What to Expect at Lake El Salto in January

We’ve already outlined why we typically visit Lake El Salto in May and/or June, most of the reasons being functions of the fact that the low water conditions bunch fish up and make them susceptible to a wide variety of lures and presentations. Historically, we’ve also gone in January, and we’ll do so again in 2022. 

It hasn’t always been exactly January. We’ve been in November, December and February as well, and every one of them can produce exceptional fishing. For us, January typically seems to work best for us because of a variety of factors. The following is a list of semi-objective pros and cons to scheduling a January trip to El Salto and/or Picachos: 

Cold Weather Everywhere Else

Simply put, unless you live in deep South Texas or near Okeechobee or in San Diego, this is the crappiest weather period of the year, and the time least likely to produce consistently good bass fishing. That’s not true in Mexico. Even if you need a sweatshirt or jacket for the first run of the morning, it’s a rare day when the temperatures don’t reach at least the upper 70s. I don’t recall a fishing day when I didn’t wear shorts at least part of the time. I don’t know why people in places like Minnesota and Maine and Wyoming wouldn’t jump on the chance to rip some soft water lips. It’s even better because the heavy rain that comes in September and October is essentially gone. We’ve never had more than a short afternoon rain shower.

Kids Back in School

Most families have taken their vacations during winter break, around Christmas and New Year’s, and with the kids back in school it may be easier to get better plane fares. More importantly for us, it allows me and Hanna to be the good guys at work—we can take on the nasty assignments in December when those with children want to be off, and then let them repay the favor to us with a January escape.

Deep and Shallow

On almost every January trip—and I think we’ve taken five or six of them—we’ve experienced the widest range of bites of any time of year. There are usually fish so shallow that you’re surprised that their backs weren’t getting sunburned, and fish in 25-30 feet of water who will eat a big crankbait, Carolina Rig or swimbait. There’s also everything in between. If you’re someone who’s thrilled by variety, this general time period is a great time to schedule a trip. Some of the best Chatterbait bites of my life have come while drinking Pacificos, knowing that my co-workers at home slogged through snow to get to work, and the absolute best jerkbait experience of my life came down there a couple of years ago in mid-month. Bring a wide-ranging tackle selection because your needs can change by the hour.

The Greatest Topwater Bite

The best largemouth bass topwater bites I’ve experienced in my life have come at Lake El Salto in January and the months around it. Often it’s been with my favorite Rico, but the Whopper Plopper, various walk-the-dog stickbaits and even a prop bait have contributed. Actually, the best experience we had along those lines came on our first trip to the lake in December of 2009. I had not yet been to the Amazon at that time, but I recall the strikes as being more brutal than any since. In my experience, the winter topwater bite is best in years when the water gets up in the bushes and stays there. When it falls out, there will typically be good surface activity early and late, but it starts and stops abruptly.

Some Spawning Activity

People always ask “When do they spawn down there?” as if they’re going to stumble on some sort of Rojas-at-Tojo sight fishing freak show. To the best of my knowledge that hasn’t happened, and I’ve been down there with some world-class sight fishermen. If someone has stumbled onto a bunch of 8- to 11-pounders on visible beds, they’ve kept it a very good secret. I’ve heard theories that the fish spawn on particular moons, or twice a year. I can’t confirm it, but I do know that on our January trips we’ve caught bass in a variety of stages—from pre-spawn jumbos to some clearly guarding beds, and we’ve seen some protecting fry. My best semi-educated guesstimate is that if you’re there any time between November and early March there are some fish getting it on. 

While we’ve made it a habit of going to Sinaloa in the first month of the year, January is not without some downsides:

Weather delays

Depending on where you live, inclement weather can seriously screw up your ability to get to Mexico or get home from Mexico. Of course, the Dallas airport and weather patterns are a shitshow just about any time of year, but those of you who live north of the Mason-Dixon line may want to build in contingency plans if your flights are derailed by a major storm. Coming home from Lake Mateos in February 2010, we were the last flight into BWI Airport before it shut down for good. When we got to our vehicle parked at a nearby hotel, we had to borrow a shovel and dig it out dressed only in lightweight clothes and rainsuits. Fortunately, Chicago-born Hanna navigated the icy highways deftly. We probably should’ve just stayed in the hotel.

Florida Strain Finicky Fish

Cold fronts do come through at this time of year, even in Mexico. While it always gets up into the 70s, we’ve seen it as low as 49 at wake up time. The poor natives don’t know what to do with themselves, while our Wisconsin and Minnesota friends walk around in shorts and tank tops. No matter what your comfort level, these are Florida strain bass, and they don’t react well to atypically cold weather. We’ve seen them shut down, and in fact what may have been our worst trip of all-time came in just such a situation (although several group members still caught their personal bests). That’s the exception rather than the rule, and some sort of slowdown can happen any month of the year. Do we think it’s likely to happen again? Clearly, since we’re using limited vacation time, it’s not a big concern for us.

Heavy Demand

Even though the kids are back in school and many people are still enjoying a post-holiday hangover, the cold weather and good fishing make this a popular time of year to visit. If you want particular dates, or a particular guide, or some other special accommodation, they’ll try to make it happen, but it’s not always possible. Expect the lodges to be full. 

One More Note

I’ve heard some people complain about the presence of tilapia nets during certain parts of the winter months. As long as the water is not super-low (it won’t be in January) I can almost assure you that their presence has no direct impact on the fishing. I’ve had great days with nets around and mediocre days with nets out of the water. Avoiding those dates is a psychological crush. Those fish are born knowing about the nets and it’s simply a part of their lifestyle and feeding habits.

If you do want to go in this time period, especially if you have a group of more than two anglers, I recommend that you book well in advance. Prime dates fill up early and that’s especially true now due to COVID-related postponements from 2020 and 2021. Reach out to Hanna if you have questions or want to get on the schedule.