*Even a blind bass could see this chartreuse crankbait.*

In all likelihood, the bass at Mexico’s Lake El Salto and Lake Picachos are generally dumber and more aggressive than at any other public body of water you’ve fished. The long growing season means that a one-year-old fish can weigh 2 pounds, which in turn means that they have to constantly outcompete their brothers and sisters for food.

That’s the good news, but the truth is that at times it’s just like fishing anywhere else — the fish can be fairly selective about what they’ll bite. First-time visitors with visions of throwing out just any crazy lure and loading the boat may be sorely disappointed. Despite the occasional hyperbole, you are unlikely to get bit on a cigarette butt impaled on a treble hook.

I typically find that determining the right category (e.g., crankbaits vs. spinnerbaits) or model (e.g., Dredger vs. 6XD vs. Fat Free Shad) is most of the battle. More good news: there’s rarely only one bite going on at a time, so if you prefer to fish shallow, or deep, or moving baits or soft plastics, you’ll likely have some options. At the same time, I find that they’re rarely picky about subtle color changes. For example, watermelon red flake is a big deal down there, but I haven’t been able to tell the difference in catch rates between that and straight watermelonseed.

On a few occasions, though, and in certain classes of lures, I have seen color make a meaningful difference. That’s why it’s so important to pack carefully, especially if you’re subject to a 50 pound baggage limit. You’ll want to have all of your category bases covered, heavy on the proven patterns, but you need to devote a percentage of each group to “different” colors that account for changing water colors, forage, or just plain moody fish.

The amazing thing about this is that some of the lure colors that work for me may not work for you, and vice versa. There are no absolutes here – a lot of it comes down to confidence and timing. Stick with what works for you, but keep an open mind.

Diving/Lipped Crankbaits

In June of 2015, my friend Terry Conroy and I got on an epic deep crankbait bite far up the lake using Strike King 6XDs and 8XDs. I was throwing my typical colors – citrus shad and chartreuse with a blue back – and getting occasional bites, while he was throwing Clearwater Minnow and absolutely crushing them. We traded rods and I started to dominate. Then, as a control, we put his bait on my rod and my baits on his rod and the ratio stayed the same in favor of his lure. Clearly (no pun intended) the bass wanted something not quite as gaudy. While I’ve continued to believe that chartreuse is often a trigger down there, last year while fishing with my friend TJ Maglio the same dynamic occurred – except he was using Green Gizzard Shad. I’ve also experienced times when the opposite was true, but not to the same extent.

Green Gizzard Shad strike king crankbait at Lake El Salto January TJ Maglio

Over the course of El Salto’s history, I doubt that any single color/hard lure combination has caught more fish than the original Citrus Shad Fat Free Shad – I still have some in my bag every time I’m on the water, there, but I’ve also seen times when that same lure in Pearl White or Foxy Shad produced better. Keep a handful of alternate colors ready to go – and if you run out of chartreuse, a dye pen in that color can help you make a subtle bait into something that demands attention.

Fat Free Shad in citrus shad at El Salto

At the mid-range of gaudy and subtle, I like Berkley’s Dredgers in Kentucky Blue and Lavender Shad.

One of my favorite colors in the 6XD, 8XD and 10XD is Barfish, which looks like a yellow bass. As far as I know that species doesn’t exist down there, so I don’t recall why I picked it up, but I’ve had some epic days with it, including bass up to 9 pounds 9 ounces on the 10XD in that pattern. We all like to have our secret weapons, so don’t hesitate to experiment, but don’t go down that rabbit hole too far or you’ll waste your vacation.

Barfish Strike King 10XD cranking in Mexico El Salto

Lipless Crankbaits

I hate to be boring, but in lipless baits a simple chrome with a blue back has outproduced every other color I’ve tried. In recent years, the Berkley Warpig has proven itself to be an exceptional producer, and the chrome coloring seems to fade less than on other brands. Surprisingly to a lure snob like myself, this $7 bait (primarily in the ½ ounce size) has consistently caught more fish side-by-side against some of my expensive JDM models that I’ve stored in Mexico. I don’t know why and I don’t really care, but I suspect it’s because it mimics certain forage (see pic from El Salto, directly below).

During what I perceive to be the prespawn period down there (I believe that the spawn spreads out over several months – some people I trust claim there are two distinct spawns per year), I’ve tried reds, oranges and chartreuses, colors that work well here during that phase. They’ve caught some fish for me, but I’m less confident in them than in simple chrome. Bring a few alternatives, but I don’t believe there’s any reason to get crazy here.

Hanna Robbins Berkley Warpig chrome blue in Mexico

Jerkbaits for El Salto and Picachos

I have typically done well with a translucent colors in suspending jerkbaits at El Salto (I have not fished them nearly as much at Picachos). In my favorite Megabass Vision 110, I dote on GP Pro Blue and Elegy Bone, and on sunny days I’ve done better with more reflective colors like Ito Wakasagi and M Shad. This past January Hanna had an epic trip using a Lucky Craft Slender Pointer in Ghost Minnow. It turned out that several members of our group independently came to the conclusion that the Slender Pointer was working better than anything else.

Megabass Vision 110 Pro Blue Mexico El Salto Pete Robbins

I’ve had some good days on a perch pattern jerkbait down there, but despite the fact that Mexican bass often love at least a dash of chartreuse, “Clown” colors have not worked well for me. Nor have solid whites (like French Pearl from Megabass), although I know others who claim they’ve loaded the boat with them.

A Note on Topwaters in Mexico

On our tidal waters near home, I fish a black buzzbait a lot. When fishing in the US on stormy days, I really like a black Whopper Plopper. I’ve tried to apply that to my fishing in Mexico and I’ve failed miserably.

To put it bluntly, shad patterns and anything with a white belly have worked substantially better for me on top than anything else down there. I like the Whopper Plopper in Powder, and my favorite Rico patterns include Albino, Bone, Clear Ice and Lime Ice.

white whopper plopper for big bass in Mexico

At the same time, I have trusted friends who’ve caught lots of big fish on surface lures meant to mimic various baitfish, as well as in black. I bought a Rico in Delta Bird (dark with a yellow “beak”) based on their recommendations. I’ve also been in the boat when they successfully used the Black Beauty color scheme. Either I’m doing something wrong or my confidence is affecting me, but for topwaters I’m sticking with the lighter colors.

Are Tilapia Colors a Factor?

If I had a dollar for every El Salto or Picachos guest who has emailed me that they’ve “had a dozen lures custom-painted to be the spitting image of Mexican tilapia,” I’d be able to afford business class tickets to Mazatlan on a regular basis.

I fell into that trap early on – not necessarily Googling “tilapia” and sending the pics to custom painters – but rather investing in any new lure that came in a color named after the prolific baitfish. I generally found it to be a waste of time and money. We’ve found many big bass down there choking on tilapia, so I know they eat them, but I just haven’t found these paint jobs to work any better than the standards, and possibly worse. Again, any color can work under the right circumstances, but I believe that focusing on presentation, location and keeping a bait wet usually matter much more than precise scale patterns and gill plates.