El Salto Lake Level Is Low  But Fishing Success Is High

John O’Neill visited Anglers Inn for the first time last October.  Here’s what he had to say about his recent May visit: “My first trip to El Salto was last fall in late October. The lake was full and the land was green.  Imagine my surprise when I arrived at the lodge recently.  I looked out at the lake that once lay only 200-yards from my cabin, but was now more than a quarter mile away with thousands of trees showing and the water 25-feet down.  My worries of low water affecting the prosperity of our trip were unfounded. As I soon learned, if you want to catch huge fish, this was the time of year to come.

“Buzz baits worked well very early on, but we took out significantly bigger fish using the Chatterbait™ later in the morning.  Spooks, Sammies or Pop Rs are fine in a full lake, but when the water is exceptionally low, it’s definitely better to use a buzzbait---better yet, the Chatterbait™.  Like last fall, afternoon fishing was warm and we saw tremendous worm action fishing. The fish were congregated deep in the treetops. We threw plastic worms in 15 to 25-feet water.

“We used 10-inch Berkley Power Worms.  Red shad, black with a blue tail and watermelon were the best colors.  We fished them on 5/0 wide gap hooks and

5/16th-ounce pegged bullet weights. I caught two 10-pounders, three 9-pounders and more than a dozen 8-pounders. In the three days I probably caught a total of 20 to 30 fish ranging from 7 to 10-pounds and that was just in the afternoon hours. Some individuals in our party had success throwing 8-inch Zoom Lizards.  Chartreuse pumpkin was the favorite color.

“El Salto provides the best experience in bass fishing one can possibly have. You have to see it to believe it.“

Jeff Taibi of Lake Forest, and Dale Anderson of Orange, also had great mid-May fishing.  Here’s what they had to say: “The first day of fishing we caught 60 t0 70 fish including several in the 4 to 6-pound range and one near 8-pounds. The bass hit all day long on 3/4th-ounce spinnerbaits.  These lures worked everywhere and from fast on the surface to slow rolling across points 6 to 8-feet deep. The bigger fish seemed to want the bait coming up off of cover and several of them bit as close as 4-feet off the rod tip. 

“Our best skirt colors were a transparent blue shad and a blue/chartreuse/white combination with a pearl trailer.  We used gold and nickel willow blades.  The first half of the second day was more of the same along with some quality fish in the shallows early and from isolated wood on steeper banks once the sun got up high. We fished the banks with 10-inch Power Worms in black with blue flake and black with a blue tail.

“The ‘big story’ for us was the jig bite we got onto about halfway into the second afternoon.  In all my 30 plus years of serious bass fishing, including nine trips to Anglers Inn, I have never witnessed fishing for lunker size largemouth as fast and furious as this!

“The bite was along two sections of outside channel bluffs where the fish were trapping shallow bait against the sheer walls.  It was a pure and instantaneous reaction bite. The speed and aggressiveness of the fish in getting to our baits was utterly remarkable! 

The numbers of bass in and around these areas had to be absolutely staggering!  All in all, counting that evening and the next day, we figured we caught around 80 to 90 fish in the 4 to 6-pound range, plus ten in the 7 to 8.5-pound bracket.
 
“This ended up being a trip that neither of us will ever forget.  You could very easily fish hard for an entire lifetime and never experience a bite like that on quality sized largemouth bass.  When you can couple such a fishing experience with the
accommodations, incredible service, hospitality, great food and fun atmosphere that Anglers Inn consistently provides, it is as close to surreal as you can get.  We will never, ever, be able to stay away for long!”

Stan Fagerstrom is a Fishing Hall of Famer who has fished El Salto many times.  Stan brought a newcomer to bass fishing with him here recently.  The friend was Stewart Schulz, of Arizona.  Here’s what Stan has to say about his friend’s experience:  “Stewart is my neighbor,” Stan says.  “I knew he liked to fish, but he had never fished for largemouth bass.  He’s a good guy and I was just itchin’ to have him take a whack at El Salto Lake.

“How many newcomers to bass fishing do you know who took bass of more than 7-pounds their very first time out?  Stewart did and he had other dandy to fish to go along with it. We got fish mostly on plastic worms and spinnerbaits.  Collectively, we easily hooked 50 to 75 fish on the Stan’s Spin spinnerbait.  I had a hand in the design of the pro model of this dandy lure and it has taken bass of more than 10-pounds for me at El Salto.

“If you’ve got friends you want to introduce to bass fishing, Anglers Inn on El Salto Lake is the place to do it.  But you better be sure you tell them they’re not going to find El Salto style action or Anglers Inn hospitality at the other lakes they visit.  Stewart had a birthday while we were at El Salto.  I told the Anglers Inn crew about it.  Darned if they didn’t come up with a beautiful birthday cake for him!

“You’ve probably heard it before, but I’ll say it again.  I’ve had a chance to fish a lot of spots around the world over the past half century.  I’ve never found bass fishing to match that at El Salto Lake and the near unbelievable service at Anglers Inn is simply unsurpassed.” 

Joe Bullock is a regular visitor to Lake El Salto and one of the most talented anglers we have the pleasure of hosting.  He fished with us again recently. Here’s what Joe says regarding his latest visit: “We had another great time at El Salto. The staff, the service and the fishing was great, just as it is always.  Even with the lake being low this year the fishing has been holding up very well and some great fish have been caught.

“Our group caught many fish in the 4 to 7-pound range and a fair amount of 8 to 9-pounders.   We had one that hit 9 ½-pounds and a few over 10 ½-pounds. Most of our fish came on jigs and Brush Hogs fished off the steep banks.  I’m looking forward to getting down there on the 21st of this month to fish for another seven days.”

No one has established more records for catching bass at El Salto Lake than West Virginia’s Les Melton.  During the last week in May a year ago he boated what just might be the all time record for big bass over a six-day period.  During those six days he had 27 bass of 10-pounds or more.  Two of those 27 lunkers were 15-pounders.

Les visited Anglers Inn at El Salto again last month.  Here’s what he has to say about his latest trip: “I have made more than 30 trips to El Salto. This one was no different than the rest.  It was terrific! I caught 561 fish in six days.  After all of the trips I have made to the lake, I’m still amazed at the number and size of the bass.  I am not sure that I have more superlatives than I have used in the  past.  Even though the lake was the lowest I have ever seen it, the fishing was still superb.  My guide and I were able to figure out the patterns. Once we did it was nothing short of fantastic.  Most fish were caught on 4-inch swimbaits in white, golden mullet and white with chartreuse; 1-ounce black & blue jigs with a large pork chunk and Senkos rigged both wacky and Texas Style.  I caught a few on 10-inch black & blue Power Worms, deep diving crankbaits and Sammys.  Most of the fish were caught on the cliffs and at the very end of the river. 

“I cannot send one of these messages without commending you and your wonderful staff on the quality of the service.  There is simply nothing like it anywhere else.  For me the trip was more than fishing.  It was an opportunity to see old friends and to make new ones.  I look forward to my next trip with great anticipation.  My compliments to all at Anglers Inn who make these trips so wonderful.  Much like Disney, you are making memories.  One could say it is serendipity.”

Air Temp:  72°-78°F (Early Morning and late evenings) 88°-95°F (Siesta time)

Water Temp: 75°-78°F

Average number of bass per boat per day: 40-70

Largest bass caught:  11.4-pounds

Popular lures used this week:

1. Yamamoto Senkos, Yum Dingers or Bass Pro Shops 5, 6 & 7-inch Stinkos in        watermelon, watermelon red flake, black with blue flake, red shad and white & chartreuse.

2. Eight inch Zoom or Yum Lizards and 10-inch Berkley Powerworms in black with blue tail, watermelon, watermelon red flake and junebug.

3. Storm WildEye  4” Swim Shads in mullet, golden mullet.

4. Rat-L-Traps in ½ & ¾-ounce in silver with blue back and silver with black back.

5. Jigs 5/16 oz. to 1 oz. – Watermelon, Black & Blue, Green Pumpkin, White, White / Chartreuse. Best with Chartreuse twin tail trailers.

6. Bomber Fat Free Shad & Rapala DT10, DT14 &DT16 Crankbaits in citrus shad, fire tiger, white. (Important key is an orange belly)

7. Spinnerbaits in ½ to 1-ounce in white, white & chartreuse, chartreuse and shad. Both silver and gold willow blades have been successful.

8. Zara Spook in chrome with black top.

9. RicoPop in white, white with sparkles and bleeding shad.