A cool Lake Comedero in Mexico is still a hot place to fish

Published 10:29 pm Thursday, January 17, 2019

LAKE COMEDERO, MEXICO — Somewhere during a discussion about the Sex Pistols performing at Dallas’ venerable Longhorn Ballroom just days before Merle Haggard in 1978, the bass hit the Zoom magnum lizard and began to run.

It was not the first bite of the day, but this one was different. The pull was stronger and when the bass got alongside the boat it just kept on going. I got the fish turned and when I could see it in the clear water, I told my guide Ricardo to get the net, although I did not have to. He had already seen the fish and was moving to the middle of the boat to get ready to grab it.

At 6.33 pounds, the fish was not huge by Lake Comedero standards, but during a week when any bite was a good one and big bass were scarce, it was a nice feeling.

Located in the mountains on Mexico’s western coast, Comedero is a mecca for big bass fishermen. Outfitter Ron Speed Jr., has seen bookings skyrocket in recent years and is already almost completely booked for next season and is already booking for 2021.

This is my third year to fish the lake, my first in January. The others were in February and March, which to date was easily the best trip. At Comedero, the first spawn is in December. At that time the lake was 75 percent full, good by western Mexico standards.

It was still higher than I had ever seen it, but that was not the problem our group faced. Water temperature was.

“I have only seen the water temperature below 70 one other time in the 38 years I have been coming to this lake. We are ending the day with water temperatures where they should be when we start,” Speed said.

A snowmelt upstream had dumped cold water into the lake days before our arrival. There was a slight warming trend and temperatures had edged back into the low 70s at sunrise and 74 for a high each of the four days. The drop was definitely enough to move the bass. In a mountain lake like Comedero, a simple move could be 10 feet or more as they move from structure at one level to another.

The result was numbers, with boats bringing in 50 bass and up each day, over size. There were a number of bass 7 to 10 pounds, but not Comedero’s standard.

One fisherman who had a good week was 15-year-old Zane Petty, of Corsicana, who was fishing with his father, Kevin. The young angler, who fishes on the Corsicana High School bass team, had four bass over 6 with a big fish of 7.1.

“We lost some gigantic fish early on because we did not realize what you had to do with your drag to keep them from wrapping up on a tree as soon as they took the bait,” Kevin Petty said.

This was a first trip to Comedero for the two whose home lake is Richland-Chambers. They came away impressed.

“It is like going to heaven with a rod and reel. I thought it was a great experience. The accommodation, the view, you could just let your mind go,” Petty explained.

The duo used the lake as a learning experience, experimenting with different lures, techniques and depths until they found working patterns daily. On a lake where the water depth may be 10 feet or more just feet off the bank, they had no reference point on what to do. It was trial by fire, and with the bass having moved into 25 to 32 feet of water, there was one major key for targeting the biggest fish.

“Something I learned is you have to really slow down and concentrate there to catch a big fish,” Petty said. “They absolutely bite whatever you put in front of them as long as you fish it slow.”

It took them a day or two to figure out how deep the fish were. During the process, Petty learned to appreciate the 1-ounce jigs that are popular on the lake. His son picked up on the pattern sooner, resulting in the 7.1. Petty’s largest was a 6.8.

On the flight back to Texas, the Pettys discussed what they had learned and could carry into their next tournament. It was simple things like go deep when water temperatures are cold and more intricate tricks like instead of just casting toward shore on a point, to also consider casting outward where the point goes into the main lake. And of course they learned to slow down.

My highlight came on the last cast of the last day. I was fishing alone that day and had boated 23 fish using everything from topwaters early, to magnum lizards on half-ounce sinkers, one-ounce spinners and jigs to get deep.

With the sun setting behind the mountains, my guide Eduardo turned the boat into a cut off one of the main rivers flowing into the lake. I had caught a couple of 1-pounders off the shoreline when I told him I wanted one “abulita,” a grandmother.

Eduardo eased the boat well offshore where the bank cut back the other direction. I threw a bone-colored KVD Splash topwater as far as I could toward shore and let it sit. After a couple of seconds, the water swirled and the lure disappeared. It was not a vicious strike, but as soon as I set the hook I knew it was not a small fish.

Thankfully, it was all open water and I quickly horsed the 7.5-pounder into the boat.

Two days later, another group led by pro angler Denny Brauer found conditions continuing to improve on Comedero with two 10s, a 9 and two 8s caught.

For more information on Comedero, nearby lakes El Salto and Picachos, go online to ronspeedadventures.com.