 Date: February 1st - 15th, 2009
Name: Anglers Inn on Lake El Salto
Air Temp: 48°/56°F early morning & late evening. Siesta Time 79°/82°F
Water Temp: 68°/ 72°F
Average number of bass per boat per day: 40-60
Largest bass caught: 13.7 pounds
Productive Baits of Past Two Weeks:
Topwater Baits:
Lobina Lures Rio Rico poppers or Yellow Magics: white, white with sparkles and bleeding shad.
Heddon Zara Spook and Lucky Craft Sammy: shad, chrome with black top and white
Swimbaits:
Storm WildEye 4 & 5 -inch Swim Shads: pearl & bunker are hot colors
Yum Money Minnows or Basstrix: 5-inch in bluegill, hologram shad and herring with 5/0 or 6/0, 1/8 oz weighted hook
Plastics:
Eight-inch Zoom Lizards: watermelon red flake & watermelon
Berkley Power Worms: 10-inch, black with blue tail and green pumpkin
Yamamoto Senkos, Yum Dingers or Bass Pro Shops 5, 6 & 7 inch Stinkos: pumpkinseed, watermelon red flake and black with blue flake - A small bullet weight goes very well with these baits in 1/8 and 1/16-ounce
Zoom Super Flukes: pearl white
Crankbaits:
Rapala X-Rap or 4- to 5-inch jerkbaits: white and shad
Rat-L-Traps: ½ & ¾-ounce in silver with blue back and silver with black back
Bomber Fat Free Shad deep diver in citrus shad
Spinnerbaits:
Booyah double willow blade: ½-ounce in white/chartreuse
Comments:
A full moon rose over Lake El Salto during this report period, and that was good news for visiting anglers. February’s full moon marks prime time for spawning bass down here south of the border, and the fishing has been hot. Here’s what some recent guests had to say about their trip, starting with our friend Bruce Holt, executive director of G. Loomis Rods and a lifelong angler, who says he enjoyed some of the most incredible fishing action he’s ever experienced during his recent visit.
“When it comes to consistently catching big bass, Mexico’s Lake El Salto is where it’s at,” he said. “The bass grow big, and they are aggressive. Pound for pound, there isn’t a bass anywhere that fights harder than those in El Salto. There are tons of fish in the 4- to 7-pound range, with fish up to 15 pounds available. I have taken several El Salto bass over 10 pounds, with the biggest being 13 pounds, 5 ounces. El Salto is about as good as it gets. I can’t remember the number of fish I’ve taken there in the 5- to 9-pound range. Having just spent a few days on the lake with fishing buddy Renaud Pelletier, I was reminded just how good the fishing can get, not to mention the unbelievable service that Billy Chapman, Jr.’s Anglers Inn crew provide.” Bruce and Renaud caught some really quality fish on their trip, with four around the 8-pound mark. One morning, they had 20 bass of five pounds or more in about a 90-minute period. On another day, they say a “wolf pack” of 4- to 8-pounders attacked a school of shad off a secondary point right in front of their boat. They hooked several before they moved off, but adrenalin coursed through their veins for the rest of the afternoon!
“We were so excited it was hard to settle down,” Bruce told us. “We caught most of our bigger fish on 5- and 6-inch soft-plastic swimbaits like Strike King’s Shadalicious or an 8-inch Mission Fish in deep water – 15 to 24 feet. We did really well with a Bomber Fat Free Shad (Citrus color, ¾-ounce size). Zoom watermelon 8-inch lizards caught us a number of bass, but those fish were smaller on the average than those caught on big crankbaits and swimbaits. Another great big-fish bait is Yamamoto’s 7-inch Senko in watermelon/black flake or watermelon/red flake, fished on flats around timber or around cover along the shoreline. “The one thing that really makes the difference in a fishing trip is the lodge,” Bruce continued. “A bad day at most lodges is just that. But at Billy Chapman, Jr.’s Anglers Inn, even the bad days are great. The food, the surroundings and the staff’s attention to detail and your every need make even the worst day of fishing great!”
Bruce’s friend Renaud Pelletier is a three-time qualifier for the Bassmasters Classic and a serious, successful tournament fisherman in the Northwest. “If you're looking for a way to shed wintertime cabin fever,” he said, “there's no better escape than to Lake El Salto in Mexico. On my fourth trip to Billy Chapman, Jr.'s Anglers Inn in ten years, we got exactly what my bass-starved ego needed. Bruce and I spent four days there and caught plenty enough of those hard-fighting Mexican bass to tide me over till they start biting up here in the Northwest. The accommodations, service and friendly attention of the Anglers Inn staff and guides made the trip exceptional.”
Renaud said that while they didn’t catch any bass over 10 pounds, as is common at El Salto, they caught plenty of fish in the 5- to 8-pound range and many more 3- to 5-pounders. “Our most consistent pattern for larger fish was using 4- to 6-inch swimbaits fished slowly along the bottom in 10 to 15 feet over offshore humps and creek ledges,” he reported. “Heavier weighted-keel hooks rigged Texas style in shad and minnow-colored Berkley Hollow Bellies and Basstrix worked best. I also got into a good bite with a 6-inch Mission Fish, landing two over 7 pounds on consecutive casts. In one midday stretch, we caught four in the 7-pound class in less than half an hour.”
Renaud said their next best pattern was cranking 3/4-ounce, deep-running Bomber Fat Free Shad crankbaits in Citrus Shad color over creek channel swings. “On day three, we had an incredible hour and a half stretch where we took 20 or more bass over 5 pounds and another 20 between 3 and 5,” he said. “And man do those crank fish get mad when hooked. I had forgotten how aggressive and strong they are down there. I also caught two or three quality fish each morning and evening on an 8-inch MS Slammer wake bait, the largest of which was 7.5 pounds. It seemed most of the better fish were not relating to shallow shoreline cover on this trip except for very early and late. “Of course, we caught many good fish on the standby Salto plastics like 8-inch Zoom lizards, 10-inch Berkley Power Worms and larger Senkos,” he continued. “You can't go to Mexico without them! Just prior to our trip, a party whacked some 8- to 10-pounders on a 7-inch Senko. Watermelon black, watermelon red and green pumpkin for lizards and Senkos worked best. The black/blue tail Power worm was also a consistent producer.
“I can't say enough about Anglers Inn Lodge,” Renaud said in wrapping up. “The atmosphere generated by those people, along with the fantastic food, great rooms and their caring attention to all your needs make for a truly unique and fun experience. And then, by any standards, you’re going to get great bass fishing with competent guides and excellent boats amidst spectacular desert mountain scenery. I can't wait till my next trip!” Greg Gant just turned 50 years old, and his wife Arlyne got him a great birthday gift: a fantasy fishing trip to Anglers Inn on Lake El Salto! “We were so pleasantly surprised at the accommodations and the nicest people we have ever had taking care of our needs,” Greg told us after their visit. “Jose and the rest of the Anglers Inn’s staff were like having old friends to spend time with. And my guide Aaron knew all the great places to fish, the lures to use and the methods to make the fish bite best. I caught between 120 and 150 bass in three days of fishing, including two 8-pounders, five 7-pounders and many 5- to 6-pounders. On the last evening, Aaron encouraged Greg to try a Zara Spook on the shady points, and they got on a pattern that produced several fish over 5 pounds, along with a couple of 7-pounders. “I just love topwater action,” said Greg, “and late each afternoon, I caught quite a few nice bass fishing surface lures. Of course, Senkos and Rat-L-Traps (I used a Lucky Craft LVR7) produced most of the fish.”
Arlyne fished with Greg one afternoon for a couple of hours, and Greg said Aaron was very patient and fun with helping her. “We had only booked a three-day fishing trip,” Greg said, “but we wished we had spent the whole week at Anglers Inn. All the positive feedback I had read online made me leery. But those reports did not do this resort justice. We were treated better at Billy Chapman, Jr.’s Anglers Inn than we have been treated at five-star hotels in some of our big U.S. cities. If someone is reading this and trying to decide where to stay on El Salto, look no further. I’ve told many of my friends and fishing club members about this great trip, and several are planning trips in the near future. I’ll be back soon, too!”
Imagine a trip where you catch not one, not two, not three but four bass over 10 pounds. Jan and David Hudson experienced just that on their recent visit. Their biggest fish, and the biggest reported during these two weeks, was a 13.7-pounder caught on a Storm swimbait. A Carolina-rigged 10-inch watermelon worm enticed an 11-pound, 3-ounce bass for them, and they caught a 10.2 and 10.7 fishing chrome/black and clear/chartreuse top Zara Spooks in early morning and late afternoon. “We also caught a ton of 7s, 8s and 9s on the Yamamoto Senko with a small weight,” Jan said. “About three-fourths of our fish were caught in back of pockets or creeks, or on pre-spawn areas on the main lake. A few came off of main lake flats, areas with standing timber. I believe our success was due to the fact we were fishing with lighter line—12- to14-pound-test. But you have to be brave enough to try it. I lost two monsters. We were shaking off 5-pounders. “Thank you and all the people at Anglers Inn,” she said. “David and I had a trip of a lifetime. We’ll be seeing you again soon.”
As you can see from these reports, the numbers of bass being caught have been a bit slower than normal, but the number of quality fish being caught has been excellent.
Contact Us Today to Catch Trophy Bass at Anglers Inn on Lake El Salto - Toll Free 888-479-2277
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