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Anglers targeting pre-spawn bass say the
best lures have been Storm WildEye Swim Shads and Carolina-rigged
plastics. Lucky Craft’s Flat CB and Bomber’s Fat Free Shad in citrus
shad color also have been enticing lots of great quality bass, including
some real giants.
The best lures for spawning bass have been
wacky-rigged Yamamoto Senkos or Yum Dingers with a rubber band to keep
the lure on the hook longer. To fish these properly, you need lots of
patience. Let the lure sink slowly to the bottom along the shoreline,
and work it with quick jerks before letting it sink again. If you enjoy
fishing these lures, bring as many as you can so you don’t run out! It’s
possible to do so because the number of bass you can catch on Senkos and
Dingers right now is absolutely astounding.
Other excellent lures for spawning
largemouths include jigs, spinnerbaits, Texas-rigged lizards and
swimbaits. Most bass are spawning in 1 to 15 feet of water. Sight
fishing is a little difficult, however, because the fluctuating water
level has most bass spawning a little deeper than normal.
After spawning, many bass are moving to
timbered points where they’re being caught on Rat-L-Traps, crankbaits
and Texas-rigged lizards. The silver/blue back Rat-L-Trap has been
especially productive, but the angler who landed the biggest bass this
reporting period, Tony Catenacci, was using a medium-diving crankbait in
fire-tiger color. He was fishing off a point, just like mentioned above,
and in one afternoon caught a 13-pounder, four bass over 10 pounds and
two more in the 9-pound range. All of those lunkers fell for a medium-diving
crankbait.
So folks, no matter how you like to catch
your bass, you can probably do it now on El Salto. Lunker largemouths—any
which way you can! Come down and check it out for yourself.
Now for a few more reports on the fishing
sent to us by some of our recent guests.
Leaving “balmy” 24-degree weather behind in
Tulsa, Oklahoma, Steve Rumsey arrived in January to face a virtual heat
wave in 75-degree Mazatlan. But things started looking up for his party
when they arrived at El Salto.
“The bass were in different stages of the
spawn depending on where you were on the lake,” he said. “We caught fish
that were pre-spawn, spawning and post-spawn. There were four anglers in
our group, and each boat averaged 70 to 80 fish per day. Most bass we
caught were males in the 2- to 3-pound range, with our biggest being a
10-pound pre-spawn female†that was caught on a chrome-and-blue Rat-L-Trap
fished deep.
“In addition to the 10-pounder, there were
two 8-pounders caught on the first and last cast of the last day,”
Rumsey continued. “The fish that was caught early hit a buzzbait, and
the late fish hit a spinnerbait that was allowed to drop to the bottom
and then slow rolled so it just ticked the bottom. The best lure for
numbers was the 8-inch Zoom Magnum Lizard in junebug, red shad and
watermelon fished slow. As usual, the service, food and drinks were
first class. Our clients were very impressed and had a great time.”
Another January guest was Michael Yoke who
was here for his tenth visit!
“I figured it couldn’t get any better,” he
said, “but this trip was one of my most memorable. I had a personal best
day, catching a 7-pounder early on a topwater plug, followed by a 7-1/2-pounder
at 10 o’clock. Late that afternoon, I caught an 8.2, also on a topwater
plug.”
And if that wasn’t exciting enough, during
the Friday of his visit, Yoke had the kind of day most bass anglers only
dream about.
“Friday was my best numbers day,” he said.
“And what a day it was. My fishing partner, Hotch Manning, and I caught
135 fish, including a 10-1/2 pound bass Hotch hooked on a Senko. We
caught most of our fish on Senkos and other soft plastics. So while you
folks reading this are sitting on your Lazy Boys watching the snow pile
up on your driveway, think about this: the only thing cold about El
Salto this time of the year is a cold beer in the ice chest. Get up off
your recliners and call 1-800-GOTA-FISH and get to El Salto now!”
Yoke’s partner, Hotch Manning, sent us a
photo of his monster 10-1/2-pounder along with these kind words: “I
absolutely had my best trip ever to El Salto (even though any day
fishing is a good one).†My guide was excellent to fish with, and my
fishing partner Mike Yoke is a great fisherman also. He and I decided to
catch numbers one day. We landed 56 in the morning and stopped counting
at 80 fish in the afternoon—over 135 fish in one day!”
And what about that 10-1/2-pounder, Hotch?
“That big beauty fell for a 5-inch
watermelon Senko wacky rigged with no weight,” he said. “We also had a
great morning with plenty of topwater bites (all quality fish) using the
new Yellow Magic lure. Mike is good with a spinnerbait, and he slayed
them on that. In early afternoon, we fished spinners, Senkos, Rat-L-Traps,
and then about 4:15 went back to topwater fishing.
“El Salto fishing is fantastic,” he said in
closing. “And the staff is outstanding. I've fished at some nice lodges
in Alaska, Canada, the Amazon and in the states, but Anglers Inn is
outstanding. Thanks for making my early spring fishing trip the best.”
Mario Bruno was invited on his first trip to
Anglers Inn by his neighbor David Sobanski. “This is the best bass
fishing in the world,” he said. “David was there for the fourth time and
is already planning his next trip. I fell in love with the place and
cannot wait to go back. Between David and me, we caught 327 fish. One
day alone we caught 135 of them, with help from our guide Carlos (the
young one). What an amazing day that was.”
The big fish bite was good for Bruno and
Sobanski, too. “Our largest catch was 8 pounds 7 ounces,” Bruno said.
“We also had a 7-pound, 4-ounce bass and several more in the 5- to 7-pound
range. The weather was beautiful, the service was amazing, the food
incredible, and the fishing…well, the fishing could not be better. We
used wacky-rigged Senkos most of the time, but we also got to play some
with poppers, Texas-rigged worms, Rat-L-Traps, buzzbaits and
spinnerbaits. For me as an amateur, this was the best learning
opportunity I could have gotten. Where else could you get to practice so
much in so little time but El Salto?”
In closing, Bruno wrote, “Thank you so much
for what you have created. I’m looking forward to returning to Anglers
Inn in the near future. Attached, you’ll find a few pictures from our
trip, including one of the twins: two 5-pounders we caught at the same
time!”
The next note we share started out with this
wonderful line: “It was a day of fishing that I will never forget.” And
when you hear the rest of Eduardo Kazuga’s story, you’ll understand why.
“I caught a nice size bass and was about to
release it after our great guide, took my picture,” Kazuga said. “At
that same time, my fishing partner Sergio had another one on his line
and was bringing it in. It is very common that this happens at Anglers
Inn Lake El Salto, which makes all the good things that happen here even
better.
“Last year I visited Anglers Inn three
times,” he continued, “but this year I just felt that I was at a
different lake. It was real late one day when I caught one of my biggest
bass. My guide told my rookie friend to cast a wacky-rigged Senko
between the bank and some timber, but my friend missed the cast. I threw
a Rapala Skitter Pop to the place my friend was trying to cast to, and
after a couple of jerks and stops, a fish boiled under the lure right
where the guide had said to cast. My reel was spooled with 16-pound line
but the guide told me calm down so I wouldn’t break it. Good thing for
me the guide got the net under the bass on the first try because the
bass jerked and the line was snapped in a blink. The fish was in the
net, though, and I had the best bass fishing day of my life. My largest
bass!”
And finally, this happy note from guest Kyle
Vilhauer: “You have a wonderful place at Lake El Salto. Our group of 12,
headed by the VanBebber family, spent three full fishing days at the
Anglers Inn Lodge. Great food, lots of beer, nice weather and good
fishing.”
Mr. Vilhauer and crew were at the lake the
last week of January, hoping for some great pre-spawn fishing
opportunities, and they weren’t disappointed.
“Some of us fishing the lake for the first
time were amazed by the action,” he said. “Others, having been spoiled
by El Salto in the past, thought the fishing was a little slow. Not much
has changed, though—topwater action in the morning and evening, and lots
of lizard and Senko action†during the day. Some of us also had luck on
the trusty Rat-L-Trap. Some boats had really good days, with up to 100
fish.†My biggest fish, pictured here, was about 10 pounds. I caught it
first thing in the morning†on a Lucky Craft G-Splash†Popper.†We caught
countless 1- and 2-pounders, a few†4s and 5s, and a couple of lunkers.
It’s still our group’s opinion that the world record resides in Lake El
Salto. We†will be back, most definitely, to try and catch it! Thanks
again for the wonderful trip!”
For those of you coming down in the next few
weeks, or thinking about a trip, here’s a note of interest. The next
full moon will be coming up on February 21, and you can expect most of
those big female bass closer to the banks and on the nests. The male
buck bass will be on the banks, too, protecting the big females.
If you’d like to catch one of those big
bruisers (and who wouldn’t), the key is putting a lure right in front of
their mouth. You won’t catch them if you are at home! So come on down
and join us for a good ol’ time during the big bass spawn. El Salto is
where it’s at!
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