Basic Lure Selection for Mexican Bass
I’ve been to Anglers Inn Lake El Salto and Picachos nearly 20 times combined, plus another interior Mexican lake and Falcon Lake on the Texas/Mexico border. I may never be a great angler, but I consider myself an efficient and practical one, especially when it comes to El Salto. I know the “must haves” and while every veteran traveler has their secrets, and every newcomer has lures they want to try, I’ve put together a list that’ll get you bit every day of the year down there.
Of course, some of this is seasonal. For example, your topwaters may not work at certain times or under certain conditions. Additionally, things vary from year to year, even under the same conditions. In May of 2013 our group absolutely crushed the El Salto bass on Chatterbaits. We’d only brought a handful and by the end of the week the few we had left were in sad shape. The following May we brought 20 or 30 of them in various sizes and colors, and figured we’d absolutely crush the bass when we saw the lake at the same level – but I think during the entire trip I caught one Chatterbait bass. Be prepared to be surprised.
Additionally, most travelers are subject to a 50 pound limit on luggage. By the time you factor in your clothing, toiletries, the bag itself and various other items, you’ll be disappointed at how little room/weight is left for lures and terminal tackle. You may not be surprised at how much tungsten sinkers weigh, but you will be surprised at how heavy a dozen packs of Senkos are.
With that in mind, the following is a list of what I consider ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY items – each one will not necessarily be required on every trip, and you may have better options for your personal fishing style, but if you bring these items, you have more than a solid foundation. Also, keep your colors simple. In my opinion it’s usually better to have more watermelon red Senkos and black/blue 10-inch worms than to have a few each of 10 different colors.
Soft Plastics for Mexico
Senkos (mostly 6”, mix in some 5” and 7”) – watermelon, green pumpkin, black/blue
Lizards 8” – watermelon, green pumpkin
Ribbontail worms – 10” – black/blue, plum, watermelon
Super Flukes and Mag Super Flukes – white, watermelon
Keitech Style Swimbaits – 3.8”- 6.8” – shad colors
Craws and/or Jig Trailers – watermelon, black/blue
Creature Baits – watermelon, green pumpkin (MY FAVORITES: Full-sized Brush Hog, Berkley Pit Boss)
Soft swimbaits (unrigged) – 5” – black/blue, watermelon, white (can be used alone or as trailers) (MY FAVORITE: Zoom Swimmer and Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper)
Soft swimbaits rigged – 4-6” – pearl, white/chartreuse (MY FAVORITE: Storm Wildeye Shad)
Hard Baits for El Salto and Picachos
Topwater Poppers, baitfish colors (MY FAVORITE: Rio Rico)
Topwater Walking Baits, baitfish colors (MY FAVORITES: Vixen, Kicknocker, Megabass Dog X)
Whopper Ploppers -- 130 size -- white or bone
Lipless Crankbaits – ½ ounce – blue/chrome (MY FAVORITE: Berkley Warpig)
Squarebills – 1.5 and 2.5 sizes – shad or chartreuse patterns -- (MY FAVORITES: Lucky Craft LC and Strike King KVD)
Mid-Range Crankbaits – 6-12’ divers – the Fat Free Shad Guppy and Fry are inexpensive sleepers in this category. The DT10 is also a good choice.
Deep Crankbaits – 10-17’ foot divers – The Citrus Shad Fat Free Shad is the gold standard, but in recent years the 6XD and 8XD have come on strong. The Berkley Dredgers present a small-profile model that gets down deep in a hurry.
Ultra-Deep Crankbaits – 17’+ divers (MY FAVORITE: Strike King 10XD)
Suspending Jerkbaits – translucent colors (MY FAVORITE: Megabass Vision 110)
Wire Baits You Need
Spinnerbaits – ½ ounce to 1 ounce – shad or white/chartreuse
Chatterbaits – ½ ounce -- white
Buzzbaits – ½ ounce – white or black
Jigs
Flipping Jigs – 3/8 to 1 ounce – watermelon, brown, black/blue
Football Jigs – ¾ to 1 ounce – watermelon, brown, black/blue
Swim Jigs – ¼ to ½ ounce – white/chartreuse, black/blue
Terminal Tackle
Tungsten worm weights – 1/8 to 1 ounce (go heavy on 3/8 and 1/2 most of the time)
Carolina Rigging components – including ¾ and 1 ounce weights
Wacky Rig Hooks (1/0-4/0)
EWG Worm Hooks (5/0)
Straight Shank Flipping Hooks (4/0-5/0)
Scrounger Heads — 3/8 - 1/2 ounce
Miscellaneous Items for Fishing in Mexico
Some sort of adhesive like Super Glue or Mend-It – works well for slowly disappearing soft plastics (you haven’t seen sadness until you’ve seen a grown man begging for Senkos like a crack addict at breakfast), damaged rods, even blown-out flip flops
The Mexican guides all swear by chartreuse dipping dye on soft plastics. Feel free to bring the dip or a pen, or some other means, but be sure to abide by safe airline luggage practices (that means no JJ’s Magic – ask me how I know!)
Extra treble hooks and split rings
Extra Line
30-65 lb. braid
14-25 lb. monofilament, copolymer or fluorocarbon, as you prefer
Frogs: I keep a small stash of frogs and toads in Mexico, and while I’ve caught some fish on them, especially in the fall around thick hyacinths, they’ve never been a major player for me. In most circumstances I think there are better options. Your mileage may vary.
Spoons: Elite Series pros Brandon Palaniuk and Brandon Cobb whacked the El Salto bass on big flutter spoons early in 2020. I have a few at the lake, but have not tried them yet. Apparently I need to do so.
[UPDATE: November 2020 — we finally got on the fabled spoon bite and found it to be incredible. We’re still dialing it in, but it’s worth bringing a handful in the 5-6” size.]
A Note on Big Baits: First-time visitors all ask me which swimbaits and glidebaits to bring down to the lake. I know there are times and places when mag swimbaits will work down there, but I’m not really qualified to tell you which ones are the best. I know trusted friends who’ve caught big Mexican bass on the Jackall Ganterel, Mike Bucca Bull Shad and the SPRO BBZ-1. I’m sure that’s not an exclusive list. I also know that some of the biggest bass I’ve caught down there have come to the boat coughing up inch-long baitfish like stripper glitter.
A Note on Alabama Rigs: I’ve seen times when the A-Rig will work down there, and times when wildly gorging schooling bass won’t touch it. Bring some if you like.
One final note: I can’t speak for other lodges, but if you are going to an Anglers Inn property, hit them up via social media a week or so before you arrive. The administrator is usually in touch with the guides on a regular basis and can tell you what is working best. Remember – not all guides prefer to fish the same way, so that info may be a little bit skewed based on who he has talked to, but it should give you at least a starting point on which items are definitely working in some capacity.
