12-08-2007, 05:31 PM
It was hard to leave the sun and the fun down in Ol' Mexico's El Salto yesterday...but let me digress...
Our group left Salt Lake on December 2nd...early...way too early in the AM with the temperature outside hovering around 30 degrees. We landed in Phoenix and needed to change planes. It was already getting warmer and we were sweating by the time we traversed one end of the airport to the other. The flight to Matzalan was uneventful...and we had a lot of fun watching the terrain change...and seeing all the lakes south of the border as we approached the airport. We wondered if all of these lakes held bass.
We were met at the airport by the Angler's Inn vans. They were waiting for us with big
s and eagerly took out luggage. There were 6 in our group, but 20 total bass tourists arrived. Soon the three vans were loaded with luggage and fishermen. The trip out of the city was interesting. Kamikaze drivers were everywhere, but our driver's had taken a class in avoidance. The only thing that seemed to control the traffic was the speed bumps and the occasional traffic light.
One hour and forty-five minutes later we were pulling up to the gates of the Angler's Inn lodge on the shores of Lake El Salto. What a difference from the city.
As we disembarked, we were greeted with assorted margaritas, soft drinks, beer and other forms of liquid refreshments and snacks (salsa and chips, etc). The party had already begun. We were escorted to our rooms. The service was fantastic. Anything you wanted was either waiting or delivered swiftly. (OK guys don't tell your wives...but they would love it here too. Massages and manicures, saunas and whirlpools. But we won't tell them....right???)
After a couple of margaritas and finally able to get our reels onto the poles, we staggered down to look at the water. Who could resist...
I made one cast and caught a huge bass. I was hooked.
There were three of us fishing from shore, and it seemed that one of us had a hook up almost constantly. It was soon dark...and we wanted to fish, but the resort help was serving dinner. OMG...fantastic food. What a meal. I was so stuffed I didn't stay for the key lime pie Brent reported he had that night. More food and more drinks and lots of conversation. We were fishing in earnest the next day.
We were assigned our guides. My guide was Poncho (at least that's what I was told to call him.) He was a great guide. I wanted one of those huge El Salto bass...so off we went before the sun even came up. There's quantity and quality. Today I wanted the quality. Poncho said it could be either or. Big fish or lot's of fish.
My first hookup was a 4+ lbs on top water. Man I was excited. What a monster. However Poncho just snickered and shook his head when I wanted to take a picture of it. He just removed the hook...and tossed it back in the water. He said, "You no want picture of minnow."
I'm like...but in the states...4 lb fish is bragging material.
My next cast was a 9 lber...and in the dark on top water...that hit was a heart stopper. It sounded like someone dropped a bowling ball into the lake. My arms must have extended an extra 6 inches. I thought it was at least 10 lbs....but Poncho being an expert in humongous fish said no...only 9. Was I disappointed...? Hell no!!!! Where's my camera...
Poncho is excellent with a camera...all the guides are experienced at taking lunker photos. So I've sent a few over to TD for posting. You'll see some of the country, the lodge, our group and my great guide Poncho.
First day, I boated lots of 5, 6, 8, and 9 pounders, but not a 10...my magic number. I wanted one so bad my teeth ached. Poncho worked hard to find me that monster.
Day two...just a carbon copy of day one with top water before dawn till about two hours after daylight. Then on to Carolina rigs, which I rigged with a Mojo rockhopper weight...my guide, said he'd never seen a rig with that kind of a weight before. It worked great. Lots of fish and by the end of the day, Poncho really liked the rockhopper set up over the regular Carolina rigging weights. Fewer snags just like at the home waters.
Poncho directed the boat into a little canyon with points on each side. I caught several real quality fish working our way down in. On the way out, at the mouth of the cove, the water erupted with several huge bass attacking the Tilapia along the shore. Poncho’s instructions were to throw the rattle. The closest I had was a Zara Spook top water. So I grabbed it and threw in their direction. The lure hit the water...and before the splash was competed, the water exploded. I had one huge fish hooked...Poncho got a good look and yelled "Mui grande"...but the beast snapped my 15 lb test like it was sewing thread.
I grabbed my lipless rattle bait that Poncho had said to throw before and casted back into the boil. Two turns of the handle I thought I snagged a tree. Then it took off.
My 8 foot Lamiglas flipping stick was bent double but the line held. I just knew the line was going to break any second, but I had to get the fish out of the trees. He dove under the boat and I doing the bass catcher two-step around the boat, while Poncho manned the next. He kept shouting, "Mui Grande!"
As I got the fish up close to the boat, Poncho swiped the fish into the net...but before either of us could breathe that bass leaped back out of the net. Our hearts stopped. On the third try we got that fish into the boat.
Poncho said it was big...11 maybe 12 lbs. Another boat was close by and came over with scales. She weighed according to those scales 11.9. and measured 24.5 inches long by 20 inches girth. My guide was right and snapped a quick picture. We watched the fish swim away and Poncho was telling me to cast back into the same spot. The very next cast, I hooked another huge fish between 9 and 10 lbs. Another picture. Another cast...and I hooked the same fish that had ripped me off. I got my Zara Spook back. It turned out that it was only a 7 or 8 lber.
My arms felt like I'd been doing a marathon set of curls with weights.
The evenings were filled with food, drinks, sunsets and lots of fisherman's BS and stories about what was caught and the big ones that got away. But we did have a bragging board set up, that the guides use, and you had to get at least an 8 lber to qualify for the guide board. There was also a pot, that the biggest bass caught...whoever guided that fisherman, won the pool. So there was a consorted effort by the guides to put men on quality fish.
Day three...we went for quantity. Lots of fish. And on this lake quality is always there. I don't remember how many fish I caught...somewhere 70 to 90 fish per day. But then again...everyone was catching those numbers.
The lake swarmed with fish...along the shore, around the islands, everywhere. I sent TD a picture of the shoreline with fish. There are eight different types of feeder fish, my guide mentioned, but I can't remember or pronounce their names. Tilapia and River Perch were the most abundant. Bass love them.
Day four...carbon copy of day three, except the top water lasted until close to 10AM due to the fog overcast. Everyone’s was getting tired...we're all battered and bruised from cranking in those lunkers. Now we understand the massages, hot tubs and saunas that are available at the lodge. Everyone in our group caught copious amounts of fish...and the competition for their name on the bragging board by the guides was getting intense.
Day five...we could have gone into Matzalan for the last night and done some shopping, but no one wanted to leave the great accommodations, service and fishing experience we had at the lodge.
By the time we were on the plane, everyone was already talking about next year's December trip. We had six people this year...how many we have next year??? We don't know there are 12 slots available...with 7 already taken.
What a Christmas present I gave myself...and will give myself again next year. Ho ho ho...
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Our group left Salt Lake on December 2nd...early...way too early in the AM with the temperature outside hovering around 30 degrees. We landed in Phoenix and needed to change planes. It was already getting warmer and we were sweating by the time we traversed one end of the airport to the other. The flight to Matzalan was uneventful...and we had a lot of fun watching the terrain change...and seeing all the lakes south of the border as we approached the airport. We wondered if all of these lakes held bass.
We were met at the airport by the Angler's Inn vans. They were waiting for us with big
s and eagerly took out luggage. There were 6 in our group, but 20 total bass tourists arrived. Soon the three vans were loaded with luggage and fishermen. The trip out of the city was interesting. Kamikaze drivers were everywhere, but our driver's had taken a class in avoidance. The only thing that seemed to control the traffic was the speed bumps and the occasional traffic light. One hour and forty-five minutes later we were pulling up to the gates of the Angler's Inn lodge on the shores of Lake El Salto. What a difference from the city.
As we disembarked, we were greeted with assorted margaritas, soft drinks, beer and other forms of liquid refreshments and snacks (salsa and chips, etc). The party had already begun. We were escorted to our rooms. The service was fantastic. Anything you wanted was either waiting or delivered swiftly. (OK guys don't tell your wives...but they would love it here too. Massages and manicures, saunas and whirlpools. But we won't tell them....right???)
After a couple of margaritas and finally able to get our reels onto the poles, we staggered down to look at the water. Who could resist...
I made one cast and caught a huge bass. I was hooked.
There were three of us fishing from shore, and it seemed that one of us had a hook up almost constantly. It was soon dark...and we wanted to fish, but the resort help was serving dinner. OMG...fantastic food. What a meal. I was so stuffed I didn't stay for the key lime pie Brent reported he had that night. More food and more drinks and lots of conversation. We were fishing in earnest the next day.
We were assigned our guides. My guide was Poncho (at least that's what I was told to call him.) He was a great guide. I wanted one of those huge El Salto bass...so off we went before the sun even came up. There's quantity and quality. Today I wanted the quality. Poncho said it could be either or. Big fish or lot's of fish.
My first hookup was a 4+ lbs on top water. Man I was excited. What a monster. However Poncho just snickered and shook his head when I wanted to take a picture of it. He just removed the hook...and tossed it back in the water. He said, "You no want picture of minnow."
I'm like...but in the states...4 lb fish is bragging material.
My next cast was a 9 lber...and in the dark on top water...that hit was a heart stopper. It sounded like someone dropped a bowling ball into the lake. My arms must have extended an extra 6 inches. I thought it was at least 10 lbs....but Poncho being an expert in humongous fish said no...only 9. Was I disappointed...? Hell no!!!! Where's my camera...
Poncho is excellent with a camera...all the guides are experienced at taking lunker photos. So I've sent a few over to TD for posting. You'll see some of the country, the lodge, our group and my great guide Poncho.
First day, I boated lots of 5, 6, 8, and 9 pounders, but not a 10...my magic number. I wanted one so bad my teeth ached. Poncho worked hard to find me that monster.
Day two...just a carbon copy of day one with top water before dawn till about two hours after daylight. Then on to Carolina rigs, which I rigged with a Mojo rockhopper weight...my guide, said he'd never seen a rig with that kind of a weight before. It worked great. Lots of fish and by the end of the day, Poncho really liked the rockhopper set up over the regular Carolina rigging weights. Fewer snags just like at the home waters.
Poncho directed the boat into a little canyon with points on each side. I caught several real quality fish working our way down in. On the way out, at the mouth of the cove, the water erupted with several huge bass attacking the Tilapia along the shore. Poncho’s instructions were to throw the rattle. The closest I had was a Zara Spook top water. So I grabbed it and threw in their direction. The lure hit the water...and before the splash was competed, the water exploded. I had one huge fish hooked...Poncho got a good look and yelled "Mui grande"...but the beast snapped my 15 lb test like it was sewing thread.
I grabbed my lipless rattle bait that Poncho had said to throw before and casted back into the boil. Two turns of the handle I thought I snagged a tree. Then it took off.
My 8 foot Lamiglas flipping stick was bent double but the line held. I just knew the line was going to break any second, but I had to get the fish out of the trees. He dove under the boat and I doing the bass catcher two-step around the boat, while Poncho manned the next. He kept shouting, "Mui Grande!"
As I got the fish up close to the boat, Poncho swiped the fish into the net...but before either of us could breathe that bass leaped back out of the net. Our hearts stopped. On the third try we got that fish into the boat.
Poncho said it was big...11 maybe 12 lbs. Another boat was close by and came over with scales. She weighed according to those scales 11.9. and measured 24.5 inches long by 20 inches girth. My guide was right and snapped a quick picture. We watched the fish swim away and Poncho was telling me to cast back into the same spot. The very next cast, I hooked another huge fish between 9 and 10 lbs. Another picture. Another cast...and I hooked the same fish that had ripped me off. I got my Zara Spook back. It turned out that it was only a 7 or 8 lber.
My arms felt like I'd been doing a marathon set of curls with weights.
The evenings were filled with food, drinks, sunsets and lots of fisherman's BS and stories about what was caught and the big ones that got away. But we did have a bragging board set up, that the guides use, and you had to get at least an 8 lber to qualify for the guide board. There was also a pot, that the biggest bass caught...whoever guided that fisherman, won the pool. So there was a consorted effort by the guides to put men on quality fish.
Day three...we went for quantity. Lots of fish. And on this lake quality is always there. I don't remember how many fish I caught...somewhere 70 to 90 fish per day. But then again...everyone was catching those numbers.
The lake swarmed with fish...along the shore, around the islands, everywhere. I sent TD a picture of the shoreline with fish. There are eight different types of feeder fish, my guide mentioned, but I can't remember or pronounce their names. Tilapia and River Perch were the most abundant. Bass love them.
Day four...carbon copy of day three, except the top water lasted until close to 10AM due to the fog overcast. Everyone’s was getting tired...we're all battered and bruised from cranking in those lunkers. Now we understand the massages, hot tubs and saunas that are available at the lodge. Everyone in our group caught copious amounts of fish...and the competition for their name on the bragging board by the guides was getting intense.
Day five...we could have gone into Matzalan for the last night and done some shopping, but no one wanted to leave the great accommodations, service and fishing experience we had at the lodge.
By the time we were on the plane, everyone was already talking about next year's December trip. We had six people this year...how many we have next year??? We don't know there are 12 slots available...with 7 already taken.
What a Christmas present I gave myself...and will give myself again next year. Ho ho ho...
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