Map of Lake Picachos
We probably don’t give Lake Picachos enough credit or the amount of space on this website that it deserves. It’s just that we’ve been going to Anglers Inn El Salto for so long that we’ve developed great relationships with the staff that make it feel like our second home. When you look at things more objectively, not only is Picachos closer to Mazatlán (giving you more fishing time on arrival/departure day), but it’s also where Hanna caught her personal best and where we had our best “numbers” session of our lives – probably 200-plus bass in a single afternoon of fishing.
That makes it hard to recommend one lake over the other. If you’re just vacationing in Mazatlán and looking for a day trip, the relative distance – about 50 minutes from the Golden Zone versus an hour and 45 minutes -- of Picachos may make it a better choice. Both lakes have the same strain of fish, the same textbook cover, and the same legendary Anglers Inn service. Just like at El Salto, you can expect to fish house foundations, flooded cemeteries, standing timber and rocky points in the morning, then enjoy a massive margarita and a massage at lunch.
If you’re going for the first time, I strongly recommend a combo trip so that you can make the choice yourself. The bill is not much more than that of a standard 4 night, 3 ½ day trip to one lake, and other costs like airfare are the same either way.
Lake Picachos was formed just over a decade ago by damming the Rio Presidio in order to serve as a water supply lake for the city of Mazatlán. The authorities have yet to complete the necessary infrastructure to effectuate that purpose. The lake is owned by the former residents of the flooded villages, who have access to all of the jobs on the lake and set up a system of rules that are beneficial to the largemouth bass and tilapia fisheries. For example, if you try to remove bass from the lake, you will severely penalized.
Looking at the broader map, it would appear that Picachos is just a brief detour on the way from Mazatlán to El Salto, or vice versa, and that the time to drive from one lake to the other would be substantially less than the full Mazatlán/El Salto haul. That’s not really the case. There is a coastal toll highway that runs most of the way between the airport and El Salto (they even constructed a bypass a few years ago so you avoid all of the downtown traffic). To get to Picachos, on the other hand, you take mostly a series of winding scenic back roads. Thus, the trip between the two lakes is closer to two hours. Luckily, you can make the ride between the morning and the afternoon session of fishing so that you won’t miss any time on the water, just a siesta (unless you can sleep in the van, in which case you’ll miss nothing).
If the Google Map is not enough to satisfy your curiosity, here is a satellite map with the lake at less than full pool. Even from a substantial overhead distance, this should give you a taste of the diversity of habitat and topography.
As you can see, Anglers Inn’s casitas are in the southwest corner of the lake, just a few miles from the dam, giving you immediate access to a wide variety of the lake’s best fishing environments. The facilities are at the waterfront, so you can walk directly to the boats, although they may give you a ride on a people-carrier when the water is low, and someone will always offer to tote your rods and tackle bag. The fishing is actually great in front of the lodge – one year a friend had 90 minutes to kill before he had to head to the airport and landed over a dozen fish just walking the bank. I may have missed a siesta or two for the same purpose.
We answer many of your other questions about bass fishing in Mexico in our “Ultimate Guide to El Salto and Picachos” but feel free to email us at any time if something is not clear or there’s additional information that you need.
Trip costs, inclusions and details can be found in our description of “The Happiest Place on Earth.”