The staff at Anglers Inn makes every trip special but this time they went over the top for us. They had a cake to celebrate our birthdays and we smashed our face into it at the same time and then laughed hysterically. It was also my best trip to El Salto so far from a fishing perspective and I was thrilled to share it with my sister Janet.

Ultimately, if your “10 lb. bass” (or your 20 pound peacock, or your 30 inch rainbow or your 50 inch muskie) would not actually meet that mark on a certified measuring device, that’s on you. You have to live with yourself. I will tell you that at least in the bass world, there are exponentially more eights than there are nines, and exponentially more nines than tens. Even on the world’s best bass fisheries, a true double digit is a rare prize. Don’t let anyone get you down because you caught an 8.22, or an 8.99, or a 9.79.