Maine Bass Fishing

East Grand Lake is a pristine 16,000 acre natural lake located on the remote Maine - New Brunswick border about 2/3rds of the way up the State of Maine. It is approximately 22 miles long and 6 miles wide. The surrounding forest is a mixture of pine, birch, and cedar trees, and the shoreline is beautifully dotted with large moss covered granite boulders. Bald eagles, ospreys, common loons, and occasionally moose can be seen during a typical outing.

Most importantly, East Grand is home to thousands of "relatively angler ignorant" smallmouth bass that thrive in the gin clear waters of the lake. In addition to bass, large landlocked salmon and lake trout inhabit the lake and are highly prized by the local Maine anglers, who typically shun the bass!! (All the better for us bass anglers!)

During the pre-spawn period the smallmouths are found on gravel bars near their spawning beds where they typically are caught with Rat-L-Traps, medium diving crankbaits like the Rapala Shad Rap, and tube baits.

As the spawn starts, sight fishing is the method of choice using 5 inch white grubs with 1/4 oz. grub heads, Texas rigged lizards, and 5" Senkos preferred. Top water lures used include the Heddon Torpedo and Rebel Pop-R.

As the post spawn period begins and throughout the summer months fishermen rely on medium chartreuse or white spinner baits, jerk baits like the Wiggle Wart, and again the 5" Senko.

During the spawn a party of two fishermen in a quality bass boat can reasonably expect to catch 100 good bass (50 each) averaging about 2 pounds with many up to 3 pounds. Also these fish are numerous enough and the fishery is old enough (established in the 1940s) that you may hook a 4 or 5 pounder, and fish up to 6 pounds (20 years old in these cold waters) are even caught occasionally.

Although there is some development along the shoreline, overall it is minor, and once you motor out onto the main body of the lake, about the only thing you will see are vast vistas of woods and water.

There are a couple of fishing lodges on the lake that provide lodging with meals or just lodging in a cabin with a kitchen, if desired. They can be contacted through the Maine Sporting Camp Association at http://www.mainesportingcamps.com/

Finally, further information on licenses, limits, and fish species can be found at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife at http://www.maine.gov/ifw/

By Bob Lorigan
Manager Rideout's Lakeside Lodge
1-207-448-2440
1-800-594-5391
Web page: http://www.rideouts.com