My Favorite Time of Year

Every year we anglers wait in anticipation for the change of the seasons. As winter turns into spring, and spring into summer, you get that all too familiar itch. The itch that says, "I need to get out on the water." Ice melts, fishing seasons open, and migrations begin. The itch soon turns into anticipation for that favorite spring fishing moment. We all have one. For some people it's the tarpon migrating north on the Gulf of Mexico. For others it's the Salmonfly hatch...

Call me a blasphemer. Call me crazy. But for me that special moment has nothing to do with trout. It's got nothing to do with bonefish or even stripers. For me, it's when the smallmouth bass return to the shallows to spawn.

Like the swallows at Capistrano, smallies return every spring to fulfill their primal urges. In the crystal clear lakes and ponds of Maine, this means endless sight fishing opportunities. This isn't spring creek fishing. The smallmouth bass are incredibly aggressive. It doesn't take much more than a woolly bugger to get them excited.

And nothing beats a 3+lb smallmouth on a 5-weight.