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| FishTails |
Lake El Salto: In search of Mexico's Mystical Largemouth
Bass
[March 19, 2003] - by Jim Matuga
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| Jim Matuga with bass. |
The sun hadn't quite yet broken through the rugged tree line. A light fog was quickly lifting from the glass-like
water. The smell of camp fires smoldering in the distance, a reminder of the undeveloped area that surrounded us.
What sounded like monster-sized fish were busting baitfish right on the shore line. God's hand had surely touched
the world around us. Life was good. All I could think of that instant was how nice it would be to have my favorite
rod and my trusty top-water bait - the venerable
"Splash-It" with me.
We had made our way to Lake El Salto - world famous for trophy-sized largemouth bass - 90 minutes from our original
destination of Mazatlan, Mexico. A group of us from Morgantown, were on a quest for marlin and sailfish off the
west coast of Mexico.
The first day we braved 8-foot seas 55 miles off shore. Queasy and making our way back to the marina, one of my
traveling companions, Dave Raese, suggested we check out El Salto. We had met a fellow at the Mazatlan airport
who bragged about 10-pounders. I had read many stories about this amazing fishery, so it didn't take long to convince
me. The thought of another day on rough seas didn't appeal to Dave, either.
As it turned out, we hooked up with Victor Vargas out of La Papalota Ranch. We were his first clients. We were
far from home on an impromptu trip to the "Mecca of Bass Fishing," with only a handful of crude tackle
and equipment.
As we made our way to the small aluminum bass boat, I soon realized I had to improvise. I tried to ask our guide
Gaspar if he had any top-water baits the best way I could. He didn't speak fluent English. Through some creative
sign language, I managed to find a weathered old wooden plug that had seen better days. After a few casts with
this action-less bait, I took a chance and asked Gaspar if he had a "Pop-R." "Ahhh" he said.
"Pop-R!!!" He produced a rusty Chrome/Black back Pop-R that looked worse than the lure I had just cut
from my line. I decided to give it a try.
Three casts later, an explosion unlike any I'd ever seen before on a top-water bait erupted on the surface. I set
the hook on what was surely the biggest bass of my life. As she headed for deeper water, the lunker came unbuttoned.
I made a second cast to the exact spot. Caploosh! Another massive blow-up on the Pop-R. "Ten-pounders schooling
on the surface," I thought. Again, the fish headed to the deep channel and came off. As I examined the bait,
I noticed the front treble hook had been broken off at the shank. I quickly asked Gaspar if he had a spare hook.
He looked at me perplexed. No Comprende'. I decided to make a repeat cast in lieu of a replacement hook.
Third cast
same spot. Twitch. Twitch. Twitch. Cabloom! In two minutes I had the biggest largemouth of my life in
the boat and on the scale: 7 pounds 10 ounces. And the day was just underway.
La Papalota (Spanish for windmill) is a new fishing resort on El Salto, just east of Mazatlan. It's not exactly
as I pictured it. There was no boat ramp. No fancy bass boats. No modern tackle. Just the pure, under-developed
rugged beauty of Mexico's crown jewel of bass fishing.
That day Dave and I managed 25 keeper bass. We caught these fish on that Pop-R, and a variety of crank baits. Most
of these fish came in shallow water, fishing a variety of wood cover. One particular man-made stone wall produced
several nice fish on each pass. They were really stacked up on this unique piece of structure.
Our guide Victor provided an amazing Mexican shore lunch of fresh grilled El Salto Talapia, handmade tortillas,
beans and rice. We passed on his offer of a siesta so that we could maximize our fishing time on the water. We
had an awesome day in Mexico. We got to witness first-hand the amazing beauty of rural Mexico and we got to experience
the unbelievable Florida-strain largemouth bass fishing El Salto has to offer.
If you're going: Contact Victor Hugo Vargas, Guide 52 (669) 913-1621 (Office) or 044 (669) 918-0959 (Cell) or Hector
Ramon Escobar Manjarrez, La Papalota Director General- La Papalota Ranch at Lake El Salto, Elota, Sinaloa, Mexico
at: 01 (696) 96 4-48-17 (Hotel). |
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