Central Maine targets bass anglers

anthony eafrati - age 9 - webber pond - june 21 2016It attracted 1.2 million viewers, so I guess you can say that the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce’s 2015 event,  “Major League Fishing’s General Tire Summit Cup” was a huge success. Major League Fishing is a tournament that is filmed over the course of a week on lakes that the competing anglers don’t have any information, practice, or history on. The six day tournament took place on Great Pond, Messalonskee Lake, and Long Pond, all part of the Belgrade Lakes region, with the final event taking place on China Lake.

Following that event, the Chamber’s Business Expansion and Retention Committee organized a sub-committee to promote bass fishing in central Maine.

Now, while it is a bit troubling that this region – including the Belgrade Lakes – has lost its reputation as a great place to catch brook trout and landlocked salmon, the fact is that most visiting anglers now come here to catch bass and northern pike. I once caught great landlocks and trout in Long Pond, just 10 minutes from my house. They are long gone, and the lake is filled with 9 invasive and nonnative species including bass and northern pike.

Bass anglers should check out the Chamber’s website www.midmainebass.com. This site was created by local anglers to help local and visiting anglers find their way around Mid-Maine for what they claim is “the best bass fishing in New England.” The website provides lots of info, including where-to advice and entertaining Local Lunkers photos – including the one I’m using with this column. That’s nine-year-old Anthony Eafrati with a nearly 6-pound bass he caught in Webber Pond. Anthony kept his lure a secret!

The Chamber has also purchased a GoPro camera and is the process of producing two Catharsis Media 30-second TV commercials for use next spring to bring more bass anglers to the region. The Chamber also continues to sponsor Man vs. Bass Maine Trail tournaments.

I’ll admit that today, when I am home, I focus on smallmouth bass. Fortunately, I have a camp on the edge of Baxter Park where I can still catch my beloved native brook trout. I guess you’d call that the best of both angling worlds.

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.