My June El Salto Lures: Back To the Basics

Half Past First Cast is headed back to Lake El Salto this June and I’m going back to the basics. On several of my last trips I decided that I wanted to try a bunch of new baits and I wasn’t going to stop fishing with a particular bait until it caught a fish. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t but I am lucky enough that I fish Anglers Inn a few times a year so I can put in the time on the water to, for a lack of a better term, fuck around.

Now it’s time to turn things around. I am going all-in on five lures that I feel are a sure thing (I really hope I just didn’t jinx myself) and will be sticking to them for the duration of our trip.

I cringe writing this but it’s the reason I pay for my gym membership: I am going to throw the Strike King 10XD until my arms fall off or I catch a G-G-G-G-G-IANT bass. This is Pete’s favorite bait to fish in Mexico. He says he likes it because we don’t get a chance to throw them on the lakes at home. He would throw it all day every day, or at least until the sun starts to go down and he will pick up the [DELETED] which I will be writing about later in this column. We have decided that there are three main color types that the fish like, sometimes more that others, and so whichever color he throws I will choose one of the other two and we will see who gets bit first.

Why the 10XD? Size matters. The bigger the bait the bigger the bass. I’m out to prove that. It gets down deep in a hurry because of the weighted bill. When that late morning and afternoon wind picks up, as it always does, the bait flies through the air and this means you can cover more water and get in front of more fish.

I fish the 10XD two ways. Once I figure out which presentation they like I will stick to that one. Retrieve One: Cast out and pull until you hit the bottom, then reel as fast as you can for about five seconds and let the bait float of up some and then repeat. Many times fish will attack on the pause. It almost knocks you off your feet. Retrieve Two: Cast out and wind until you hit bottom, crank a few more times and then sweep the rod to get the bait to dive down again, crank a few times and pull down until you get bit. Sometimes they like one of those retrieves and sometimes they prefer the other.  Just like I tell you to listen to your guide, you need to listen to the fish.

Oh yeah, the colors. Chartreuse Sexy Shad, Citrus Shad and Barfish are our three go-to colors. The fish like flashy moving baits in the summertime. Chartreuse, orange, yellow and the barfish color represents the tilapia that the bass eat all year round. I am sure that other colors and brands of crankbaits can be effective but time and time again these are the colors, and brand that get bit for us, so we have confidence in them.

There are a few spots on the lake where we know fish live and we have lost a few (okay a lot) crankbaits because there is just too much timber below. If the amazing guide can’t get the crankbait back for you and you are taking your fishing partner’s fishing time away, cut it off and go with a 3/4 ounce War Eagle spinner bait. Let it sink and slow roll it back and let it hit the tree branches on the way in. Remember, the wind is blowing in the afternoon so this is a perfect time to use a spinnerbait. Chartreuse and white or a color that resembles tilapia is typically best. To create a bigger profile I use either a Yum Money Minnow or a Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper as a trailer -- don’t forget to dip the tail in chartreuse Spike-It Garlic. It’s quite an eyesore, smells like grandma’s kitchen, but it gets the job done.

We are lucky enough to take a full week vacation and spend it at the lake. It helps get you on a pattern/schedule in order to find out when the fish are feeding. This seemed to be the case a few summers back for these crazy fish in this one area of the lake. We had been taken to this spot several times during the first few days of our trip. We went in just before 8 am. It’s a large cove and we started throwing at the banks on the way in towards the back and caught a few here and there. We threw at a few humps that stuck out of the water, cast to one side and then to the other side. Then we were taken to the far corner of the cove and we caught a bunch of ditch pickles. And then we left. We came back around 9:45 am and hit the same places, caught some more dick beaters and then went off to lunch around 11. After siesta we weren’t getting bit in the wind, so we came back to the cove to get out of the wind in the mid-afternoon. Again, we started out front and hit the mounds. We didn’t go back to the far corner but stayed in the center and threw all around the boat. Pete was getting bit throwing his crankbait and I can’t remember what I was throwing but it wasn’t catching fish. I noticed that there were little bity blow ups towards the bank so I picked up a 4” Storm Swimbait, threw it towards the bank, slow rolled it back to the boat and halfway back they annihilated it.  If I didn’t see any blow ups I would cast where Pete previously cast and time and time again I caught his fish. As it got to be around 4:30 pm and the sun started moving from overhead things stopped. They no longer bit and we had to find a new place but we knew when and where we would be at the same time tomorrow, and which bait I’d have tied on.

I’ve tried a bunch of fancy, large and real expensive swimbaits but you really can’t go wrong with the Storm Wildeye (usually Pearl or Golden Mullet) in 4”, 5” or 6” depending on the depth of the water and the aggressiveness of the bass. Don’t forget to dip the end of the tail in Chartreuse Spike-It Garlic. If you aren’t getting bit it can be a game changer. The Storm Swimbaits are really reasonable.

All tackle that is purchased in the house is done by the tackle guru, Pete Robbins, so I hope he is paying attention to this column so that we have enough of these specific baits in the right colors on our next trip. Otherwise, he and he alone will be to blame. That’s how marriage works, right?

In low light conditions, while I throw a Lobina Lures Rio Rico popper, Pete almost always throws the River2Sea Whopper Plopper and occasionally the Berkley Choppo and he almost always gets the bigger bites. Perhaps that is the reason we don’t have more than one in the boat -- he’s as competitive as me. Nah, he wants me to catch as many and as big of fish as he does, he is my biggest fan (besides Paul Fisler). Again, let’s make sure there are plenty of both lures in many colors and sizes for our June trip!

In my humble opinion, the topwater bite of any fish is the most fun you can have with your clothes on (Pete Robbins, circa 2004). It is my favorite way to catch bass and now that we go saltwater fishing, the ultimate explosion of the yellowfin tuna is only explained by catching one yourself (also caught on a popping bait).

River2Sea makes 5 different sizes of the Whopper Plopper. We usually prefer the 90 (3 1/2”) and the 130 (5”). The color and the size do matter at certain times and it may be different in the morning than it is at night, so I suggest tying on both sizes once you know that is what you will be doing for the rest of your time on the water. As for color, you just never know until they start biting but we find that Bone, Loon or Powder are pretty reliable. If you choose to throw the Berkley Choppo, the Bone is my favorite.

Make sure you chuck it out, and as soon as the bait hits the water start winding it back while keeping your rod tip high so that the bait’s head is basically out of the water and the propeller tail is in the water making that sound the fish can’t seem to keep away from.

I wrote about this before, and I will write about it again: I will always bring Senkos to Mexico or on any bass trip I go on. In the summer I use a 6”, sometimes 7”, green pumpkin with either red or black flake and I dip the tail in -- you guessed it -- Chartreuse Spike-It Garlic. I wacky rig it, Texas rig it and have been known to use it as a trailer from time to time.

The other plastic lure that you have to have is the Berkley Powerbait Power Worm, 10” in black/blue. Texas rig it with a ½ oz tungsten weight, let it hit bottom and pop it. Then let it sink again and either drag it as if it was a Carolina rig or slowly reel it back. They smell horrific but perhaps that is why they work so well. Make sure you don’t open a bag in your room and forget to close it. Don’t ask me how I know this!!

So, there you have it, the FIVE baits I am going to rig up and fish this June when I return for my 20th or so (yes I am spoiled) trip to Anglers Inn Lake El Salto. I am determined to catch a lot and bigger fish than I have in the last few trips. I believe my shortfall (pun intended) of both have been from, again lack of a better term, fucking around with other baits. Those other baits work, I have proved that to some extent, but this time around I am all about proven winners.