Bass pro Adrian Avena with a bass that bit a chatter bait. (Photo by Scott Bernarde)
October 26, 2017
Join Game & Fish Digital Editor Scott Bernarde on a trip targeting huge largemouth bass at Lake El Salto, Mexico.
It was a once-in-lifetime fishing opportunity — a bucket-lister for any bass angler looking for a personal-best fish and an exotic destination.
Mexico's Lake El Salto , the legendary trophy bass lake north of the popular beach vacation spot Mazatlan, fits the bill. With the Mexican Sierra Madre mountains as a backdrop, El Salto ("The Jump" in English ) is certainly among the best lunker bass locales in the world.
Why El Salto? "You never know what your next bite is going to be," said Abu Garcia brand manager Andrew Wheeler, one of the hosts of an October fishing excursion with members of the press. "It could be the biggest bass you've ever caught in your life."
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The anglers were based at Anglers Inn International , located right on the lake. The top-shelf lodge and outfitter is a 90-minute van ride from the Mazatlan airport. Once you're on Lake El Salto, it's game-on.
The 27,000-acre lake teems with large aggressive largemouths, which are just as likely to bite a lure offering from a novice as they are from a pro angler. Lake El Salto is where bass pro Kevin Van Dam reportedly caught his largest five-fish stringer of his life, weighing more than 50 pounds.
Game & Fish participated in the fishing excursion, sponsored by Abu Garcia and Berkley Fishing to showcase some of each companies' noteworthy products for 2017 --particularly Abu's Veritas rods and the newest addition to the Revo reel family , the affordably priced Revo X , and Berkley's new line of Max Scent soft plastics, Dredger deep crankbaits and Warpig lipless crankbaits.
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In three full days of fishing, the group of eight — including Wheeler, Berkley development manager Jeremy Albright and pros Adrian Avena and Scott Suggs — caught hundreds of chunky bass, many in the 5- to 9-pound range. Most of the fish came from deep points and humps with standing timber. The largest fish was a 9-pounder on a crank bait by Avena.
Many lures and presentations caught bass, but the Warpig and Berkley's new General (soft-plastic stickball) and the trustworthy 10-inch Powerworm may have caught the most.
Check out the videos below from the awesome trip (and look for more videos and stories about the gear and techniques used in the near future). Then start thinking about double-digit bass!
El Salto 8-Pounder El Salto 6-Plus LMB More El Salto Highlights
