By By Ray Davis

We're all aware of how blessed we are for having an abundance of great fishing lakes in the Deep South. But "Deep South" fishing takes on a whole new perspective with a visit even further south to el Salto Lake in Mexico. Located just a 1.5-hour drive north from Mazatlan, this experience provides you with all the great fishing, food, drink and accommodations you could desire. It is truly the bass fishing trip of a lifetime.

El Salto is located in the heart of the Sierra Madre Mountain Range, and at "full pool" contains 23,000 acres of water. It is part of the Elota river chain and was originally stocked with Florida strain bass in 1986 by Billy Chapman, owner of the Anglers Inn Lodge located on the lake. Recently, my son Chad an I and two other friends had the opportunity to spend a week at El Salto. We departed on Memorial Day to Mazatlan, Mexico where a representative from our host lodge, Anglers Inn, met us there and transported us to the lake.

A typical day at Angler's Inn starts at five each morning with a knock at your door. Coffee and juice is served bedside, but a splendid breakfast is served downstairs at 5:30 a.m., complete with eggs, omelets, bacon, sausage, potatoes, pancakes and more - all prepared to your liking. At 6 a.m., you are escorted to the boats for the morning fishing session with your guide. The boats are large with 48-h.p. outboards and trolling motors with extra batteries.

You fish until approximately 11 a.m. and the return to the lodge for lunch at 11:30. (Lunch is usually burgers and Mexican, unless you have a special request.) After a couple of hours' siesta or just relaxing with your favorite beverage, you return to the lake to fish from 2 p.m.-7 p.m. Upon return, the staff meets you at your boat with more beverages, and after a short time to relax and recount the days experience, you're served dinner. (Dinner means high-quality steaks, shrimp, burgers, soup, etc. as well as any type of Mexican dish you could want.) After a cerveza (or two), you're ready to retire to do it all over again the next day.

Last October, I traveled to El Salto and have previously fished both Lake Huites and Lake Aqua Milpa in Mexico in the past. I have particularly come to appreciate the friendliness and the attention to detail of the Mexican people.

But this summer, we fished for five days at El Salto. Our catch was 500 bass weighing just over 2,000 pounds...that's right: a ton of fish. We caught 46 fish over 8 lbs., with the largest at 11.5 lbs. (There was also a 14-pounder caught by another party there at the same time). Probably the highlight of the trip was Chad catching three 10-lb. bass on five casts our first day there. My partner and I also caught a couple of seven-pounders dipped up at the same time by our guide Chako. A big fish tournament was held during our stay, and among the 20 participants, the 14-pounder took top honors. The top 50 bass in the tournament weighted just over 500 pounds. (If it wasn't over 10 lbs., you didn't need bother to record it. Just put back to let it grow up.)

During the summertime, the lake is down approximately 20 feet and the large majority of fishing is done with large worms and jigs. Fish are schooled up 15-20" deep. The guides have them located and you're able to catch lots of fish in a single location. For those of you who prefer to fish the banks and visible structure, you can also catch all the smaller fish (five lbs. and less) you desire but it was crystal clear that the big ones were deep.

Personally, I prefer top-water fishing and during the fall, say October, it is clearly a great time for plenty of top-water action. I got lucky with Pop R's, Spooks, Buzz Baits, etc. For our summertime excursion, however, we required ample supplies of 10"-12" worms (Yamamoto Zoom, etc.). A Black and Blue combo worm seemed to work best. We used 1/2-ounce weights, and 5/O to 6/O-wide gap hooks fished on 20 lb. test line for best results. we improved our luck on worms further by adding one or two beads below the weight having discovered that our jigs with rattles were more effective than those without. This also worked with the worms as well. The jigs we used ranged from 1/2-ounce in size and we trailered them with 6"-10" worms and lizards. Again, while several colors produced, black/blue combo was best and the larger the bait the better. Should you run short of the fish's favorite meal during your stay, Anglers Inn has a tackle shop on site to help you replenish.

Overall, we "only" caught 60 to 70 fish per person, per day - as opposed to the 100+ per day we caught back in October. But for size and the opportunity to catch a truly big bass, there's no doubt this is the time! By the way, the lake record is now 18.5 lbs. with another 17-pounder caught just last month. I don't know if the world record bass swims in these waters or not, but with the warm temperature, long growing season, and the abundance of tilapia, crawfish, and shad for the fish to eat, if it's not - it may well soon be. You can bet I'm headed back to El Salto...

At last check, the cost of the three-day fishing trip was approximately $1600 plus air fare. This includes ground transportation, accommodations, food and beverages. You should expect to tip your guide $15-$20 per person, per day. Upon departure, you should provide a similar gratuity to the staff.

We truly enjoyed our experience at El Salto and appreciate the opportunity to share it with you. If you are looking for that truly special fishing trip, you should definitely keep El Salto in mind. You can find out more about El Salto via the Internet @ www.BasMex.com. (Bill Skinner was our booking agent and this is his web site.) Just tell him Ray Davis sent you or call me direct for more information at 1-800-327-6664 or (205) 437-7704. Just like most of you, I;m a guy who enjoys good fishing, and boy did I find it at El Salto in Mexico.

Best of luck to you. When I see you down south at El Salto, the margueritas are on me.