re: Lake El Salto

I've been to Picachos twice. Going again this year. It's absolutely stupid for numbers. 200 to 250 per day

The fish are definitely getting bigger. Ron Speed has a camp there similar to El Salto.

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I've been to Picachos twice. Going again this year. It's absolutely stupid for numbers. 200 to 250 per day

The fish are definitely getting bigger. Ron Speed has a camp there similar to El Salto.

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Yea I remember one morning we pulled up on a spot close to camp, and there were thousands of bass just feasting on shad/tilapia on the surface.

Weird thing was they weren't hitting the topwater very aggressive. Had to throw the senko to get a consistent bite.

It's a beautiful resort, but I'm going to wait a few years before I go back to Picachos. Hopefully they will start producing consistent 7/8/9 lb bass.

Sorry for the late update.

Went down with a group of 10. 4 first timers joined us down there. Everyone had a blast.

Biggest of the trip was an 8lb. There were a couple of 7's and 6's caught as well.

A little unfortunate on our timing because the big bite came on the last day and the tilapia nets were about to be pulled the next week.

The nets were all over the place. So if you're going to go make sure you call ahead and schedule the week they pull them every month. The tilapia season runs from December-April. The guide mentioned around the 10th of the month they pull the nets for a week. Just a little tidbit for those who plan on going.

Other than that we had a blast. I definitely caught the most. I had a bruise the size of a softball under my left rib cage that's just now fading away.

I have some great footage I filmed on my go pro that I'm trying to upload and edit.

The bait of the week was, as expected, 5" watermelon senko with red flake rigged wackey(weightless on a #4 hook). Caught some on a Texas rig 7" watermelon lizard, but the bite wasn't consistent enough for me. Topwater bite was practically non existent(caught 2) Shallow dive square bill crankbait was money as well. I was using 25 lb seaguar line and never broke off once.

Planning another trip down to Picachos in December. The size is going up there from the reports I've seen.

Welp I'm heading to Picachos next week.

Going to be flying into a recent cartel/federalie clash with the arrest of El Chapo Jr.

Seems things have calmed down.

There's been a lot of 5's,6's,7's caught in the past week or two. And one report had a group that caught a 10,9,8,and 7ber all in one day.

Gameplan is to catch 50 on the wacky senko before about 10 am then move out to the deeper water and switch to texas rigging, and cranking. Gonna bring some swim jigs, sexy shad crankbaits, and swim baits for the deeper bites.

Went with my dad in April of 2010. We each caught 2 fish over 10 with dad catching a 12. Countless 5-8 pound fish. Incredible experience, we stayed at Anglers Inn it is top notch. Cannot wait to go again.

Tight lines, send pics of some hawgs.

Well I finally made it back.

I wish these airline companies would get their shite together. We had about a 40 minute delay getting out of Mazatlan. Then by the time we landed in Dallas we had 1 hour to go thru customs, get our bags and re check them, and take the tram from gate D to gate B. Well lets just say it didn't happen.

Fortunately we were able to get on the next flight, but we had a "lightning" delay and the situation was looking grim. Fortunately about an hour later we were able to take off.

Fishing was decent. Not the numbers I was expecting. Averaged about 90 per day.

Wacky Rig senko was surprisingly not near as good as it typically is. I could catch them on it in the morning as the sun came up over the mountains, and at night prior to heading back to camp.

Topwater bite was bad, but every once in awhile I would have a decent fish blow up on it, but it was slim pickens honestly.

Texas rig was pretty effective during the day, but you had to be fishing structure or points. And even then it wasn't automatic. Had to work for it.

The best bite came on the dt-20 citrus shad crankbaits. On day 2 we caught 120, 80 of which came in the back of a deep creek where the water really shallowed up around the channel. We had 7! over 5 lbs in that one spot. It wasn't but 40 yards wide in the back, but those fish were piled in there. Spawning cove. It was right before the arm that leads to the dam on the left. One of the few that wasn't chocked full of tilapia nets.


If I were to go again I would take even deeper diving crank baits. But it wasn't effective every location you threw it, but the big bites came on it.

I honestly think the full moon screwed us. Those fish were feeding all night so they weren't as aggressive during the day time.

Another thing of note, the camp now has two separate dining areas. The outdoor area is for the Mexican fisherman and they built a new indoor area, attached to it, where the American fisherman eat.

The Mexican fisherman came in large numbers. It was a full camp and then some.

I really hope they don't fish this lake to death because I know all that pressure can screw up a lake.

And word of advice.. Find out when they are going to pull the tilapia nets before you plan a trip. Those nets are so damn annoying. And I know it screws up the fishing because the bait fish and bass can't move around with the wind with those stupid things. Every damn creek, arm, cove was covered in them. And there's not many creeks on the lake in the first place. Even the river was full of them. Honestly pisses me off. Fishing with boundaries is bullshite.