Kyle Carpenter and Jacob Reindel of Wisconsin at Anglers Inn Lake El Salto Mexico

Anglers Inn El Salto, my home away from home, my personal Disneyland, is land of the big’uns, but sometimes key differences come down to ounces, or even fractions of ounces. Just ask someone who’s caught a 9 pound 15 ounce bass after years of looking for a double digit.

This past week I was surrounded by a real cast of characters, to say the least; some new, some repeat, but definitely forever fishing friends. Our entire group consisted of accomplished anglers, industry insiders and tournament winners. Each and every one was pumped to get on the water and rip some lips. They all left Illinois and Wisconsin’s extreme weather conditions to experience the best fishing on earth.

Although there were some personal bests broken, and then broken again, right out of the gate the consistency of the bite just wasn’t what we’ve become accustomed to at this time of year. We’ve fished El Salto just about every January since 2013 and this year we found it to be more of a struggle than usual. The moon was full and the weather was cooler than normal and the fishing wasn’t up to its overall consistency.

There may have been a number of reasons for their skittishness: The water level was very high so it made it far more difficult to find their hiding places; the fish may have been feeding at night as the moon was full; there was so much bait in the water perhaps what we were throwing wasn’t as enticing; and maybe the cooler weather had the fish digesting slower so they didn’t need to eat as much.

So many theories, but whether they’re right or wrong, once you’re there, it is what it is. You have to figure things out.

Pete and I were a little worried that everyone might be upset and/or discouraged and we were totally wrong.

First off everyone was blown away by the extraordinary service. One person stated, “WOW, on point!” The fact that it was 80 degrees and there was sub zero weather back at home and the beer was flowing I am sure helped tremendously.

I was most impressed by how each angler figured out a little something that helped them catch more and bigger fish than the other guests did during the same time we were all there.

Everyone always asks, “What did you catch them on?” Here is exactly how each member of our group caught his or her best numbers, down to the ounce, because on this trip, every ounce counted (including the 7 ouncers in the cooler).

Adam Cherry used a 3/16 ounce Woo! Tungsten Shakey Head with a 5” black Senko.
Brian Saari used a 5” Texas rigged Junebug Senko with a 5/0 Gamakatsu hook.
Jacob Reindl used a 5” Green Pumpkin Senko with the tail dipped in Chartreuse Spike-It (Garlic) with an 1/8 oz tungsten weight on a 5/0 Gamakatsu hook.
Chris Sharas used a 5” Watermelon Red wacky and Texas rigged, with a 3/0 red hook and the key to the bite for Chris was the red hook. As soon as the red started wearing off the fish stopped biting.
Josh Crededio used a 5” Green Pumpkin or Watermelon Red Senko with a 4/0 Gamakatsu Aaron Martens G-Finesse Flipping Hook with a 1/8 oz tungsten weight.
Russ Cable used a Green Pumpkin Purple Fleck Zoom Mag Speed Craw – the pinchers were dipped in Spike It, just a little bit and not evenly on each claw, rigged on a 4/0 hook with a ¼ oz unpegged weight not pegged.
Kyle Carpenter used a 5” Green Pumpkin Watermelon Senko with the tail dipped in Spike-It or a Black Blue Fleck Blue Tail Texas rigged worm on a 5/0 Trokar Worm Hook and an 1/8 oz Tungsten pegged up about 8 inches.
When my Lucky Craft Slender Pointer 112MR in Ghost Minnow wasn’t on fire, I used a bait I had never used before, a 4x4 PPT Finesse Head Green Pumpkin 3/16 oz Shakey Head Jig. I added a Berkley Powerbait Maxscent Hit Worm in Plum Apple or a Zoom Trick Worm in Green Pumpkin Candy. When they ran out I used a 5” Black Blue Fleck with Blue Tip Senko and I realized I had to shake slightly more aggressively to make sure the heavier tail didn’t flop over.

Seventeen years ago, I thought all this fishing and catching was just luck. Did it really matter what lure, color, size, hook and weight you used? Now I’ve learned – when fishing is tough, it absolutely matters and, on this trip, my midwestern angling friends figured out some key differences. They really impressed me with their knowledge and determination.

I actually impressed myself, too. I really keyed in on specifics in order to deal with the more difficult conditions.

Each and every angler embraced the challenge and came out winners. Sorry to say their Green Bay Packers came up short in their challenge……..GO BEARS!!