15 Minutes to Bass Fishing

Like I mentioned in my introduction, I mostly only ever fished for trout. I have had great years doing this and will discuss some of these experiences soon. I knew there were smallmouth bass in the Petitcodiac River so I thought I would give this species a try this past summer. Am I ever glad that I did! Like I said, I live in Riverview. I found a spot where the bass from the Petitcodiac spawn. This place, you guessed it, is only 15 minutes from my house.

There is a river that connects to the Petitcodiac and I was told that the bass will come up this system to spawn. This river is called Little River. Depending on where you get in, you can wear waders and walk the system. For those of you that will want to give this place a try I started fishing here the end of last May until the first week of July. After this first week of July, the bass were gone. They must have gone back into the Petitcodiac.

The very first time I went to Little River I got in at the bridge and fished down towards the main river. I used my fly rod and used some green wolley buggers. I did not have any luck on the first couple of bends in the river but then I came to a little pocket on the left side of the river. I threw the fly in and got a hit right away. Compared to the trout I catch on the fly rod this had a lot more weight to it. As I started to bring n the line, the bass jumped out of the water. Now, I am not saying this was a monster fish but having my first bass on and giving me a fun fight and jumping out of the water I was instantly hooked and knew I would be returning many times to try for more! After I released the fish I threw the fly back into the same area. Another hit right away. I threw the fly back in a third time and I had another bass on. What great fun, first of all catching three bass on my first time out but also catching them on the fly rod.

As I made my way back to the bridge I met a gentleman who was fishing. We had a great discussion. I told him I was brand new to fishing bass and he was nice enough to take the time and show me the baits he used to fish the area. He was also very nice and gave me some tubes and jigs to try. When I got home I did a quick search on Ebay for tubes and jigs. There were many sellers that were selling both. I am very pleased with the gentleman who I bought the tubes from, so much so that I have made multiple purchases from him.

Now stocked with a bunch of jigs and different color 4-inch tubes I gave Little River another go. I started at the bridge again and went down the same way. Being new to bass fishing I had no idea how the tubes were to be fished. With the jig, it beat along the bottom of the river popping up and down in an erratic motion. Early in the season this works well as there was no vegetation growing on the bottom yet. I did catch one bass on this trip and had a great time trying the tubes and gaining more confidence fishing for bass.

With only being 15 minutes from home I made many more trips back to Little River. My best night there was a night in early June. The bugs were terrible but that was alright :) This time I decided not to fish down below the bridge but instead I fished up the river. Right after the first bend I caught a good sized bass. Once it was released I continued up the river catching a few more bass. It was starting to get a little dark but I was having so much fun that I continued going up-river. I came to a deep pool and thought it would be a great spot to try. The bugs were eating me alive but it was worth it as I pulled 6 nice-sized bass out of this one spot!! These were all caught on 4 inch tubes. Now I must say that I made my way back to this one spot a handful more times not catching one bass in this pool, so either I hit it at the perfect time or I hit it right at the end of the time that they stayed in this spot. I will try there earlier this season to find out.

My trips to Little River between the end of May and the first week of July yielded me an average of three bass a trip. Being so close to home and a nice walk along the river I can handle those averages. I am very anxious to try the river earlier this year. I will report back when I catch my first bass there this year. Hopefully it will be before the end of May.