Homecoming - On The Water

After a long year at Lander University in South Carolina, summer is finally here and I'm home in north-central Massachusetts. Being back in New England during the summer months is a special time for me. The weather is beautiful, and the bass are biting. Chasing bass in the Northeast is by far my favorite place to do so, as the diversity the Northeast has to offer is unmatched compared to anywhere else in the country. The different offerings of largemouth and smallmouth bass, and just about every imaginable situation and tactic is at play and worth trying. New England is a very attractive place to bass fish for not just myself, but many other anglers during the summer months.

A unique thing about fishing in New England is the vast number of water bodies we have to choose from. With seemingly endless waters within a few-hour radius anywhere in New England, there's just about everything one could dream of in a bass fishing fantasy land. If I could describe bass fishing during the summer in New England to fellow anglers around the country, I would explain it like this, "You can have two rods on the front deck of your boat, a drop shot with light line and a long leader, and a big heavy flipping rod with sixty-five pound braid and a 1-ounce weight, and that's all you need for any situation you will encounter for both largemouth and smallmouth."

Something I look forward to every year is the presence of healthy aquatic vegetation.  Good levels of dissolved oxygen and plenty of baitfish and aquatic insects in the vegetation is like a welcome mat for largemouth.  This is one of my favorite summer bites.  Places like the Connecticut River and its various setbacks, are my go-to spots, but small rivers around New England offer similar opportunities. Another location where I love to fish vegetation is the Ticonderoga section of Lake Champlain. This part of Lake Champlain has some of the most incredible grass fishing I've found across the country. Targeting bass in the thick vegetation is a nice change of pace from all the forward facing sonar and deep water fishing, which is so popular these days.

While the grass fishing for largemouth is exciting, there are also some incredible smallmouth bass bites to be had throughout the summer heat. I like to focus my attention on the smaller lakes in the southern part of New Hampshire. Targeting smallies oriented on bait over deep water is a fun and productive way to catch actively feeding bass throughout the summer in New England.

Another bite I love to chase this time of year is night fishing for largemouth bass with big baits. One of my good friends, Julian Burgoff, turned me onto this a few summers ago, and it is one approach that I look to explore more and dial-in on this year. This is a great way to beat the heat in the summer, as well as a great way to extend fishing hours after a long work day after the sun goes down. These big presentations, such as hard and soft swimbaits, along with topwaters, allow fish to key in on them in the dark and offer a unique opportunity to angle for big bass with almost no competition from fellow anglers.

The diverse and amazing summer bass bites to chase here in New England are arguably some of the best in the country and I hope you take advantage of these countless opportunities this summer.