Kickin' Ass on topwater!

By Billy Chapman Jr.

You just can’t beat “taking ‘em off the top!”

Bass fishermen may debate about everything from lures colors to hook sizes, but there’s one thing on which they have unanimous agreement. It’s that nothing compares to watching a largemouth bust into a surface lure. If your heart doesn’t turn a somersault or two when that happens, it’s time to quit fishin’ and take up crossword puzzles.

Why do I mention that subject? Because it’s something we’ve been hearing from one client after another ever since we opened our beautiful new lodge on Mexico’s Lake Mateos. “The top water fishing is the best I’ve ever seen,” is a comment we’ve heard time after time over the past month.

Following is a quick summary of what some anglers who were here in November have told us. Dan Washington, of Tennessee, was one of our recent guests. What he to say at the end of his visit is typical of what we’ve heard about the terrific Lake Mateos surface angling. “We fished two and a half days,” Dan says, “and we must have missed 30 to 40 more. We estimate we boated 424 bass. We caught fish all day on top water lures. And that’s not all the fish would hit. We used every bait in our tackle box and they hit everything. It was absolutely our greatest fishing trip ever. Our guide was great and so were your staff and accommodations.”

Monty Henderson, of Arkansas, had much the same kind of summary. “The top water bite was the best I’ve ever seen,” Monty says. “There were no really slow times during the day; the bite was continuous. I’d never fished in November in Mexico before out trip to Lake Mateos. I really like it! We caught 65 fish the first afternoon we were there, 199 the second day and 160 the third day. Our largest bass weighed over 6-pounds and our single most productive lure was a Pop-R.”

Gary Shumskie, of Texas, and his fishing pal Pete Klein, say they got an estimated 300 bass on their recent trip. Like so many others, they say they got fish all day long off the top, but that the Lake Mateos bass aren’t picky. “We used every lure in our tackle box,” they say. A Rico-Pop and a spinner bait with a white and chartreuse skirt were among their top producers.

Bill and Betty Eddleman, of Louisiana, estimate they boated 280 bass on their recent visit with us. Their largest fish weighed 6-pounds and they had their best luck with a Fat Free Shad and a Pop-R.

Steve Basarich, of California, is one of our A-Team members. His being a member of that elite team tells you he’s a bass angler of considerable experience. He’s been around and here’s what he has to say about new Lake Mateos operation: “We had a terrific time at Lake Mateos. Billy Chapman Jr. has done a fantastic job with his new lodge. The accommodations were over the top. The three of us in our party boated 484 bass in three days. I look forward to seeing everyone when I come back in May.”

Jerry Sepulveda, of California, says he thought our Lake Mateos Lodge was great. “We had excellent service in a relaxing atmosphere,” Jerry says, “and the fishing was outstanding. A watermelon colored lizard, a Rico-Pop and a 5-inch Senko were among our best baits.”

Louis Villeneuve, of California, used a counter to keep track of the number of fish he and his two companions put in the boat on their recent trip. “The three of us had 484 fish in just three days,” Louis reports. “We must have lost another 100 right at the boat. Our trip was outstanding at every level.”

This is what Dan and Debbie Pendley said:
"Debbie and I wanted to send you a follow up report on our recent fishing trip to Lake Mateos and El Salto. Upon arrival in Mazatlan on Monday we were greeted by you staff, as usual, and driven to Lake Mateos where we were met by Ramon and your friendly staff with margaritas and snacks and shown around your wonderful new accommodations at Mateos. The brand new rooms and lodge overlooking the river below was fantastic, only to be surpassed by the service of your entire staff, which Debbie and I have grown accustomed after many couples trips to El Salto. We had brought along a couple of our friends, Tom and Dawn Cullinan for their first Mexico fishing adventure. We relaxed that afternoon, having a great steak dinner while the wives enjoyed a massage and facial as part of the couples package.

Marty & Valerie Todt from Pennsylvania: “My husband and I came down for the top water action and we were not disappointed at all. We caught a total of 507 fish majority on top water. The action is outstanding throughout the day!

The new lodge is awesome! Cabañas and plantings are lovely and picturesque. Roses and bougainvilleas all around. Patios overlooking the river are a beautiful luxurious touch. Everything was kept clean and comfortable, always. Your staff is amazing, so personable and attentive. Anglers Inn truly has it all.
 
Tuesday morning was our first morning of fishing and Sparky, our guide, immediately put us on fish where Debbie and I caught a number on 2-5 lb. fish on large Zara Spooks and Pop R's. We moved out to deeper water later in the morning where we caught more fish to 6 lbs. on crank baits and 8" lizards with watermelon/chartreuse and kudzu being the best colors. However, this is such a great fishery; I do not think color is all that important. We had the same great fishing that afternoon and on both fishing sessions Wednesday. We really enjoyed fishing out of the larger boats with the 75hp engines. We were able to fish for 4 hours Thursday morning before we hopped on the Anglers Inn van to depart for the 2-hour ride to El Salto and the fishing was spectacular. Debbie and I caught approximately 25-30 fish between 2-6lbs on top waters early and then moved to a submerged hump that dropped off to deep water where we caught over 70 bass. I threw a spinner bait and was catching a fish on every cast for most of an hour. When this slowed, Debbie and I switched to shallow crank baits and continued to catch fish on most casts. A little later we moved to the edge of the hump where it dropped into deeper water and continued to catch fish on lizards up until the time we had to come in to get ready to go to El Salto. All in all we caught 100 bass that morning........incredible. We caught over 300 bass while at Mateos and were treated with the great hospitality and service Anglers Inn is known for. We can't wait to come back!"

Clay Adkins, of Louisiana, “The top water bite was the best I’ve ever experienced,” Clay says, “and the weather was also great. We caught 206 bass and the largest was 7-pounds. We had many fish in the 4 and 6-pound bracket. Our best baits were a watermelon lizard, buzz baits, spinner baits and a Pop-R.”

Joe Goldenson from Arizona says “Entering into the compound of the new Anglers Inn at Lake Mateos, it was a feeling of foreboding. The road led into and through a shantytown and then into the main entrance of what turned out to be Billy Chapman, Jr.'s wonderful new fishing encampment. The six cabins built for comfort and luxury for the visiting fishermen are second to none. Everything from t.v.sets to well-stocked mini refrigerators is at your fingertips. The beautiful river rock shower stall to the comfortable queen sized beds is there for your use. What more could anyone want??....well great fishing, of course. Even with the beauty of the lake's endowments, the fishing was even more spectacular. The bass were numerous and even more powerful. I didn't know if I had a whale or a one-pound fish the way they fought.

My guide took me to a place of beauty where I was just spellbound by the scenery. One hundred percent top water fishing, all morning, all forenoon and all afternoon until dark. I have never experienced anything like that. My poor Rico popper had three quarters of its skin off and still, the fish kept on hitting it. If you like action; if you like strong fish; if you like natural beauty like you've never seen before, Lake Mateos is for you!

The Humaya River which runs along side the compound will be available for a morning's or afternoon's fishing. Wait 'til you see the scenery there! Wow! I'm making myself jealous of the fishermen who are there now!

Lake Mateos' Anglers Inn has far exceeded my original expectations. For a place that just opened less than two months ago, IT IS NOW THE PLACE TO BE. I can't wait to go back. I want to fish that river!”

Marc Mills, “Mateos is OFF THE HOOK!!

The lodge is absolutely beautiful and top quality you look over the most beautiful forest and river. It is what postcards are made of!!

Fishing started out great and just got better and better and the fish got bigger and bigger. Top fish was my 8+pounder in the evening on the second nigh on a large top water Vixen. This is a great place to fish the FROGS. I was given some of the new Canyon Plastic Frogs and ran out, so I glued what I had.

I was there with Bill Rice and we had the best 1hour top water that I have ever seen and Bill had ever seen in his 40 years of fishing. We did not catch a fish under 4 pounds and my top fish was 8+ most of the fish were 6-7. These were true 4-8pound class not normal Mexico weight standards.

Plus the number of fish in a body of water that size is unbelievable!! Billy Chapman Jr. did it again!!!

All I can say is GET THERE!!”

Donald Sheehan, “I just got back from Anglers Inn, lake Mateos lodge. You have to go!!!!!!!!!! We caught about 300 quality Bass in three days, ( I have the "bruises" to prove it). Explosive strikes!!!!!!, and many Bass in the 4 to 6 pound range. This lodge just opened this month, and the largest Bass so far is over 11 pounds, ( Zara Spook is the top water lure of choice). Their El Salto lodge seems to have larger Bass; however as this lake develops I am sure it will produce larger "lunkers". The inn itself is first class; as we found El Salto in 2001. You will be spoiled by Billy Chapman and his staff”.

Gregory Ray, Vice President of Outdoor Connection says “I wanted to thank everyone at Anglers Inn for such a great time. My client really enjoyed the trip and is looking forward to bringing his 3 groups in next year. With what I do for Outdoor Connection I have had the opportunity to travel all over the world to hunt and fish with numerous outfitters. I can honestly say that Billy and the entire Anglers Inn crew run one of the most organized destinations I have ever been to.

I believe the El Salto, Mateos, combo will be a huge success for Outdoor Connection franchise owners! From the time we arrived at the airport to the time we were dropped off we never had to ask for a thing, the staff was very attentive and made sure we had everything we needed. I was really impressed how the staff called everyone by name, we felt right at home.

I guess I should also mention the fishing was incredible I personally caught over 200 fish on our 3 day trip, the largest on El Salto was a 9-pounder. What I was really impressed with was Mateos. I caught 77 fish in one day with the majority of those being in the 5 to 6 pound range, and the best part, they were ALL on top water!

Thanks for a great trip. We are also planning a trip just for our franchise owners for the 2008 season so make sure you stock up on the tequila”.

Keith Kaneko, Angling on the Fly, visited the new lodge at Lake Mateos and he says “This is the most incredible top water LMB fishing I have ever experienced in my life. Anglers Inn provides the best lodge experience that I have ever seen”.

Take a look at some of the pictures we’re including with this report. You’ll see for yourself why our clients are saying what they have about our new Lake Mateos.

We knew the fishing here was going to be good or we wouldn’t have opened our new lodge. But it has turned out to be even better than we expected.

Come join us to see what we’re talking about. We're kickin' ass on fish from 2 - 7 pounds.

Biggest fish this month? 9.6 pounds.

Popular lures used this week:

• Bomber Fat Free Shad & Rapala DT16 Crank baits in deep divers in citrus shad, parrot, fire tiger and white.
• Eight inch Zoom or 7” Yum Zellamanders Lizards in watermelon, watermelon red flake, black with blue tail, and junebug.
• Storm WildEye 4 and 5-inch Swim Shads in shad and golden mullet colors.
• Yamamoto Senkos, Yum Dingers or Bass Pro Shops 5 & 6 -inch Stinkos in watermelon, watermelon red flake and black with blue flake.
• Rat-L-Traps in ½ & ¾-ounce in silver with blue back and silver with black back.
• RicoPop in white, white with sparkles and shad.
• Zara Spook, Sammy and Reaction Innovations Vixen in clear, chrome with black top and white.
• Rapala X-Rap or 4 to 5-inch jerk baits in white, clown, perch and shad.
• Buzz baits in ½ & 5/8-ounce in black, white, chartreuse.