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Just wondering if anyone on the board has been to Lake El Salto. If so, is it worth the money to go down there? How big of a hassle is it? What's the best time to go. I seen it on Angler on tour the other night and it looked like a blast. Who do you recommend for guide service and accomodations?
Ahhhh, El Salto. The trip of a lifetime. The huge bass! The big numbers of bass with dozens over 5 pounds. Yes, it's true. I made my first and only visit to Lake El Salto in July 2005. My friend, it's the real deal!!!
May-July are great times to go (It's hot but the water is low and the big fish stack up and congregate in deeper water). My dad has had some good trips in February and November as well. Check out [url]www.anglersinn.com[/url] for great info. Agler's Inn is where we stayed. It is a fantastic lodge and they treat you like royalty, no kidding. Here is a brief on my trip last year...
My flight left Nashville (I traveled with my brother and he lives in Nashville). We connected in Houston and arrived in Mazatlan Mexico. The travel experience south of the border was great. We were greeted my Angler's Inn staff in Mazatlan and traveled in an A/C van for about 2 hours with cold drinks on paved roads. Very comfortable.
We arrived at the lodge and were proptly greeted with nachos and margarittas. Angler's Inn staff members were all super helpful and friendly. They do nearly everything for you. All you have to do is fish, eat and sleep. The hospitality, service and food are all grade A. They will also do laundry for you daily if you want. Now to the fishing part...
I read the reports at anglersinn.com leading up to the trip. They don't update often so it was tough to know what to take. I ended up using about 5% of the baits I packed with me. 10" power worms, 8" watermelon lizards/brush hogs, 3/4 oz Rat L Traps and 1/2 oz. blk/blue jigs caught them best for me. Other guys were catching good quality and quantity on other baits as well (Big swimbaits, huge Banjo minnows, spinnerbaits, spooks, senkos, etc)...
Day 1: Put an 8 pounder in the boat in the first 2 hours of fishing. My brother and I combined for 40 before gong in for lunch. My dad and I partnered up after lunch. We got on an amazing Rat L Trap bite in the jumps right off the bat. We had several 3-4 pounders and I boated the largest bass of my life, an 11.2. That evening we used lizards and caught fish every other cast for about 2 hours. Dad and I caught 60 that afternoon. That's 100 total for Day 1. This number could have been much higher. I probably caught 75 or 80 of those 100. My partners on this trip don't fish much at all.
Day 2: Got out early and caught my first 8 or so on a Pop R, biggest was 6 pounds. Cloudy skies made for a good morning bite. I had 4 fish over 6 pounds, 2 over 7 and 2 over 8. Most of these came on Power worms in 20-25 ft of water. I think we had 60+ on Day 2.
Day 3: More of the same. The numbers on Day 3 were not as good but I had 2 fish at 9 pounds.
Again, I think the size and numbers could have been even better. The 5 guys I fished with were not really bass fisherman. This being said, all six of us caught at least one fish over 8 pounds. My brother and I both broke the 10 pound mark. My 11.2 was not the largest of the 3 days at the lodge (another guy had an 11.5). At least 2-3 bass over 10 pounds were caught every day by on of the 18 or so lodge guests.
Yes, El Salto is for real. I'm not saying every trip is going to be amazing. After all, it's fishing, right? My dad has had some trips to El Salto that have been fair. Maybe catching 1 or 2 in the 7 pound range but nothing spectacular. As for my trip last July, it was absolutely the trip of a lifetime. Not a week goes by that I don't think about it and just shake my head in awe. After 3 days of that action my torso and ribs were bruised and tender from fishing fish and setting the hook. It's heaven on earth for the hardcore bass fisherman.
I have no doubt the bass fishing in those Mexican lakes is the real deal. How much money in total for the entire trip with all expenses? (Don't worry, I won't poke fun about your excess of money like I do Danny) A Mexico bass Fishing trip is my dream vacation. I'd take only Peacock bass fishing in South America over that. A fly-in trip to Canucky land or Alaska would be a distant third.
smljaw, I have been kickin around a trip there with my wife sounds great!! I too am very interested in the bottom line cost from Indy and back (with all little things included if you don't mind not broke down just total) thanks for sharing your trip [email][email protected][/email]
If you could please email me the price. My sister is trying to put togather a trip for her husband and I for his 50th birthday. [email][email protected][/email] Thanks Ryan.
After posting yesterday morning, I accepted an invite to El Salto for this September. Unreal how it worked out!!! Go to [url]www.anglersinn.com[/url] and you can obtain all prices and info. They shut down in August and open back up in mid September. Aug & Sept is the rainy season so you risk big rains and higher water. It's my understanding that topwater, spinnerbaits and senkos are good baits for this time of year. Angler's Inn is running a 2 for the price of 1 1/2 the last 2 weeks of September.
I know flight prices are better out of bigger hubs like Indy, Nahsville, etc. I'm flying Lexington to Houston to Mexico City to Mazatlan this September. Last year I only had one connection (Houston) and it wasn't all that bad. Honestly though, you get so juiced up about the fishing that the connections and travel time doesn't matter much.
Good luck with your research. Believe me when I say that Angler's Inn is FIRST CLASS. The awesome fishing is not guaranteed but the service and hospitality is top notch for sure! If the fishing this September is half as good as last July I'm in for a great trip.
El Salto trip of David Fritts. And I thought my July 2005 trip was great. Wow!!!
[url]http://www.northcarolinasportsman.com/details.php?id=132[/url]
I wanna go so bad it hurts, how can I convince the little women this is a needed trip for me to keep me sanity. I may get down there and never come home.
Bug the little woman to death so much that she tells you to go for no other reason but to have you shut up about the trip.
Tight Lines
I've been keeping a close eye on [url]www.anglersinn.com[/url] looking for an updated report (I'm headed down to El Salto next month). Looks like Luke Clausen and David Walker visited Angler's Inn last month. I was kind of shocked that Clausen's biggest bass was 7.2. Catching a 7 pounder at El Salto is like catching a 2-3 pounder at Lake Barkley. It's very common.
Check out the following link for the Angler's Inn July 2006 report. It looks like this July was a little bit slower than last July. Still very impressive though.
[url]http://www.anglersinn.com/fr-jul-2006/fishing-report.php?idcli=0[/url]