Big bass caught on a SPRO BBZ-1 rat at Lake El Salto Mexico

Overall, the topwater bite on our recent trip to El Salto was mediocre. That’s par for the course in June, as we’ve had some killer days but we’ve also had some trips when we’ve caught few if any on surface lures. In a first that I can recall, this time, it was better in the evenings than in the mornings.

Nevertheless, I’m willing to struggle a little if it means the chance of some epic explosions, so I probably kept my poppers, walking baits and ploppers in my hand a little bit longer than conditions dictated. I also brought down a complement of mouse- and rat-imitating baits, because on the rare occasions that I’ve gotten them to work the results have been spectacular. I did not take the PB Rat that is the favorite of many of my big bait gurus, but I’d acquired some discontinued and hard-to-find SPRO 50s. Including both the body and tail it’s a 10-inch bait, weighs over 2 ounces and wobbles like a sonofabitch. I’ve had more success on the smaller 40, but was really excited to chuck the big’un around.

They sat in my tackle box until Day Four, when I got a little itchy and tied one on the rod that had previously mostly been used for a Whopper Plopper 130. Through most of the day it sat idle, but as the afternoon progressed and storms threatened to roll in I kept my eye on it. We’d been catching most of our bigger fish on soft swimbaits along a river channel in 20+ feet of water, with a bluff not far away. As clouds thickened and the wind picked up, I got a chance to cast the rat across one bluff end corner and on the second shot I experienced not an explosion, but a giant vortex that left a hole where the water – and my rat – used to be. My first fish on it this trip was a 7.40

As we drifted away, I went back to the swimbait and we caught some more bass, but eventually we were positioned to where I could cast across the other end of the bluff. First cast, and this time It was an explosion. The rat produced a 6.76.

A bit later we hit the extension of that second bluff end, a tapering point with loads of basketball-sized rock on it. Our friends Kelby and Jed had whacked a bunch of 3- and 4-pounders there a couple of days earlier on River2Sea Rovers. As the rain pelted us and the wind howled, another 6.70 crushed the rat. I played it gingerly, but as with the other two it required some heavy work with the pliers for our guide to get the fish unstuck.

As we returned to dinner, I was pretty sure I’d just experienced my first ratgasm.

Florida-strain Largemouth Bass in the net in Sinaloa Mexico

The Aftermath

In hindsight, the conditions that produced those back-to-back-to-back rat bites were just about optimal for that presentation. An incoming storm, a low pressure system, and a place that was holding a consistent and replenishing number of larger-than-average fish.

The next day we experienced high pressure and never had a topwater bite. We caught some jerkbait and swimbait fish in the same and similar areas, but never had so much as a swirl on El Raton. I eventually went back to a Plopper and a walking bait when circumstances called for a topwater.

I threw the rat a handful of times the last two days and never had a sniff. I only picked it up when I had wind or clouds and a proper casting angle to make it look like a struggling terrestrial critter. Eventually I put it away – but it’ll be ready to go whenever I get back South of the Border.

Half Past First Cast group trip to Anglers Inn International Mexico

Lessons Reinforced

Big baits have a time and a place. Many first-time visitors bring 18” worms and giant glide baits to Mexico, assuming that the fish will eat anything that packs a lot of protein. Then they’re disappointed when they catch their bass on more conventionally-sized lures (to the extent you can call a 10” worm or 10XD conventionally-sized). If you’re a big bait expert, have at it, but for the rest of us, pick your windows and your casts carefully.
Know when to put it down. I’m sure I could’ve thrown it the entire trip and had some brief windows, possibly a giant or two, but when the fish are not playing nice you need to get bites to dial things in and this simply doesn’t get the same number of bites as a Vision 110, a Super Fluke, or even a Whopper Plopper.

Tackle Notes

My rod of choice was the discontinued Kistler Magnesium “All Day Power Tool.” It’s a 7’8” telescoping stick that I brought down almost a decade ago in a 7’ rod tube and I’ve used it since for a variety of lures, including larger Whopper Ploppers and for flipping big jigs and creature baits. A slightly heavier rod might’ve been better for the 2+ ounce rat, but it got the job done. Kistler has a 7’6” heavy in the current Magnesium series (on closeout at Tackle Warehouse) as well as a 7’6” extra-heavy in the Helium series. Realistically, you could use most flipping sticks or swimbait rods.
My reel was a Shimano Tranx 200A (7.2:1 gear ratio). It’s a beefy, powerful reel. My 5.8:1 Tranx 300A might’ve been an even better choice since in my limited experience the slower you go the more bites you get on the big rodent.
50-pound test original Power Pro provides a good mix of strength and castability. I wouldn’t feel comfortable throwing this rat on anything less.
I kept the factory Gamakatsu treble hooks in place.