July and August

These two months are ‘sweet summertime’ in Maine.  The weather is warm, the bugs are gone, and the smallmouth bass fishing is at its best.  The Penobscot River is a world-class bass fishery that flows right past my door, and there is no better time to do a family drift boat float trip than now.   We can wet wade to cool off during the middle of the day, and enjoy a shore lunch on the riverbank. Other warm-water fish like pickerel, northern pike and largemouth bass are also at their peak activity levels as well. 

And some of the season’s fastest brook trout fishing also occurs during the dog-days of summer.  If you know a spring creek or beaver flowage that stays cold all summer, you are certain to find trout, and usually lots of them.  Because these cold-water fish seek refuge from the heat, and stack up in these thermal refuges.