The Best Strike King 10XD Colors for Lake El Salto
I am convinced that while a Strike King 10XD isn’t always the best crankbait choice at Lake El Salto, there are times when it will produce more and bigger fish than any other option. It gets deep in a hurry, has a larger profile, and seems to have a certain something extra when it comes to triggering bites. The opportunity to use this best-in-class option is a big reason that we visit Mexico every year in May and/or June – it’s a technique and a tool that we don’t get to use at home, and that’s when it seems to be at its best, although we’ve used it successfully in other months as well.
Many first-time visitors get hung up on specific colors. While I’ve experienced a few occasions at El Salto when a particular lure in one color clearly outproduces the same lure in a slightly different color, generally as long as you’re in the same ballpark there should not be that much differentiation.
I divide my choices into three shades: “Bright” (usually something with a lot of chartreuse), “Natural” and “In-Between.” I’ve caught fish down there on at least 10 different 10XD colors, but as I restock subsequent to my 2023 trip, I realized that the following five are my “go-to” choices:
Powder Blue Chartreuse
Chartreuse Perch
Green Gizzard Shad
Citrus Shad
Barfish
Are These the Only Colors That Will Work?
Those five are definitely not the only colors that will work. I can’t imagine there are many situations where bass will eat Powder Blue Chartreuse, but not Chartreuse Blue Black Splatterback, or Black Back Chartreuse, for that matter. Likewise Gizzard Shad is likely a solid substitute for Green Gizzard Shad.
Look at Sexy Shad, Sexy Blue Back Herring, and Chartreuse Sexy Shad. Out of the package and away from the marketing language would you know which one is which? I’d feel comfortable throwing any of them down there, but none more than the other two.
Furthermore, there are several colors that I haven’t tried, including Natural Bream, Oyster, and the creatively-named The Shizzle.
I wish that Strike King made the 10XD in Clearwater Minnow. My friend Terry Conroy kicked my butt with an 8XD in that pattern in 2014 or 2015, and I’ve had some banner sessions with it since then.
The only otherwise-productive crankbait pattern that hasn’t produced for me in Mexico is any form of red – not in a deep diver, shallow diver or even a lipless crankbait. They’ve been so good to me on waters including the Potomac, Guntersville, Rayburn and the California Delta that I assumed they’d be killers South of the Border, too, but so far they’ve failed me. Maybe they perform best on grass-laden fisheries.
How Many 10XDs Should You Bring to El Salto?
Packing tackle for a trip to El Salto, no matter what time of year, is tough. You need to bring plenty of the basics, with the recognition that 80% of them might not be in play. We hear all the time from anglers who are disturbed that they purchased, for example, a bunch of 10-inch Power Worms or 6-inch Senkos, but never made a cast with either. The problem is that you never know which minority of the gear will be necessary.
If the 10XD bite turns out to be the best way to catch giants, and you only bring two or three you may be out of luck pretty quickly if you lose them. Furthermore, if the fish prefer one type of color (e.g., natural or a gaudy chartreuse) over the others and you lose that lure, that’s all folks. For a June trip to El Salto I’d bring two of each of the above colors and feel comfortable, maybe a few more since it’s me and Hanna. In January, I’d feel ok with four or five total.
There have been times when I’ve lost three or four in a single day, and trips when I’ve lost none in a week of hard cranking. It depends on the type of cover or structure you’re cranking, your guide’s ability to free snagged lures, and a bit of luck, too. In my opinion it’s always better to have too many than too few.
Tackle Choices for the Strike King 10XD
If you’re not used to cranking these giant plugs for extended periods of time, usually at high speeds, you may experience discomfort or even pain after about 30 minutes. On Day One, I always feel like there’s no way I’ll make it through the week – at some point I’ll need to switch to a Carolina Rig or football jig to save my wrists. Definitely eat your Wheaties before you go, and bring some ibuprofen, but it does get better. I’m usually still going hardcore on day six or seven. A big part of that is having the right tackle.
That primarily comes down to rods. Anglers Inn supplies St. Croix Rods, including some of the glass cranking sticks, so grab one of those. Hanna and I have several cranking rods down there that we’d recommend if you want to buy/bring your own:
You can probably use a standard-sized baitcasting reel, but I’ll warn you that if you’re casting with the wind it’s pretty easy to get down to your spool knot. Accordingly, we generally use 300-sized reels, Hanna has a discontinued Revo that she likes, and I have gone back and forth between the following two:
I make the unorthodox choice of spooling them with 30-pound braid, often moss green Power Pro Super8Slick V2 Braided Line, but if you think that’s heresy, use a premium fluorocarbon like Seaguar InvizX or Sunline Shooter in 14 to 20 pound test.
Additional 10XD Notes
Don’t forget to bring extra trebles. Change them out at the slightest hint of wear. It may save you the fish of a lifetime. You’ll be surprised at how often the big El Salto bass get the entire bait in their mouths, but when they slash at it or otherwise don’t get it well, you’ll be glad you had super-sharp hooks.
Try not to let fish hooked on the 10XD jump. Yes, you’ll be using quality treble hooks, but the sheer weight of the bait flopping around provides great leverage to get off.
Don’t be surprised if at some point you catch two El Salto bass at the same time on a single deep diving crankbait. It happens to someone on one of our trips nearly every year. This year Hanna had two on an 8XD, but the larger one got off near the boat – the one she landed was over 6 pounds.
