Late summer is prime time for bass fishing with flies Top-water flies attract smallmouths during outing

Throughout the entire afternoon a steady wind, often directly up river, sometimes gusting and cross-current buffeted the 20-foot Lund Alaskan from which our trio was casting. I spent so much time jumping about on the remote foot pedal of the electric motor to adjust speed and direction, it must have looked like I was clog dancing. In addition to keeping the boat on course and fairly close to the shoreline, I tried to fit a few casts toward submerged rocks, weed beds or exposed stumps into my dance routine. Smallmouth bass were our playmates and the Penobscot River was our playground for this day’s outing.

Roger Shaw was stern man, in charge of deploying the anchor if a productive spot required prolonged casting exploration. He was dredging moderate to deep depths with a rattling, shivering crank bait, and had boated and released 10 smallies in just over two hours. Mike Wallace commandeered amidships, and apparently his day’s undertaking was catching lots of bass, he had already boated and released 14, and heckling and needling his companions. Nothing malicious mind you, just subtle reminders delivered with a dry sense of humor regarding our questionable techniques and lesser numbers and sizes of fish. Totally uncalled for and well beneath Roger’s or my dignity-unless one of us happened to be the one having a banner outing!

Mike was enjoying all his luck casting a fat, bottom hugging crayfish plug, of which neither Roger or I had a duplicate. I had fooled eight bass with a gold spinner and five- inch pumpkin seed grub. Most of our fish were between one and two pounds, but as with all smallmouth bass, they flail, fight and fly out of the water as if they were twice their actual size. As the afternoon progressed, each of us stole surreptitious glances at our watches, willing 6 o’clock and sundown to arrive.

Generally as the sun goes down, any breeze dwindles as well, and the river surface, especially in the coves, becomes mirror flat. The last two hours of any August day is worth our 90-minute drive each way to visit this section of the Penobscot. We call it Top Water Time. No other freshwater fish offer the consistent, explosive surface action during hot weather that smallies guarantee.

The cove

Along the particular segment of the river, there are four large lagoons spread out over a half- mile stretch. Each has a narrow entrance into a stump-infested cove with thick forest hugging the perimeter. The smallest is the size of a two-car garage while the largest is the size of a soccer field. Our favorite is the size and shape of a Little League baseball diamond and ripe with lily pads, sunken logs, floating weed beds, exposed rocks and plenty of bass. Visit and cast about midday and the limited action would disappoint, but at dusk, either there is a sudden influx of fish from the main river or the smallies on hand hear the dinner bell.

As we motored into the cove mouth, I shut down the big Honda 75 and let momentum slide us forward. Optimistically, we scan the surface for a couple of minutes and sure enough, a couple of bass splash and swirl, taking a dragon fly or other enticing insects on the surface. No conversation is necessary and each of us have a grin of anticipation as we re-rig our rods. Mike goes with a green and yellow Pop-R and Roger selects a blue and white Heddon Torpedo. I take a bit more time and rig a four-piece, five-weight Fenwick graphite fly rod with a 5/6 Scientific Anglers reel and S. A. bass taper line. My fly is a green, yellow- and red-trimmed deer hair bug with eyes and legs making it almost as large as a ping pong ball.

Due to the shallow, debris strewn bottom and exposed stumps and rocks, progress with the electric motor is slow, erratic and occasionally very bumpy. My buddies can cover more water and cast much farther with their heavy plugs and spinning rods than I’m able to fish with my fly outfit. Nonetheless, I’d rather hook and fight one feisty bass on fly than five on spin cast gear, even if it’s an ultralight rig. Knowing my desire and devotion to bass- bug casting they often take pity and allow me to cover certain likely spots first.

Both Roger and Mike realize how tough it can be to get a good bass to strike a fly, and fight it to the boat on a single hook, so they defer a bit to my fly rod fanaticism. Or perhaps they are afraid if I don’t get a little consideration, I’ll start flailing that huge bass bug every which way, endangering their very lives in what’s suddenly too small a boat! Whatever the case, they generally catch more fish, but I feel I have more fun, challenge and excitement. When Top Water Time is really hot and the fish are smashing floating flies, we take turns with the fly rod, since two fly casters in a bass boat boarders on hazardous.

Two hours in the Cove went by in a flash. Mike and Roger had 10 or 12 bass apiece and I’d accounted for five and lost seven or eight. One of my fish had jumped six times, made several hardy runs and really thrashed about. It turned out to be nearly 31/2 pounds and provided us all with some real entertainment as my boat mates stopped fishing to watch, coach and help me land the high-leaping, hard-fighting smallie. I’m sure other area anglers must know about this cove, but in five years, I’ve never seen another boat in or around this particular bass haven when I’ve visited.

Rigged and ready

Most Mainers have a bass populated lake or river within 30 minutes of home, and as trout and salmon action declines due to hot weather conditions, bass fishing actually perks up. Throughout August and much of September top water fishing for smallmouth with bass bugs and a fly rod is prime. As well as a nearby fishing hole, most fly casters probably have adequate gear on hand already.

A 5-weight, 9-foot rod has become my personal favorite, but a 6- or 7-weight will certainly do the trick, and most Pine Tree trout anglers currently own one of these rods! In truth, 81/2- or 9-foot rods with a bit more backbone are a plus for distance and precision casting of large deer- hair bugs. Novice bass-bug casters will find controlling one of these big hair balls is akin to having your leader tied to a live bat, so stiffer rods are an advantage.

As important as a comfortable, capable rod is a matching weight forward line to aid in keeping the fluffy fly aloft and moving against the extreme air resistance. Double taper lines won’t suffice and if there’s any wind to contend with, even weight forward fly lines can be a struggle. Scientific Anglers manufactures an extremely specialized bass-bug line that’s just superb at lofting and locating large flies.

The use of backing is a matter of personal preference on bass fishing fly reels. Since each of my reels serve multi purpose duty on fresh and salt water and on various sized finned quarry, I put micron backing on every reel. My 5/6 and 6/7 weight S.A. System Two reels have 75 and 100 yards of backing, respectively. It would be unsettling to lose the largest bass of a lifetime due to insufficient line and unforeseen circumstances.

Moderate length leaders, 6 to 8 feet, of a single strength, 10- to 12-pound test, controls and presents a bass bug better than a longer, tapered leader. As a concession to ever present, sharp-toothed pickerel, and possible weed bed tangles while playing a big bass, it’s smart to use a 6- to 10-inch shock tippet. Some veteran bass casters even use wire leaders, but generally a short piece of 15- or 20-pound test monofilament will handle any unexpected strain. Be sure to check leaders often for nicks or abrasions.

Although not really a fly, novice top-water fly rodders might do well to use small plastic poppers for the first couple of outings. These popcorn size baits are colorful with sport rubber legs for realism and a few even have trailing feathers. Retrieved in popper fashion, their noise and surface disturbance is effective at drawing strikes, they are easier to cast than big bass bugs, and you still have the fun of fly rodding.

When it’s time to graduate to deer hair bugs, there are two pieces of critical advice to heed: always wear a hat and a shirt, and forewarn your watercraft companions that large, fuzzy blobs with hooks will be flailed about during certain times of the outing. Buy weedless flies whenever possible and select large-headed bugs that really bubble and gurgle when retrieved.

Favorite color combos are yellow and green, red and white, and green, black and white. I have a couple of bass bugs that are tied with eyes and legs to resemble a small frog, and they are deadly in the marshy coves. A couple of tricks for consistent results include pinpointing casts near structures and then allowing the bass bug to remain stationary until all the casting rings have dissipated. Then hop it once, wait a few seconds and tug again. Often a bass will engulf it on one of the first two moves.

Trout and salmon fishing may be a bit slow, but smallmouth bass fishing is top rate, and there’s no more exciting style of bass casting than top water flies. There’s sure to be a special cove on a waterway near you. So rig up, buy some deer hair flies and head out. Lots of sportsmen get the fishing bug, and in this case it’s really true, it’s a bass-bug season.

Outdoor feature writer Bill Graves can be reached via e-mail at bgravesoutdoors@ainop.com