Hook Adventure Travel - July 1st

Most productive lures during this period

1 Berkley 10-inch Powerworms - black with blue tail, watermelon, watermelon red flake, junebug, red shad.
2 Zoom 8-inch Lizards - watermelon, watermelon w/ chartreuse tail, watermelon red flake, black with blue tail, blue flake.
3 Storm WildEye Swim Shads 5, 6-inch – shad, golden mullet, bunker, white, and white w/ chartreuse top, baby bass.
4 Bomber Fat Free Shad ľ-ounce - citrus shad, pearl, fire tiger, crawdad.
5 Jigs 5/16-ounce to ˝-ounce – watermelon, black & blue, green pumpkin, white, white / chartreuse.
6 Kinami Flashes, Senkos & Yum Dingers 5, 6, 7-inch – watermelon, watermelon red flake, watermelon candy, black & blue, pumpkin seed, chartreuse.
7 Spinnerbait 3/4-ounce to 1-1/4-ounce – white, white / chartreuse.
8 Rico Pop R & Excalibur Super Pop’r – white, bleeding shad, silver / black.
9 Rattletrap - 1/2-ounce & 3/4-ounce - silver/ with blue back, silver/ with black back.

Erwin W. Brown, of Marco Island, Florida, had these comments regarding his recent July trip to El Salto Lake. “I have been hunting and fishing for more than 70 years. I’ve taken more than 200 different species of big game, all the ducks, geese and upland bird species of North America and all species of freshwater sport fish in the trophy class. My largest largemouth bass came from the St. John’s river in Florida in 1955. I had fished extensively in the U.S. and Mexico looking for a double-digit largemouth, but without success. I booked a three-day trip to El Salto for early July. I landed a 10-pound, 4-ounce lunker the second morning. I finally realized my 50 year dream. Chapman’s Anglers Inn is outstanding in every way. Many 10-pound plus fish were caught during the time I was there. Fish between 5 and 10-pounds were common. I shall return.”

Rick Spitler and Lori Keil, of Southern California, had similar things to say about their July El Salto adventure. “This was my fourth trip to Anglers Inn,” Rick says, “and again I had a completely awesome time. That’s why I keep coming back. A Bass Pro Shop owner warned me about El Salto before my first trip. He said if I went one time, there would be nowhere else I would want to fish for largemouth bass and that I would go back at least once a year. He was right! In fact, this year I couldn’t resist and went twice. I wasn’t disappointed. From now on I will probably have to arrange two trips each year. I normally fish Southern California lakes. I have never seen the quality of fish that El Salto produces, both in size and numbers. My previous personal best was a 6-pound, 2-ounce largemouth, caught in Southern California. On my first trip to El Salto I broke that record with an 8-pound, 6-ounce bass. The next trip I beat that with a 9-pound, 4-ounce fish. On my recent July trip I broke the 10-pound mark three times, including one of 12-pounds, 4-ounces and another of 15-pounds, 1-ounce. Both were caught on a 5-inch Storm WildEye Swim Shad in the shad color. Anglers Inn service can’t be beat. From the second you meet the Anglers Inn representative at the airport you are treated with such great respect and positive energy. This lasts for the entire trip from all the employees. The guides know the lake like the back of their hand. They also know what tackle to use for each presentation. They have the patience of a saint. Anglers Inn is unbeatable. It is a perfect place to bring your wife or girlfriend, even if she’s never fished before. She will be pampered and well taken good care of by everyone. I’ve taken my gal each time and she absolutely loves it. I can’t wait for my next trip.”

Joe Thomas, a pro fisherman and host of The Outdoor Channel’s Angler on Tour and Ultimate Match Fishing, has fished all over the United States. “This July marked my third visit to El Salto,” Joe says, “and it just keeps getting better! When I stepped into the boat on the morning of July 5 with my 12-year-old son Ryan, our guide took a glance at my tackle and pointed at an Aurora Black Sammy 128 topwater walking bait. Yeah Baby! I mean what could be better than catching those El Salto giants on topwater! Antonio, our guide, steered our boat into a quiet cove. I rigged up my son with a Lucky Craft Aurora Brown G-Splash. Antonio said it would match the color of tilapia the bass were feeding on. As we eased near the bank, I told Ryan that this was the real deal and to get ready to hang onto his rod. His reel blew up into a tangled backlash! Before we could even sort out the line, there was a huge explosion and a 7-pounder had completely destroyed his bait! I pulled in line as fast as I could and Ryan finally got some pressure on the fish. The look on Ryan’s face when Antonio scooped it into the net was absolutely priceless! We literally caught more than 50 largemouth between 4 and 9-pounds in a little more than an hour and a half in that one cove! I’m not sure what was more fun, catching them myself or watching Ryan acting like a kid on Christmas morning. It was incredible!

Later morning we went to some flooded mesquite trees on a slight ledge that fell off into about 22-feet of water. Antonio squeezed the boat in tight to the cover and I tied on a ľ-ounce Arkie black and blue jig with a rattle chamber and a Berkley Power Bait trailer. On my first flip I felt a huge “ka-thunk” and I set the hook with everything I had. My 40-pound Trilene line was smokin’ and screamin’ as I tried to work the fish out of the gnarled trees. In the end, I got face to face with a 9.77-pounder! On the next cast, the same thing! This time it was a 10-pound plus largemouth, one of the biggest of my life! Afterward we continued to work humps and ledges with 10-inch Berkley Power Worms with great success. Black and black and blue colors seemed to work best. We duplicated our morning success with topwaters that evening. We continued this pattern for the next three days. I can honestly say it was without a doubt the best fishing trip of my life. I can’t even tell you how many quality fish we caught, we lost count! But that’s not the end of the story.

Afterward, we traveled to the El Cid Marina and resort in Mazatlan for a day of billfishing with the Aries Fleet in the Pacific. Once again, since Billy and Chappy Chapman arranged it all, we knew it would be incredible---and it was. Ryan and I ended up boating two monster sailfish, all caught on tape for my television series. All in all, there’s nothing that compares to catching 10-pound bass one day and 90 pound sailfish the next. It’s like a Disney world for fisherman without the waiting lines.

I want to offer my sincere thanks to Billy and Chappy Chapman, and the entire staff at Angler’s Inn for an incredible experience. Thanks as well for extending the season into July so I could take my son. It’s a great opportunity for parents to take their sons or daughters on the fishing trip of a lifetime. I know I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Randy Marnhout and Danny Brown, of Bidwell, Ohio, had the following to say about their July fishing. “During our stay at Anglers Inn, my partner and I caught more than 100 bass in the 5 to 9-pound range. Our biggest bass weighed in at 12-pounds, but we also landed two 11-pound bass and five bass of 10-pounds or better. We caught fish on several baits including Rico poppers and 1-ounce spinnerbaits. We caught our biggest fish on 10-inch black worms with a blue tail. We used a 7/0 hook and a ˝-ounce sinker. We also caught numbers of 5 to 7-pound bass by vertical jigging black and blue jigs in large trees. I also had a blast while fishing with a 10-inch Banjo Minnow.”