Even if you’ve traveled extensively with a rod and reel in the United States, Lake El Salto’s full sensory overload may produce some questions in the form of “What the hell did I just witness?”

I have been speaking to David Leiffer about his stupendous idea of taking his son Ryan to Anglers Inn El Salto for his graduation present from high school close to a year. Based on how it went I think they both wish there was another graduation around the corner.

Whether you’ve done this trip a thousand times, or it’s only your second visit to the Mazatlán airport (see our arrival guide here), there are a few things that’ll make your departure go more smoothly. Having done this nearly 20 times, we’ve made all of the mistakes, so you don’t have to.

Friends are often surprised to hear that we go to Mexico during the warmer months. Indeed, there are several prejudices working against making such a trip. You may be giving up a few days of exceptional fishing at home, but in all but a few instances it’s likely to be better South of the Border.

In approximately 20 fishing trips South of the Border, we’ve had approximately 10 that were “trips of a lifetime,” maybe seven that were very good to exceptional, and three where we had to work for our bites. I hope that your next trip to Mexico is as good as or better than one of our best ones, but in case it’s not – here’s how to turn unmet expectations into a successful trip.

f you’ve read our “Ultimate Guide to El Salto and Picachos” it should be pretty obvious that we’ve spent hundreds of hours trying to figure out how to maximize every trip South of the Border, developing systems for everything from what to pack, to how to pack, to what to eat and lures to throw. Despite all of those best-laid plans, however, we still screw up at times. We’ve decided to be transparent about our mistakes, hoping that you don’t end up repeating them.

Every time we go to Mexico I learn or relearn certain things, or get an opportunity to test out new products and theories. This may seem like a bunch of disconnected mumbo-jumbo, but I’m hoping that some of you can benefit from my experiences. Here are eleven notes from our June 2021 trip, in no particular order.

We were warned prior to our recent trip that Lake El Salto was at record low levels, and while we can’t confirm the historical accuracy of that statement, we can confirm that the lake is lower than we’ve ever seen it – and that’s over the course of 15-20 trips, with one or both of us visiting during the low water season every year since 2013. Here’s a gallery of some of the scenery.

I have a severe case of FOMO (fear of missing out) so it’s lucky that Anglers Inn provides the only “Combo” that matters at this stage of my life: Two similar but distinct lakes that both offer great service and great food, but which can fish differently on any given day.

I will never be as famous as Vinko Bogataj for his wipeout featured on ABC’s Wide World of Sports, but my disappointments and failures leave me just as devastated. Anyone who has ever fished knows that while we like to talk about our success, the chatter at the dock is always about “the one that got away.”

If you’re traveling to catch a new species, unless you’re exclusively a trophy hunter and you’re willing to blank, go someplace where you’re going to get a lot of bites. That may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how often travelers disregard it. They’ll go to a fishery that has “some” smallmouths or “some” muskies and target those lesser fish, rather than either targeting the predominant species or going someplace that actually has numbers. Then they’re surprised that they don’t succeed.

We’re headed to famous Lake El Salto in June of 2021 for an offshore slugfest — and there are rooms available if you want to join us.

Well over 80 percent of Anglers Inn’s business consists of repeat customers. In our trips down there we see many of the same people over and over and over again, some of whom have been coming for over 20 or 30 years and visit up to five times per year. So if before you depart you’ve already decided that you want to return, you should start preparing ASAP. Prime dates get booked up quickly, and particularly in the era of COVID lots of rescheduling filled them up ever earlier than usual for 2021.

I want everyone – and especially women – to be cautious, but I also want them to have a chance to experience the great fishing at Lake El Salto and Lake Picachos. I’ve been visiting Anglers Inn properties since 2009, and while there have been a few women in our groups, historically they were mostly or entirely male, except for me. Back in June of 2017 I decided that listening to all the men jibber jabber about all the fish they caught, how they caught them and how many beers they drank was getting old -- we needed some more lady anglers in the mix.

Potential guests often ask us which lake they should visit, or whether they should go to both. There’s no hard-and-fast rule. People assume that El Salto is the “big fish lake” and Picachos is the “numbers lake” but we’ve seen weeks where that has been reversed. The single best numbers day we’ve ever had was at El Salto, and Hanna’s PB to date is the 9-12 that she caught at Picachos.

Have you ever seen someone waltzing onto an airplane with just a paperback book, a small tablet, or perhaps nothing at all? I’ve always wanted to be that guy, someone who travels light and doesn’t seem to miss anything, but the truth is I will never be that guy. I’m an overpreparer, a true belt-and-suspenders type.

Many of the fishing packages offered by Anglers Inn include a half day on the water, either on the day you arrive or the day you depart. For a variety of reasons, it’s most likely to occur on the front end, if at all. If you’re already in Mazatlán, it may not be a problem to arrive in time for lunch and a full afternoon session, but if your plane arriving and you’re headed straight to the lake, you’ll need to be efficient if you want to make it count.

Whether you’re an experienced world-traveler or an air travel virgin, each airport presents its own set of challenges – and if you’re traveling to fish those concerns may be compounded. Whether you’re headed to Anglers Inn El Salto or Picachos or a number of other destinations in Sinaloa, General Rafael Buelna International Airport in Mazatlán (MZT) is likely your arrival point.

Circa summer 2009: I’m planning Pete’s 40th birthday party for February 2010 and I’m at a loss -- What to do? what to do? I think I threw him a surprise party on the actual date. Good golly I’m old. I can’t remember anything anymore. What I do remember is that before the actual birthday I gathered some friends to go to this place that Pete talked about endlessly: Lake El Salto, Mexico.

Hanna and I have been to Anglers Inn El Salto and Anglers Inn Picachos nearly 20 times combined, with more visits to the former than the latter. We’re frequently asked “Which guide should I request?” or “Who is the best guide?” When we don’t have a definitive answer, people assume we’re trying to hide something from them. If they only have the magic guide, they assume, they’ll catch one double digit after another after another. If only it were that easy.