Hi - first time poster here. I live in Southern Maine and like to hit the Androscoggin River in the Lisbon area on occasion. I have gotten some nice small mouth out of there but have never really tied into them. 3-4 fish over 3 hours is my typical evening.

 

Last night (July 11) I got two in the first 10 minutes on a fairly large red & white popper on a fly rod. Thought it was going to be a good night but then it quieted down. This guy was a lot of fun on a fly rod though.

 

 

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Then a bit after sunset in the current closer to the bridge / dam there was a lot of rises. I thought it might be some river browns so we were throwing some dry flies at them but we could not see a hatch going on. The fish were being very aggressive like they were chasing something so I threw a rainbow countdown rapala at them with a spin rod and landed a nice 15" smallie. Gave a great fight. So I am guessing these were bass chasing after minnows making all the commotion on the water.

 

 

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My real question here is anyone on the board have experience / tips on landing Maine river smallies? I would like to have a night where I am dragging them in the boat left and right. While I get some nice fish out of the river, they are few and far between. Any tips would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

Rivers in Maine are no different than rivers anywhere else.  You need to be fishing near areas where the current is moving the fastest. You won't find many active fish in still or slow moving water.  The bass will hold with their noses pointed upstream just behind a rock or a tree right next to a place where the water is moving quickly. They will jump out into the fast water when the food passes by.  These spots are often small and will only hold one or two fish. You may have to cover miles of water to get the numbers you are looking for depending on the river. When you find good holding spots, you can return to them time after time and fish will nearly always be there.  If you have an area where the water gets shallow, fast and rocky, a riffle, that section may hold numbers of fish. Look for quiet pockets behind the boulders. Cast upstream and let the current drift your fly or bait past or through the pocket. 

  In rivers I fish, I don't spend much time in slow moving water. I head right for the fast stuff and I'll stay there until I'm convinced there is nothing else to be caught and move down to the next fast area. I float in a personal pontoon which is a great fishing platform but not very fast. On my way between spots, I'll fish the backsides of fallen trees. 

God i miss that river...caught my first five lb smallie near durham me

I used to slay em on black and chome and crawdad husky jerks there, and swimbaits as well as green pumkin tubes. There are some solid pike in that river too

Bring your bait through the current horizaltally. If you can find a rock that splits the current hit both sides close.

There is a dam right near lisbon and from d**n down is some d**n good water.

I used to jump rocks out as far as i could and i had good success

Good to see more Mainers! Im in that area and have fished those stretches a lot. Sal, have you tried a senko style bait in there yet? Probably one of the most productive baits I have used in there. Also a green tube jigged over the rocks is hard to beat as well. And the next time im in there I'm going to try a drop shot with a small finesse worm on em.

Thanks for the replies and tips all. I can see I need to get more familiar with plastics! Any good on-line resources on plastics (mostly around rigging, what hooks to use etc) that you can point me at?

Look to the right you will see Rage Tail, a sponsor. Click on them & go to rigging. that should help you out.

 

 

http://www.ragetail.com/news/rigging-info/

Hi Thanks for the help everyone. We hit the river again last night. We texas rigged some green pumpkin senko style baits and got some action. We got 6 in the boat and 14 on over 2 hours. As you can see we are still trying to figure out when to set the hook. We got them to the boat a lot but they were coming off so we were not getting good hook sets but it was a lot of fun. Not a whole lot of size in the boat  - mostly in the 8" to 12" range - but the increased strike rate certainly made my boys happy. We will keep experimenting with it. Thanks!

 I love fishing rivers in Maine. They don't see to get the bass fishing pressure that a lot of the lakes and ponds do. If I am fishing for smallies I like to find decent current flowing over rocky areas. I have great luck on senkos, jigs, poppers and square bill crankbaits. Unless I am fishing top water I try and imitate a craw fish.  If I am fishing fro largemouth I am looking fro areas that have a lot of lay downs and cover out of the main river current. There are huge largemouth in rivers in Maine. River fishing in Maine is highly underrated. My favorite times to fish rivers is on very windy, windy day or after a cold front has passed through the area. The Androscoggin River is good smallmouth fishing and is well known for it. The fishing on lesser known rivers in the area is even better.

saw this as an old post but i live in lewiston and do much better for smallmouths above the turnpike.a number of places to put in and easy access.3 different dams in area so fish dont go far. many 5lb and very willing to hit. had many times i was the only person fishing. i fish from a kayak usually. large mepps works best for me but topwater later in year. might even find a big pike . want any other info hit me up.