Date: January 16th - 31st, 2009
Name: Anglers Inn Lake El Salto
Air Temp: 51°/60°F early morning & late evening. Siesta Time 81°/86°F
Water Temp: 70°/ 74°F
Average number of bass per boat per day: 60-80
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 -inch Swim Shads: shad, white with chartreuse top and pearl
Yum Money Minnows or Basstrix: 5-inch in bluegill, hologram shad and herring with 5/0 or 6/0 weighted hook
Plastics:
Eight-inch Zoom Lizards: watermelon red flake watermelon and black with blue tail
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
Zoom Super Flukes: pearl white
Damiki Hot Dog: watermelon black and watermelon red
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 & Rapala DT16 crankbaits: medium & deep divers in citrus shad
Spinnerbaits:
Booyah double willow blade: ½-ounce in white/chartreuse
Comments:
Fishing has been excellent on El Salto the past two weeks, so we have another great fishing report for you. The most important thing to remember to make your upcoming trip the best it can be is to bring a good supply of 5- and 6-inch watermelon Senkos or Yum Dingers, 8-inch Zoom watermelon-red-flake lizards, and 4- and 5-inch Storm WildEye Swim Shads in pearl and shad colors. Due to the high demand for these lures, resources are low at the lodge.
The bass are spawning now, and many are being caught with bloody tails. Most anglers visiting recently have been fishing close to the banks and trees, going after those big pot-bellied female bass full of eggs. And as noted, the best baits have been Senkos, Dingers, swimbaits and lizards. One of our most recent guests was Dave Precht, Senior Director of Publications for BASS. "After having been to Anglers Inn and Lake El Salto numerous times over the past 15 years," he said, "I should know better than to spool up with 14-pound line. That mistake cost me some big fish during my January trip. Bass pull harder in Mexico, and El Salto's big bass are unbelievably strong. I had to be satisfied with a couple of 7-pounders, along with lots of 5s and 6s, but I'll always have memories of the giants that got away. As always, the weather, the beautiful lodge and the fantastic staff at Anglers Inn made for a wonderful trip."
Our good friend Les Melton just made his 38th trip to Anglers Inn/ El Salto! "As usual it was GREAT!!" he told us. "Both of us caught some really big fish, with my biggest being 13 pounds, 2 ounces and Lee's 10 pounds. The fishing was a little slower than usual, but there were a lot of big fish. We caught 25 fish over 7 pounds. "Our guide did an outstanding job as usual," Les continued. "He continuously put us on big fish. While we fished with Senkos every day, the big fish bait was a 7-inch blue Yum Dinger with a 1/4-ounce weight fished Texas rigged and the 10-inch blue/black Power worm. Almost all the big fish came out of 15-20 feet of water. In addition to the 10+ bass, we caught six more over 9 pounds and 11 over 8 pounds. There were literally thousands of big fish on the fishfinder. Many were suspended. I hesitate to admit that we also lost a number of big fish.
"There is no place that even comes close to equaling El Salto," said Les. "The management of the lake is superb. After all these years, the fishing continues to be unbelievable. And as always, the service was fabulous and the staff made everyone feel special. There is no other place like Anglers Inn/ El Salto, and I will be back in May for another exciting adventure. Can't wait."
Jamie Newman has been coming to Anglers Inn for five years and sent a note to say he's never enjoyed such quality fishing as he experienced on his most recent visit. "The fishing was great morning, noon and night," he told us. "Everything seems just right this year at El Salto, and even though we were fishing with nearly a full moon, the bite was on all day long. I only managed to wrangle one bass over 8 pounds, but the big ones were definitely biting and fighting harder than ever. I caught a bunch of nice mid-rangers on Lucky Craft Sammy topwaters, including a couple of 4- to 5-pounders, and even a tilapia, which actually hit the plug pretty hard. I didn't catch the largest bass of the trip, as a couple of our clan of 20 wrestled some 10-pound-plus fish out of El Salto. But I did catch more fish (15-25) over 4 pounds than I have ever before. I caught roughly 140 fish in two and a half days.
Jamie said watermelon is the color that always seems to work with plastics. "Watermelon-red Senkos are one of the true gems for El Salto bass," he noted. "And watermelon-chartreuse and watermelon-red lizards shimmering in the Mexican sun have a way of putting bass into a trance. Basically anything 'verde' is going to get you some bass in Mexico, the brighter the better, in my estimation. And remember to trust in your guide. Nobody knows the nooks and crannies of El Salto year in and year out like they do. They are all exceptional."
John Dosen and his fishing partner Drew aren't newcomers to El Salto either. Their January visit was their seventh, and during those seven trips, they have caught an average of 250 bass during each 3-1/2-day stay. "Going to Anglers Inn and Lake El Salto isn't just about fishing and catching big bass, though," said John. "It's about the total experience in getting away to a truly first-class resort. During our seven trips, we have fished with six different guides, and all were incredibly knowledgeable regarding lake conditions, fish location and lure selection. Add to this a staff totally focused on customer service, outstanding food, and first class accommodations, and you have a trip you won't forget! Drew and I plan to keep going to Angler's Inn for a long time to come. We know there are plenty of big bass to catch, and the guides and staff will take great care of us!"
And finally, Jack Brown sent us this short, sweet note. "Thank you for a great time. We will be back. Here is a picture of my largest bass. It weighed in at 13.2 pounds and was caught on January 19 on a watermelon-red lizard with Pancho as my guide." When you are fishing El Salto, you never know when a lunker like that is going to take a swipe at your lure. Spring, summer, fall and winter: the bassing here is great in all seasons, and there's always an excellent chance you'll be able to go home and tell your friends you caught the biggest bass of your life during your south-of-the-border vacation. Come and see us as soon as you can. The fishing is great, especially for those pot-bellied trophy bass, as you can see from this report. And Anglers Inn's friendly staff will do everything possible to be sure your next visit is full of good times and great memories.
