The father cut the old 6-horsepower outboard motor and let the 12-foot aluminum boat drift toward shore. Next, he took the oars from beside the seat and rowed the boat parallel to the shoreline. The smell of the two-stroke engine exhaust hung in the damp morning air for a few minutes. His son sat in the front seat and eagerly waited for the boat to get into position.
He held an old Pflueger rod and spinning reel combination tipped with a Creme rubber worm with a propeller. Once the boat stopped, he cast the lure toward shore and let it sink for a few seconds before starting his twitching retrieve.
The father had a Shakespeare Wondereel and matching rod tipped with a Fred Arbogast Jitterbug. Dad reeled quickly and made the lure pop and gurgle on the flat surface of the calm lake. The pair cast their lures toward the shore and worked them back to the boat, with the father rowing them along the shoreline every few casts.
Suddenly, the son reared back and set the hook, his rod tip doubled over, cranking the reel slowly to drag the thrashing fish close to the boat. Dad reached for the net and readied it. The fish broke the surface and tried to shake the lure to no avail. Soon the lively smallmouth bass was in the net, released and swimming back to guard the nest where it came from.
This scenario would repeat itself for decades with only the boats and tackle changing and both father and son getting older. One thing that never changed was their love of chasing smallmouth bass during spawning season.
The players in this true story are my late father and me. I was fortunate that my dad rented a cottage for us on lakes across Maine and New Hampshire every summer when bass and salmon were our quarry. He eventually bought his own place on Sebago Lake. That’s why cool June mornings and flat June evenings make me think of bass fishing the spawn, and this brings back such good memories of time spent in a boat with my dad.
Smallmouth bass were our target, but largemouth bass spawn in the same manner. Each year around June when the water hits about 55 degrees, female bass lay their eggs in small nests along the shoreline in sandy or gravelly areas. You can spot these nests as they have been fanned away by the bass using their tails and appear lighter than the surrounding lake floor.
The male bass stands guard, attacking anything that comes near the nest. This is why fishing is productive during the spawn. Working the shorelines and casting toward the nests will likely result in hooking a bass. Because these males are guarding the nests, it’s important to release them unharmed and near the location where they were caught so they can go back to their guard duty, ensuring future generations of fish come back for us to enjoy. Almost any lure will work if it appears to invade the sanctity of the nest and the guard bass sees it as a threat.
I don’t fly fish as much as I used to, but June spawning is the perfect chance to practice fly casting from a boat or canoe. Last June I even stood on my dock and cast a “supervisor” streamer, which looks like a small baitfish, along the shoreline and I was rewarded with a chunky smallmouth.
My daughters were introduced to fishing from our family dock on Sebago Lake with a Snoopy pole, bobber, and worm-tipped hook. Some of the bass they caught seemed as long as them. They still love to cast that old Snoopy pole out and hook a smallmouth, reliving their childhood days.
Once the bass spawn, they move off the beds and as water temperatures warm, they seek deeper, cooler waters, making them harder to find and catch. Anglers targeting underwater rock formations in 20-30 feet of water do well. Small jigs and crayfish imitations work best. A Texas-rigged rubber worm is another great bass lure for working underwater structure.
June spells bass angling for this enthusiast and many others. Daily catches of 30 fish or more are common if you put in the effort and keep moving along the shoreline. Shady spots, like underneath docks, are great spots to locate bass. My dad always chided me to make sure I didn’t hit the dock with my lure, and as soon as he spoke those words, my lure landed on the dock. We made many trips to retrieve them while a concerned camp owner watched pensively.
Spawning season comes fast and ends quickly, so make sure you are ready to enjoy it this month.
