Photo by Ron Sinfelt

By Al Raychard

There was a time not long ago when black bass were considered less than "sport" fish by many anglers in parts of New England. This was especially true across the North Country where trout and salmon were traditionally the most important species. Trout are still popular, but bass have come a long way in the minds of anglers.

In fact, according to a survey conducted by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in 1983, only brook trout and landlocked salmon exceeded the amount of angler effort expended on black bass. A similar survey conducted in the summer of 1999 revealed that bass ranked highest of all Maine sport fish in three important areas. Bass attracted the largest number of anglers; those anglers invested the most angler-days of use, and bass were the most frequently caught species. Not bad for a fish that is not native to the region and just a couple of decades earlier were generally considered to be trash fish by the average trout fisherman.

The current popularity of black bass throughout New England can be attributed to several things. One is the ability of smallmouth and largemouth bass to live just about anywhere trout and salmon species won't or can't. The smallmouth bass will thrive in coldwater lakes suitable for trout, but will prosper in marginal areas where even browns have difficulty surviving. This is the reason bass were introduced throughout New England - to provide fishing opportunities in areas where traditional trout species do not do well.

Most bass populations in New England are actually self-sustaining, which means they require little or no support from hatcheries. This means bass require little management or expense, which allows biologists to put those resources elsewhere.

Bass have become popular because, compared to some trout species, they are easily caught throughout much of the season, take a variety of lures and bait, are exciting and powerful fighters and are very palatable. It took a while for New England's anglers to appreciate these attributes, but both species have become so important that catch-and-release fishing is the norm among fishermen these days, and bass are now protected during the spring spawning period. Quality, rather than quantity, has become the name of the game for bass managers as well as anglers.

How that goal is being reached depends on where you go in New England. Some states have gone as far as creating specific bass management lakes where special regulations have been put in place to enhance the fishery and angling opportunities. In others, general length and possession limits have been established to make sure the resource is not overfished.

Whatever the case, the black bass enjoys a level of respect and desirability never seen before, and New England enthusiasts are fortunate to have at their fingertips some of the finest bass angling to be found anywhere in the country.

Maine's first open season for bass was July 1, 1877 to March 31, 1878. There were no length, bag or weight limits. Between 1898 and 1906, there was a closed season while bass were on the spawning beds, although no dates were given. Since then, regulations have switched back and forth with minimum length limits, weight limits and season dates, all of which gave careful and special attention to protecting fish during the spawning period; except for establishing its present bag and length limits in 1992 and doing away with the weight limit in 1997, little has changed.

Largemouths are found in at least 372 Maine lakes and ponds, but do not occur in Piscataquis or Aroostook counties, or in the northern sections of Somerset, Franklin and Penobscot counties. Largemouths are the only bass in 141 of these 372 waters.

Since their introduction, Maine's bass management plan has been a simple one: to help the fishery sustain itself through natural means, and, in recent years, to protect the fishery during the spawning period and via length and bag limits.

Presently, general law allows keeping one bass per day from ice-out through June 20, during which the length limit is 12 inches. All fishing is by artificial lures during this period to reduce overfishing during the critical spawning period. From June 21 through Sept. 30, the bag limit is three fish, with the same 12-inch minimum length limit in most counties, but only one bass may exceed 14 inches. From Oct. 1 through Nov. 30, all bass fishing is catch-and-release only in Androscoggin, Cumberland, Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Sagahadoc, Waldo and York counties.

A new plan is in the making to protect older and larger fish, but because Maine's bass population is doing so well, little additional regulation change is expected in the near future.

Maine's bass enthusiasts can expect plenty of good fishing in 2004. The bass waters of Washington County, Big Lake in Princeton, Cathance Lake in Cooper, along with Meddybemps, Pleasant, Pocomoonshine, Scraggly and Third Machias lakes, to name but a few, are considered some of the finest smallmouth bass waters in the country, along with Sebago, Little Sebago, Thompson Lake in Oxford County, the Belgrades, Lake Cobbosseecontee and Damariscotta Lake.

For more information on Down East bass fishing, contact the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, 284 State St., Augusta, ME 04333; call (207) 287-2871, or visit the MDIFW's Web site at www. mefishwildlife.com.

The current management policy is to provide only the regulations needed to maintain numbers and quality.

Currently, there are no minimum or maximum length limits in place. The resource is managed primarily with creel limits, established season dates and the way bass can be caught. For example, a catch-and-release period between May 15 and June 15 has been in place for a few years, during which bass fishing is allowed with artificial lures and flies only.

Like Maine, this is to provide some protection to adult bass during the spawning period. For the following two weeks, there is a two-fish creel limit, but after that the daily creel limit jumps up to five fish.

The most recent management proposal concerns tournament rule changes on border waters with Maine, including Umbagog Lake, Province Lake, Balch Pond, Horn Pond, Great East Lake, the Milton Watershed in Milton, Lower Kimball Pond and Spaulding Pond.

New Hampshire bass fishermen should have no trouble finding plenty of opportunities. Along with the border waters just mentioned, Country Lake, Powwow River Pond, Kingston Lake and Greenwood Lake in Rockingham County should continue to be hot producers. They are all accessible from Route 125. Lake Massabesic in Manchester, Arlington Mills Reservoir in Salem, Pawtuckaway Lake in Nottingham, Lake Monomonac south of the Cathedral of the Pines in Rindage, Contoocook Lake outside Jaffrey off Route 202, along with the bigger lakes (Lake Wentworth, Lake Sunapee, Squam Lake, Newfound Lake and Winnipesaukee) should not be overlooked.

For more information, contact the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, 2 Hazen Dr., Concord, NH 03301; call (603) 271-3211, or visit their Web site at www.wildlife.state.nh.us.