We are in the middle of our first hot spell of the summer. Actually not really that hot compared to the rest of the east coast, in the 80’s, but with high humidity. Yesterday morning there was little wind just enough breeze to keep any bugs at bay. Launched the Grand Lake canoe on one of my favorite bass ponds, this one is small by Maine standards at only 250 or so acres, just the right size for a short fishing trip. The bass are spawning on the shallow flats and it was some of the best sight fishing you could wish for. Because there was little wind the fish were clearly visible and if not careful it was possible to spook them with an inaccurate cast of the fly. I forgot how much I enjoy poling the canoe in shallow water and because I was standing the fish were very visible.
I prefer to fish with a surface fly when conditions are this good. But it was not the fly of choice as there were several refusals. Still there were enough loud showy takes to keep it more than interesting for a few hours. None of the fish were large (biggest maybe three pounds) but the fishing could not have been more enjoyable. The fish were almost evenly divided between largemouth and smallmouth bass with a number of quiet takes when no one was looking that I assume were perch or sunfish and were not hooked.
As the morning progressed the fish seemed to slowly shut off with the midday sun until at about 1PM we had several fish simply bump or splash the fly without getting hooked. All in all an almost perfect morning of fishing and a great first trip in the Grand Lake canoe.
Add new comment