03-11-2007, 06:11 PM
[
]For February 16th- 28th, 2007
• Air Temp: 54°-62°F (Early Morning and late evenings) 75°- 79°F (Siesta time)
• Water Temp: 69°-72°F
• Average number of bass per boat per day: 40-60
• Largest bass caught: 10lbs
Popular lures used these weeks:
1. Eight inch Zoom or 7” Yum “Zellamander” Lizards in watermelon and watermelon red flake.
2. Yamamoto Senkos, Yum Dingers or Bass Pro Shops 5, 6 & 7-inch Stinkos in watermelon, watermelon red flake, black with blue flake, and white & chartreuse
3. Bomber Fat Free Shad and Norman DD22 deep diving crankbaits in citrus shad, Tennessee Shad, fire tiger and white.
4. Storm WildEye 4 and 5-inch Swim Shads in pearl white, golden mullet, shad and fire tiger. (Dip tail in Chartreuse dye)
5. Rat-L-Traps in ½ & ¾-ounce in silver with blue back and silver with black back.
6. Rico Pop R in white, white with sparkles and silver & black.
7. 10-inch Berkley Powerworms in watermelon, green pumpkin, black with blue tail.
8. Zara Spook, Sammy and Reaction Innovations Vixen in Shad, chrome with black top and white.
Slow Presentations Are Taking
Most El Salto Lake Bass
The spawning season is just about over at Lake El Salto.
Recent Anglers Inn clients have been finding that quite a few big bass have already spawned. Other fish have suspended and are in various stages of recovery.
Slow presentation of a variety of baits has been the key to success lately. Some of the best catches over the past two weeks have been caught on lures used in this fashion.
A good bit of the best action has been coming in close to the bank with 8-inch Zoom Lizards and 7-inch Yum Zellemanders in both watermelon and watermelon with red flakes. Senkos and Dingers rigged Wacky Style have also been producing good numbers of fish.
An increasing number of bass have been caught recently
on deep diving crankbaits. This has been especially true when the wind comes up in the afternoon. Clients have been finding fish from 15 to 25-feet deep.
Storm WildEye Swim Shads work equally well for suspended fish. The best approach with either the diving crankbaits or the Swim Shads is to crank the lures down quickly to the desired depth and then use a slow retrieve all the way back to the boat.
Some recent guests have been fishing diving crankbaits or Swim Shads all day long. Doing this will likely reduce the total number of fish caught, but does increase your odds of taking larger bass.
Brent Smith was one of our recent guests. Here’s the way Brent sums up his trip: “On my last day I used a 6-inch watermelon colored Senko. I thought I had a snag at first but then the “snag” started moving. I told our guide to get the net. I had the good fortune to boat a fish of 10-pounds, 3-ounces.
What a thrill!”
In late February we hosted the Rapala Group. Zack Swanson, the vice president of sales for the Norman Corporation, summarized the group’s experience. Here’s his report: “We
arrived to find the bass in a spawning pattern and in water 15 to 20-feet deep. This presented an unusual situation as most of our experience with spawning bass has been where the nests are very shallow. Reports from previous anglers were not outstanding, but we didn’t let this discourage us.
“We found we had to slow our presentations down. The X-Rap bite that was so strong on our last trip in November did not work for these deeper and more lethargic fish. Slow presentations of deep crankbaits (DT16's), slow rolling spinnerbaits (Terminator T-1 series) and Carolina Rigging lizards proved to be the answer. By fishing slowly we were rewarded with some nice fish! Several four to six pounders and four or five over 9-pounds were caught. Not bad! Our president Tom Mackin landed a dandy 9-pounder on a watermelon lizard.”
“As always, the accommodations and service at Anglers Inn were World Class. Chappy, Jose and Tony took great care of our group. We are already looking forward to our next trip to Anglers Inn!
Brian Raab, who was in the Rapala group, is from Big Rock Sporting Goods distribution. Brian says: “Here's a picture of my biggest fish. It’s not as big as some of the others that were caught, but the numbers were sure good.”
Mike Marrone is the vice president of store operations for Big 5 Sporting Goods. Here’s Mike’s report:
“My friends and I fished the El Salto Feb. 23 through 26. The first several days of fishing were not typical El Salto fishing compared to our previous trips. Although we were able to catch decent numbers of fish, it took hard work and down sizing of baits to entice the fish to bite. The fish we caught also weren’t the typical El Salto quality. Despite the tough conditions, we had two members of our group nail fish of more than 10-pounds. These fish were spawned out and easily would have gone 11 to 12-pounds in the pre-spawn condition.
“My last day at the lake we experienced the type of bass fishing for which El Salto is famous. My friend Mike Kennedy and I caught well over 30 bass in five hours. The quality of the fish was exceptional. We each caught an 8-pounder and had several fish in the 3 to 4-pound class. We fished with 5-inch Senkos and Yum Dingers. What a great way to wrap up the trip! I’ll be back.”
Jason Grupp had fished El Salto a couple of times before he joined us again recently. Jason says: “This was my third trip to El Salto. My last two were unbelievable. This trip was a little tougher than usual. We caught 30-40 bass a day mostly on Wacky Rigged Senkos or by dragging a Carolina Rigged lizard. Our guide was a professional with an amazing knowledge of Lake El Salto. When it was tough he still managed to find hungry fish. I boated a fish over 10-pounds which was a life-changing experience. I can’t explain what it’s like to see a fish that size come to the surface on the end of your line. Our thanks to the staff and guides at Anglers Inn.”
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]For February 16th- 28th, 2007 • Air Temp: 54°-62°F (Early Morning and late evenings) 75°- 79°F (Siesta time)
• Water Temp: 69°-72°F
• Average number of bass per boat per day: 40-60
• Largest bass caught: 10lbs
Popular lures used these weeks:
1. Eight inch Zoom or 7” Yum “Zellamander” Lizards in watermelon and watermelon red flake.
2. Yamamoto Senkos, Yum Dingers or Bass Pro Shops 5, 6 & 7-inch Stinkos in watermelon, watermelon red flake, black with blue flake, and white & chartreuse
3. Bomber Fat Free Shad and Norman DD22 deep diving crankbaits in citrus shad, Tennessee Shad, fire tiger and white.
4. Storm WildEye 4 and 5-inch Swim Shads in pearl white, golden mullet, shad and fire tiger. (Dip tail in Chartreuse dye)
5. Rat-L-Traps in ½ & ¾-ounce in silver with blue back and silver with black back.
6. Rico Pop R in white, white with sparkles and silver & black.
7. 10-inch Berkley Powerworms in watermelon, green pumpkin, black with blue tail.
8. Zara Spook, Sammy and Reaction Innovations Vixen in Shad, chrome with black top and white.
Slow Presentations Are Taking
Most El Salto Lake Bass
The spawning season is just about over at Lake El Salto.
Recent Anglers Inn clients have been finding that quite a few big bass have already spawned. Other fish have suspended and are in various stages of recovery.
Slow presentation of a variety of baits has been the key to success lately. Some of the best catches over the past two weeks have been caught on lures used in this fashion.
A good bit of the best action has been coming in close to the bank with 8-inch Zoom Lizards and 7-inch Yum Zellemanders in both watermelon and watermelon with red flakes. Senkos and Dingers rigged Wacky Style have also been producing good numbers of fish.
An increasing number of bass have been caught recently
on deep diving crankbaits. This has been especially true when the wind comes up in the afternoon. Clients have been finding fish from 15 to 25-feet deep.
Storm WildEye Swim Shads work equally well for suspended fish. The best approach with either the diving crankbaits or the Swim Shads is to crank the lures down quickly to the desired depth and then use a slow retrieve all the way back to the boat.
Some recent guests have been fishing diving crankbaits or Swim Shads all day long. Doing this will likely reduce the total number of fish caught, but does increase your odds of taking larger bass.
Brent Smith was one of our recent guests. Here’s the way Brent sums up his trip: “On my last day I used a 6-inch watermelon colored Senko. I thought I had a snag at first but then the “snag” started moving. I told our guide to get the net. I had the good fortune to boat a fish of 10-pounds, 3-ounces.
What a thrill!”
In late February we hosted the Rapala Group. Zack Swanson, the vice president of sales for the Norman Corporation, summarized the group’s experience. Here’s his report: “We
arrived to find the bass in a spawning pattern and in water 15 to 20-feet deep. This presented an unusual situation as most of our experience with spawning bass has been where the nests are very shallow. Reports from previous anglers were not outstanding, but we didn’t let this discourage us.
“We found we had to slow our presentations down. The X-Rap bite that was so strong on our last trip in November did not work for these deeper and more lethargic fish. Slow presentations of deep crankbaits (DT16's), slow rolling spinnerbaits (Terminator T-1 series) and Carolina Rigging lizards proved to be the answer. By fishing slowly we were rewarded with some nice fish! Several four to six pounders and four or five over 9-pounds were caught. Not bad! Our president Tom Mackin landed a dandy 9-pounder on a watermelon lizard.”
“As always, the accommodations and service at Anglers Inn were World Class. Chappy, Jose and Tony took great care of our group. We are already looking forward to our next trip to Anglers Inn!
Brian Raab, who was in the Rapala group, is from Big Rock Sporting Goods distribution. Brian says: “Here's a picture of my biggest fish. It’s not as big as some of the others that were caught, but the numbers were sure good.”
Mike Marrone is the vice president of store operations for Big 5 Sporting Goods. Here’s Mike’s report:
“My friends and I fished the El Salto Feb. 23 through 26. The first several days of fishing were not typical El Salto fishing compared to our previous trips. Although we were able to catch decent numbers of fish, it took hard work and down sizing of baits to entice the fish to bite. The fish we caught also weren’t the typical El Salto quality. Despite the tough conditions, we had two members of our group nail fish of more than 10-pounds. These fish were spawned out and easily would have gone 11 to 12-pounds in the pre-spawn condition.
“My last day at the lake we experienced the type of bass fishing for which El Salto is famous. My friend Mike Kennedy and I caught well over 30 bass in five hours. The quality of the fish was exceptional. We each caught an 8-pounder and had several fish in the 3 to 4-pound class. We fished with 5-inch Senkos and Yum Dingers. What a great way to wrap up the trip! I’ll be back.”
Jason Grupp had fished El Salto a couple of times before he joined us again recently. Jason says: “This was my third trip to El Salto. My last two were unbelievable. This trip was a little tougher than usual. We caught 30-40 bass a day mostly on Wacky Rigged Senkos or by dragging a Carolina Rigged lizard. Our guide was a professional with an amazing knowledge of Lake El Salto. When it was tough he still managed to find hungry fish. I boated a fish over 10-pounds which was a life-changing experience. I can’t explain what it’s like to see a fish that size come to the surface on the end of your line. Our thanks to the staff and guides at Anglers Inn.”
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