So you’ve booked your trip to El Salto, Picachos or some other Mexican lake, you’ve analyzed the basic tackle you need to bring, and perhaps added a few extra things you want to try. Now you need to get it organized, so you can access what you need when you need it. Time flies. Every minute wasted is one minute that you won’t be catching your new personal best.

So you’ve packed up your clothing, tackle and other essentials for the trip of a lifetime to El Salto or Picachos and you still have room in your luggage. What do you do? Certainly don’t add another shirt – Anglers Inn does your laundry every day. Instead, now it’s time to start supplementing the basic list of tackle we’ve previously provided.

For generations we’ve been told that “big baits equal big bass,” and that’s often true, even on Mexican waters, where you may be within casting distance of more giants than on any other public waters in the world. With that in mind, what I’m about to tell you defies the textbook and may seem counterintuitive: Sometimes small is better.

In the retelling of your Mexican bass fishing trip, topwaters may get the love, crankbaits may get the glory, and soft plastics may catch the numbers – but if you forget about spinnerbaits you’re ignoring a highly-productive tool. Sure, spinnerbaits have lost some of their market share in recent years due to vibrating jigs, swim jigs and swimbaits, but they never stopped working. Be sure to have some in your El Salto or Picachos tackle selection.

In all likelihood, the bass at Mexico’s Lake El Salto and Lake Picachos are generally dumber and more aggressive than at any other public body of water you’ve fished. The long growing season means that a one-year-old fish can weigh 2 pounds, which in turn means that they have to constantly outcompete their brothers and sisters for food.

Over the last six years Hanna and I have been like clockwork with respect to our Mexican bass trips – heading there each January and then again in May and June. There have been a few outliers, like trips to Picachos last February and November, but generally those have been in addition to, rather than in lieu of, our regularly-scheduled visits.

If you’re flying to an exotic fishing trip, I strongly recommend that you do whatever you can to bring your reels in the airplane cabin with you. Many lodges, guides and outfitters provide rods, so If you lose your sticks, you can probably borrow some. If your lures get misplaced, you should be able to buy or grab a few from a sympathetic friend. I can tell you from experience, however, that borrowing reels is often a nightmare.