Big bass in Mexico like a Storm paddletail swimbait

In March of this year, I wrote that when I returned to Anglers Inn El Salto in June I was going to back to the basics. I’m proud to say that I followed through on that plan.

Perhaps that is just the way we fished or what the fish were eating. Or maybe I finally listened to my conscience and did what I said I was going to do to prove a point.

The first few mornings, I tried a Lobina Rio Rico. Topwater fishing is my favorite way to catch a fish. Unfortunately, the bass weren’t going for it. Just because it is the most exciting way to catch a bass doesn’t mean you should beat a dead horse.

By morning two I don’t think I even had a topwater bait tied on. I actually just had my line on that rod tied in a loop around my reel handle. I know Pete hates this as he is completely tied up and ready to go the minute BEFORE the boat stops at our first stop of the morning. In my head I was going back to the basics the entire trip, I was at a loss for what to throw as I always throw a topwater bait in the morning. My guide suggested throwing a jerkbait. He’s the professional, he’s the one on the water every day, he’s the one that I should listen to, so I chose the jerkbait that did me proud last January -- my Lucky Craft Slender Pointer MR in Ghost Minnow.

There is a reason you should listen to your guide. That smile and his tongue hanging out of his mouth clearly says, “I told you so.”

I came prepared every subsequent morning with my jerkbait tied on. That’s right, it was a race to the front deck to see who would get the first cast of the morning in the water.

This bait didn’t just get bites in the morning. My Slender Pointer worked all day long. If we weren’t in deep water or around visible standing timber, my jerkbait was my first choice. I would just cast it out as far as I could cast it and snap it two or three times, do that again, snap it once, snap it two times and in between each combination I would pause. Many times, I would get bit on the pause but I would also get slammed as I was snapping. Who knows what goes on in the minds of those green monsters?

On one of those retrieves back to the boat – without a bite -- my guide asked whether there was something wrong with my bait. I figured the hooks were hooked to each other as they do many times. Nope, not the problem. The reason it was running funny was the bill had broken.

These tragedies occur, but this bait was THE BAIT. Iit got me through, almost, numerous trips and caught, no exaggeration, hundreds of fish. Another one of the same size and color may not run or catch fish the same (only in my head). You know why a new bait wouldn’t run or catch fish the same way? BECAUSE THERE WASN’T ANOTHER ONE IN OUR TACKLE SUPPLY!!!

I found another color. I found another brand. I asked others in the group to check their tackle but nothing. No bait will ever be THIS bait.

It came home with me and sits on my desk, near my keyboard, as a reminder of some great days on the water. Two new ones showed up at the door within a week of us coming home. Who has the best husband?

If you ask 100 people to see their tackle before a day on the water, I would bet dollars to donuts that they will have at least one, if not several, bags of Senkos. If nothing else is working, throw out that Senko and you’ll probably get bit. On all of our Mexico trips to Anglers Inn, we always have multiple sizes – 5-, 6- and 7 inches -- and an assortment of colors, mostly green pumpkin, with red or black flake or black with blue flake, some with blue tails and some with chartreuse tails. We always have plenty, we never run out and everyone knows who to come to if they happen to run out with time left to fish.

I wrote a blog asking whether lure color matters and the more and more I fish I truly believe, that I have to believe, that YES, it makes a difference. Like I stated above, we always travel with Senkos of the colors we fish with at home. On several of our recent Anglers Inn trips when our colors weren’t working (WHAT, a Senko not working? Couldn’t be!), we were asked if we had any “mun-dust” (officially known as “Moondust” but it sounds so much better with a Spanish accent). No, we don’t have Moondust. Why would we have Moondust?

Well, this past June we waited for that question once again and our guide couldn’t believe it… We actually had “mun-dust” 5-inch Senkos. With a huge smile from ear to ear, he said “gimme” and Texas rigged, with a small weight, up what would be one of three baits I used for the duration of our weeklong trip. This was only day two.

So, these Moondust Senkos were catching a lot of fish but they don’t last forever. Our stock was limited. Since we were “trying them out,” we only brought a few bags. Do yourself a favor, purchase more than three bags of Watermelon Moondust five-inch Senkos or you are going to kick yourself and I might be telling you “I told you so.”

Hanna Robbins with a Watermelon Moondust Senko from yamamoto

June’s El Salto trip featured a few key deep spots that we returned to repeatedly. Timing and wind had a lot to do with the bite but the right bait was key as well. I know a big swimbait is great for deep water fishing but they cost so much and are too pretty to lose so I have found that the Storm swimbaits are the best bang for the buck and they truly work. The 5- and 6-inch sizes are what we normally throw but this time the fish wanted the smaller 4-inch size, especially in a pearl color. We had plenty of them in the right color, but I only used ONE -- that’s right, ONE -- up until the last day.

We sat for hours and drifted back and forth on this one spot (if I told ya, I’d have to kill ya), the Hanna hole. The pattern was to cast as far as you could, let the bait hit the bottom and slow roll it back to the boat. There were many times I would catch a 4- or 5-pound fish every cast for four casts. If I cast out and the fish wouldn’t eat after three casts, I would change things up and not let the bait sink to the bottom, I would count down to five and start reeling. When I started catching fish again, I’d keep up that retrieve until I didn’t catch fish and start the process all over again.

I am not sure what Storm makes their baits out of but they really hold up well. Good for me, probably not as good for them if they want to continue to get sales. Unfortunately, on the last day as I was reeling in a decent size bass, the fish shook it’s head and I saw something fly into the water. The tail of the swimbait separated from the body and started to sink to the bottom of the lake.

Things that went through my head:

Get the net so we can grab the tail – the net has holes dummy.
Should I jump in and get the tail? We can always glue it back on.
I have two more in the package – thank goodness.
What if they won’t eat the exact same color from the same pack?

I went to the tackle back, in the pocket with the swimbaits and the four inch pack has two Golden Mullet where the pearl ones are supposed to be. WTF!?!?!?!

Calm down, it wasn’t a total disaster. We had other baits in the boat and it was the last afternoon so don’t feel too badly for me. However, learn from my mistake. Take at least a pack or two, probably more, on your next trip to Mexico. Like I said, the basics become standards for a reason.

I saved the dead soldier as a remembrance. It sits in a Ziploc bag on my desk with my jerkbait.

Pete and I have 100 pounds of tackle waiting for us at the lodge. We bring an additional 50 pounds on each trip as a “just in case” they aren’t going to bite what we have in storage and to replace what we did lose last time. Do I take a chance and only bring my two new jerkbaits, a package of pearl swimbaits and ten packs of “mundust” Senkos? It would let me bring a lot more clothes. It would save my shoulders from carrying all the heavy bags. Tackle Warehouse won’t be too happy with my next order. As long as you have the basics, you’re usually covered, but occasionally the fish will throw a curveball at you so you can never have too much tackle.