So I went out fishing Arrowhead yesterday and the bass were in a variety of modes. Some were in post-spawn, and others were on the beds. The weather has really screwed them up. Anyway, the scorching heat from this heatwave was killing me but the fish were loving the warm(er) water. I went to a shallow bay and saw some shallow schooling bass but couldn't entice a bit. I tossed a topwater and BAM! A massive fish was on the end of my line. I brought it in and was kinda disgusted to find a 24 inch pickerel. 2 more pickerel later,(20 and 21 inches respectively) I switched up to a jig and pig and started pestering a nice bass that I saw on the bed. After 3 times of practically hitting it on the nose, she turned around and sucked in my jig. My rod bowed and a few minutes later I was staring at a sweet 4-11 Largemouth. I did OK the rest of the day. I caught a few 14-17 inchers along the way. They were really on for jigs and topwaters for some reason. The schooling bass wouldn't touch anything. If you have any advice for catching shallow schooling bass please share. I caught a few post-spawn fish in about 8 feet of water with a Bagley b1 crankbait. If you live in Maine, I recommend hitting Arrowhead. The draw-down of the lake has warmed it up quicker than it's parent lake Ossipee and it's offering fast action. 

Nice!  While I'd much rather catch a bass, I don't mind catching pickerel.  Especially the bigger ones.  Good hard fighting fish. 

Nice!  While I'd much rather catch a bass, I don't mind catching pickerel.  Especially the bigger ones.  Good hard fighting fish. 

Agreed. The big ones are a blast to pull in.