Shawn is the first one to catch bass this morning.
Shawn, an angler friend from away, would like to experience the awesome smallmouth bass fishing on the Androscoggin River. I decide to check out the conditions on the river in Durham where I have fished for bronzebacks in summers’ past and did well (see here and here for examples). The hard-top boat launch next to Route 136 (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 5 A5) is spacious and offers unlimited parking.
I switch over to a soft stick bait after loosing three tube baits to northern pike!
This section of the Androscoggin River has relatively deep areas (up to 15 ft.) but offers a variety of habitats, including submerged aquatic vegetation along both shorelines, boulder fields, blown down trees, sunken wood, current seams, and back eddies. The water flow is gentle, creating ideal conditions for fishing from a canoe or kayak. Keep in mind that the water levels in this dam-controlled river can be low in high summer, as they are today. As a result, some of the bass-holding structure, particularly along the shoreline, becomes unavailable to the fish. Also, if the water levels are really low, then the river about a mile or so further downstream from the launch becomes so shallow (< 2 ft.) that I have had to pull my motorboat by hand in order to make it back up.
Unfortunately, the size of the bass is not tremendous.
Shawn and I arrive at the launch by 6:45 am. We are the only ones fishing, and that will remain so for the rest of the morning. As a general observation, I have always been pleasantly surprised by how few people bother to fish this section of the Androscoggin River even though it is super accessible and located only a few miles from Lewiston/Auburn. Of course, that suits me just fine! The conditions this morning are perrrrfect: little or no wind, full sunshine, and air temps in the low-60’s, forecast to rise into the mid 80’s later today. The water temperature comes in at a balmy 81°F. The plan is to motor upstream a bit and let the gentle current drift us down while fishing the eastern (i.e., shadowed) shoreline. Shawn uses a 4-inch pink soft stick bait rigged wacky style while I start with a weighted, white-colored tube bait which I like to use as a “search lure”. It takes Shawn less than five minutes to hook and land his first bass. Great, the fish received the memo and are at their post. I experience a frustrating situation over the next 30 minutes. I loose three tube baits when a fish grabs the lure but immediately snaps the line… I know exactly what that means: this section of the river is infested with invasive northern pike whose ancestors originated in Sabattus Pond located in Sabattus above Lisbon and reached the Androscoggin River via the Sabattus River. Their needle-sharp teeth will instantly cut monofilament fishing line unless it is protected by a 1-ft. length of steel wire, which I did not bring with me this morning. By now, Shawn has caught three more bass and I switch over to a pink stickbait to catch up with him.
But at least the bite is steady and the fish are aggressively feeding.
We are hitting our strides. There does not seem to be a specific pattern as to where the bass are hiding this morning. I tend to focus my casting along the shoreline whereas Shawn tosses his lure more out towards the middle of the river. It does not seem to matter: we both catch fish although we are underwhelmed by their size: all the bass measure between 12 and 16 inches and do not seem to be particularly fat. We have been fishing along the eastern shoreline for over two hours and the bite has noticeable slowed down. It is time to mix things up. I motor across the river to the opposite (western) shoreline by the extensive riprap along Route 136. It is not my preferred angling location on this section of the Androscoggin River because of the traffic noise, but I know from previous experience that a deeper trench (up to 10 ft. deep) runs along that shore. A thick band of submerged aquatic vegetation hugs the shoreline and serves as a bass attractant. And so it is this morning: we both hook and catch several more fish. Unfortunately, our time has run out by now and we reluctantly head back towards the launch for our drive back home. Boy, I love idling away a morning with a friend while bass fishing on the Androscoggin River. I highly recommend it to sooth body and soul!
The fish are also actively biting on the sunny side of the river by the riprap alongside Route 136.
The results: We landed 23 smallmouth bass (largest = 16 inches) in 3 hours of fun fishing. We also missed a bunch more.
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Tight Lines, y’all.
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