The Largemouths love for shelter, be it weeds or structure, can make them quite tough to land. This is no place for weak rods or fine test lines. A heavy bass stick and some 10lb line should do well. When bass fishing, especially if you are not keeping them, the main belief is, get them in, get them unhooked, and get them back in the water! They have much tougher mouths than trout and you can work them with a little less finesse. I said a little. Never horse a fish in or over play them. Set the drag and land them properly. Largemouths will live up to 16 years, and can grow quite large. Maine, or northern largemouths rarely grow as big as their southern counterparts. Largemouth love to rocket up out of the water, tosss their head back and forth to shake the lure, then head for bottom looking for something to wrap your line around. Hence, the warning about too light a tackle selection.
SPRING
Springtime makes for tough bass fishing, and I usually spend it chasing after trout! Iceout will find a few anglers out for bass, most using live bait, worms or shiners, as this usually works best. But the action picks up quickly as the water starts to warm. In the early going fish close to shore or around dropoffs and ledges, as the bass come to feed on bait making use of the warmer water in the shallows. Bass need structure and shade and will seek it wherever it is available. Always start your fishing here and move to other key points you identify as possibly holding fish. Don't be afraid to move on and come back to a spot later. I get a lot of bass on the second pass thru. Try a smaller lure, maybe a yo-zuri pin minnow, or a small gold or silver swedish pimple. I prefer to start out in the spring small, and then work up as the bait gets larger. Rapala's, or any of the minnow lures in black and silver, or gold and silver, work extremely well for bass. My friend swears by the husky jerk in black and silver for bass. Bladed spinners, try some of the flourescent colors, also work extremely well when fished around structure or in the developing weedbeds.
EARLY SUMMER
Okay. I am going to put summer in two parts. Early summer, the spawn finds the bass very defensive. Largemouths usually spawn when the water temp is between 63 and 68 degrees. They make their nests along a shallow shoreline away from the windy side, usually along the weeds or a fallen log. After spawning the male gaurds the nest and will attack virtually anything you get near them. Try anything flashy or noisy and cast behind them and swim it past them. They are sure to strike as soon as they see it getting too close. Be careful with the fish and put them back quickly. Bladed spinners work well now and a carolina rigged rubber worm is also a good choice as they start to feed much more aggressively.
SUMMER
Summer. The time of year that bass fishing comes alive. Put away the trout rod until fall and go after some bass. The hard part is to decide between stripers or freshwater bass. I check the tide charts and go striper fishing with a favorable tide, otherwise it is inland to get some bucketmouths! Many people think of Maine as a smallmouth state, which it is, but it is home to some monster largemouths and only getting better as more and more cold water fisheries are taken over by weeds and warm water species. I like to fish mostly at sun-up, dusk or after dark. On those clear warm nights, put on a yellow popper, those ugly ones wiith the rubber legs and feather tail, I like the yellow ones, and go make some noise. The splash when a big one comes up to your lure is what makes it great. Toss it out, let it sit, (very important, they like to see it sit for a second) then start it splashing back in. Use no swivel, or it won't sit right. You want the front to sit up and scoop the water. Rattlin' chug bugs, crazy crawlers, and jitterbugs are also excellent choices now.
FALL
