Our Top Five Berkley Lures for Big Mexican Bass

Jan 6

Bone Berkley Choppo 120 is a good alternative to a Whopper Plopper in Mexico

Welcome to “Top Five” week on Half Past First Cast. As Hanna and I start packing for our annual January trip to Anglers Inn Lake El Salto, I’m going to go through several key manufacturers’ lure lineups and tell you the five that I expect to take on every trip to Mexico for the foreseeable future. That doesn’t mean they’re the only lures I’ll take from that company; or that they’re the best in class; or that I’ll even cast them on every trip. What it does mean is that I have confidence in them because they’ve produced in the past or I have legitimate reasons and I can’t imagine heading South of the Border without them. Your preferences may vary. We’d love to hear them.

Here are the self-imposed rules: I have to pick five lures from a certain company, and pick my preferred single size or single color (alternatively, I can pick a different size and/or color, but that counts as another one of my five, so only in rare cases will I double-dip.

Today’ survey addresses the products from Berkley. They’ve been a longtime force in the soft plastics arena, but lately their hard baits have become refined and highly-effective as well:

Berkley 10" Power Worm Black with Blue Tail — **10” Power Worm**
**Black with Blue Tail**

If you could only have one lure for El Salto and Picachos, this is it. You can fish it in 6 inches of water or 60 feet deep. The guides swear by it. They don’t even ask if you have Power Worms. Instead, when you ask for a lure suggestion they just say, “Black and blue.” The Blue Fleck is close, but something about that bright blue tail infuriates the big fish, and it doesn’t chase away the little ones. It’s a bite-getter.

Green Pumpkin Berkley Havoc Papa Pit Boss designed by Skeet Reese — **5” Papa Pit Boss**
**Green Pumpkin**

This is the biggest of Berkley’s creature baits and my friend Duncan Maccubbin got us on it for flipping the deep hardwood trees for gigantors. The main body is made of tough plastic, so it won’t tear up, but the legs and flappers are supple enough to tempt big fish. Rig it on braid and the big stick with a big tungsten weight and drop it in the nasty stuff.

**Dredger 25S Crankbait**
**Old Blue**

The Dredger has a slightly smaller body than the Fat Free Shad or 6XD, which can be an advantage when the offshore fish are a little finicky, but it still gets down to max depth in a hurry. Even when the bass are biting a larger or more aggressive crank, this is a great mop-up bait and comes in some winning color schemes. I have not yet tried the HD patterns.

Bone Berkley Choppo 120 is a good alternative to a Whopper Plopper 130 — **Choppo 120**
**Bone**

The Whopper Plopper 130 is my favorite plopping bait in Mexico, but the Choppo makes a different sound that the bass sometimes prefer. Moreover, I’m generally not a fan of the Whopper Plopper 110, so when it comes time to downsize this is usually my choice (as well as right out of the gate on occasion). Bone is a good all-around color, but Maverick (all black) is a good second choice.

Blue Silver 1/2 ounce Berkley Warpig is the best lipless crankbait for big bass in Mexico — **½ Ounce War Pig Lipless Crankbait**
**Blue Silver**

I doubted that any lipless crank could significantly outfish another of the same size and color, but I’ve been consistently been proven wrong by this bait in Mexico and now I don’t fight it. I have no idea why it seems to be better than the competition, but the fish at El Salto and Picachos absolutely munch on it. When the supply chain shortages briefly had them out of stock I was in full panic mode.

Stay tuned all week for our favorites from other brands.

*Note: We have no promotional relationship with Berkley. I’ve never even set foot within the state of Iowa. Nevertheless our luggage has the permanent stank of Powerbait.