kota Ultera were awesome! Boat topped out at 62 mph.

 

The stars of the day:

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

More

 

 

 

 

 

More

 

 

 

 

[MaineBassMan]

More

 

 

BTW we didn't take pictures of all of them takes up too much time!

[MainelyBass88]

18 hours ago, Smokinal said:

Today should have opened up some water for us.

Anyone still see ice?

The small ponds I was hoping to fish this weekend were still iced up. One of my friends actually ice fished one on them. I live in Auburn during the week, and there's still some ice on Sabattus and Lake Auburn, as well as small ponds nearby. Looks like it will all be gone in the next few days, however