Lake El Salto Report

[Bountiful Waters]

Things looking pretty good here.




The fishing is definitely alive and very well at El Salto!

By Billy Chapman Jr.


El Salto bass are still exhibiting post-spawn behavior, with most of the real bucketmouths being caught on citrus-colored Bomber Fat Free Shad crankbaits and pearl-white Storm WildEye Swimshads. The best fishing has been in early morning and late afternoon, leaving guests time for a nice afternoon siesta or massage.

The morning bite has been great on topwaters like Rio Rico poppers and Zara Spooks. But soft plastics have been even better producers early and late, particularly 5- and 6-inch, watermelon red flake Senkos and Dingers. Both wacky and Texas-rigged lures are producing, especially for anglers and their guides who know how to rig soft-plastic baits to best suit conditions at each fishing spot.

If you plan to go for numbers of fish, the most productive lure is probably the 8-inch Zoom lizard in watermelon red flake and watermelon colors. And here's a great tip that could help you. Bring some chartreuse dye down with you and dip the tails of your all your soft plastics in it every once in a while (including Senkos and swimbaits). That little difference may be the extra enticement you need to hook a monster bass!

Here's what some recent guests had to say about their trip to El Salto:

Mike Ishikawa reports that he and his friend Bob had "an epic trip," the kind anglers always dream about, but only experience once in a great while. "Our first day fishing was March 11," he says. "We started the day with a good bite on topwater lures and ended the morning run with 97 fish, including a 9-pounder. The afternoon bite was a little slower with 54 bass, for a one-day total of 144 fish.

"The next day we caught 87 bass in the morning and 65 in the afternoon, including a bunch of 5- to 7-pounders," he continues. "Our last day started off a little slow, but we moved to deeper water inside some tree branches and things really started going wild. We caught more than 20 fish between 5 and 8 pounds, and ended the morning with 52 large bass. The afternoon was just as crazy, with a lot more 5- to 8-pounders, for a total of 69 fish.

"In the mornings, Rio Rico poppers did the trick. Later in the day, we caught most of our fish on wacky-rigged Senkos and 10-inch worms and lizards. Our total for three days was 447 bass! What a fantastic fishing experience! The Anglers Inn staff was great, and our guide Daniel was fantastic."

Fred Pierson just came down for his twelfth trip to Anglers Inn, and he reports it was another great one. "Three of the six people in our group caught double-digit fish," he says. "Sid Triche caught a 10.4, Mike Melancon caught a 10.14, and I caught an 11.5. Sid and Mike caught their big fish on deep-diving crankbaits and swimbaits, while I caught mine on a 6-inch watermelon Yum Dinger. Food and service were excellent as always. The steak, shrimp and ribs were great!"

Our friends from Maverick brought a group of 10 anglers—Don, Kris, Jerry, David, Charlie, Andy, Skip, Frank, Bob and Keith—who were all eager to get on the water for an afternoon outing soon after they arrived on March 27. Bob reports, "The fishing was excellent, making our anticipation for the rest of the weekend heated at best. The first afternoon each boat caught from 26 to 40 plus fish, including several over 5 pounds and one at 7 pounds. During three and a half days of fishing, each boat averaged between 250 and 300 fish per boat. Kris caught two 3-pounders on one cast with one lure! Cool! Andy and David caught 180 the last day. We had three friends with us who were new to bass fishing, and after a little practice, they were catching fish the rest of the gang.

"This was our fifth trip, and we were happy to see that El Salto was back, alive and well," Bob continues. "As usual the wonderful service and massages would match any five-star hotel in the tourist zone. The Anglers Inn team is great. We look forward to another trip very soon. Thanks for the great time!"

Mike Marrone reports that he, too, had an awesome trip on El Salto. "The service provided by the Anglers Inn staff is incredible," he says. "Upon our arrival, both Tony and Pedro helped us get ready for an evening of fishing by putting our gear together while my partner and I changed for fishing. During our three and one-half days of fishing, we caught somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 fish. The quality of those bass was the best I've ever seen. We easily caught more than 100 fish over 4 pounds, including two over 8 and another dozen over 7. On one stop, we ran into a school of bass busting shad on the surface. We caught about 40 fish in less than an hour, most of which were in the 2- to 3-pound range. The guide was outstanding. I'll definitely be back."

Our friend George Tabone, who now has made 11 trips to El Salto, says, "I never grow tired of visiting. Once again Angler's Inn and Lake El Salto exceeded my expectations. I actually planned my trip just two days prior to arrival, but Maggie and your office staff arranged all the details without a hitch. Jose and the lodge staff were at their usual best, meeting all of our needs with service that the finest resorts in the world could take a lesson from. The meals just seem to get better with every trip, and it's amazing how the bar never goes dry."

George says the fishing was "spectacular," too. "In three and a half days, I caught over 200 bass that included a 10-13, 9-0 and 8-8," he reports. "Even more amazing is the fact that I caught approximately 50 fish that weighed between 5 and 7 pounds. The fight from these fish left me satisfied and tired. Most were caught on deep-diving crankbaits, swimbaits and watermelon-red flake lizards. The fishing is definitely alive and very well at El Salto. I will be back down the first week of May and look forward to another memorable experience."

And in closing, here's a heck of a fish tale for you. Pasquale DeRosa came up recently for a one-day fishing trip on El Salto. He and his partner landed around 100 bass during the day. And that evening, just before that single day of fishing ended, a 10-pound bass nailed the Storm swimbait Pasquale was working across the bottom. What a great way to top off a day of fantastic fishing on El Salto! And we have Pasquale's photo here so everyone can share see his monster bass.

As you can see from the testimonials and photographs, El Salto is back and kickin' ass. With some anglers catching over 100 bass per day, including many bass in the 5- to 7-pound range and numerous bass over the 10-pound mark, the fishing once again rates a 10 out of 10. Those of you who have trips planned for the near future should be sure to bring the lures listed in this report to help you hopefully catch the bass of your lifetime.

If you are planning to come down but haven't finalized arrangements for a visit yet, now is the time. Don't sit back and wait. There's still some of space available, and with this kind of fishing, you don't want to miss out. We'll be running our July special this season as well. For the basic 4 nights, 3 day package, we'll give the second angler an $800 discount. And trust me, it's not due to poor fishing. The last three Julys have produced more honeyholes than I've seen in my lifetime. Boats can literally stay on the same spot for an entire fishing session. This happens because the lake level in July is dropping slowly but steadily, and the bass stack up around the humps, points and creek channels. Topwater fishing is especially good due to the cloudy conditions and lower water levels.

So come down and experience the renaissance for yourself. El Salto is back, and the fishing is great. Give us a call to get your dates in today!