1. 2017 fishing trips to Mexico’s El Salto, Picachos Organizing

STEVE KNIGHT

outdoor@tylerpaper.com

PUERTA de SAN MARCOS, MEXICO – The answer to one of life’s major conundrums quickly became very clear. If you have to choose between underwear or baits to stay below the airlines’ 50-pound weight limit for luggage, always go with the baits.

On a 4 ﾽ-day fishing trip to a location where the nearest tackle store is a country away and in which your boat has a count of somewhere between 500 and 600 fish total, underwear is not that important.

After two trips to Lake Picachos with Ron Speed Jr., Adventures, I thought I had everything figured out. I was heavy on big lizards, half-ounce slip sinkers, 5/0 hooks, one-ounce spinners and KVD 6XD crankbaits. It took less than a half day to realize I need a boatload of creature baits and some topwaters.

Fortunately Rage Tail inventor Steve Parks was there with 50 pounds of soft plastics prototypes and Speed had more than enough Missile Baits he was willing to loan.

Located about a half-hour’s east of Mazatlan, Picachos is Mexico’s newest bass fishing destination. It is in its juvenile stage compared to the other western mountain lakes, Salto and Commendero, that Speed fishes.

“This makes our third year, 2ﾽ actually, of fishing the lake. We are real happy with the results. You can catch some insane numbers, insane being 200-300 bass a day per boat with two anglers in a boat,” the longtime outfitter explained.

Speed noted that in three years the average weights have moved upwards.

“Over the course of these three years we are getting close to 3 pounds, 2ﾽ and 2 ﾾ. This week we have actually exceeded that 3-pound average,” he said after a mid-April trip.

Along with all those 3s, there were also some weighing from 5- to 8-pounds caught, but nothing close to the 12-14 lake record.

The thing about Picachos bass is that they will hit and fight. By the time a 3-pounder is landed fishermen swear they have been in a battle with a much heavier fish. It is more like landing a striped or hybrid striped bass in a Texas lake than a largemouth.

The approximately 14,000-acre reservoir is used primarily for irrigation and as a water source for Mazatlan and as a commercial fishery for tilapia. Working with Speed, local officials have also recognized its potential for attracting fishing tourism and have built a comfortable fishing camp along its shores. Carved between mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental range, the lake was created by the damming of Rio Presidio.

Because they have been pumping water since February, the lake is down 20 feet and dropping. That still leaves plenty of fishable waters and situations where fishermen may be casting into 40 feet or more of water, or onto flats ranging from 15 to 20 feet.

Since fishing began, Speed has dispatched Parks and Texas guide Terry Oldham to the lake numerous times searching out locations and techniques to teach the local guides. It has sped up the learning curve immensely.

“When I started fishing Picachos I remember all we did was fish spinner baits all the time of course after the morning topwater bite was over and in the evenings. Now we have learned the patterns on this lake and at different times of the year what the best lures are,” Speed said.

However, with somewhat limited fishing pressure compare to Texas public waters, the fish are still pretty nave to artificial.

“Of course when you get on these schools of fish, it doesn’t matter what you throw in there. The bass are going to bite it. The shad are just spawning, and these bass are really schooled up on them,” Speed explained.

I caught fish on soft plastics, spinners, deep-running crankbaits, shallow-running crankbaits, lipless crankbaits, one-ounce spinners and topwaters.

“I was out fishing and I was having a problem with a hook on a magnum fluke and I kept missing them. Finally I decided there wasn’t a lot of brush in this hole, I am going to leave the hook outside and see if I can catch them. I caught like a dozen fish in about 10 minutes with that naked hook hanging out. It is one of those lakes where you can come fish your favorite lure. You will have a hard time finding something in your tackle bag that won’t work,” Speed said.

He said they have learned the lake is best for topwater lures from October through December, and sporadically after that.

I found that true one morning fishing with Corpus Christi outdoor writer David Sikes. We kept watching blow-ups in shallow water. It wasn’t individual fish, but schools. The guide trolled closer and with Sikes using a topwater and me working underneath with a heavy spinnerbait we boated about 40 fish.

The guides, so local some of their family homes are covered by the lake, can find the old roadbeds, flat fields, ledges and other structures that will hold fish. Fishing with Austin outdoor writer Mike Leggett our guide tied to the top of a tree and told us to cast to a flat that came off the river. It took us a few minutes to find a clear path back to the boat, but in about an hour we cast maybe 5 to 10 times without getting a bite. It was easily a 50-fish hole that was just as productive the next day.

Fishing with Burnett’s Trey Carpenter another day the guide tied the boat onto a tree on a point that led from a house I had never seen before because it had always been covered by water. We started casting out into the deeper water using the creature baits and caught a few fish. I switched to the deep-running crankbait and every time I came out of the deep water and started up the side of the point I hooked a fish, including a 5-pounder on one cast. It was a 50-fish hole on the way to a 200-fish day.

The final day I fished alone with my guide and decided to keep things interesting by catching just 20 fish at a spot and moving even if they were still biting. The day, which started at 6 a.m. and ended at 7:15 p.m. divided by a two-hour rest, resulted in 99-fish trip.

The most interest catch came at the dam where the guide told me to keep the bait close so I bounced the soft plastic off the cement structure and let it fall. I actually caught one after letting the bait fall about 20 feet. It was my first bass in 161 feet of water.

Speed said spawning months on the lake are from January to March but is not necessarily the best time catch the biggest bass.

“Unlike at home when 80 percent of the bass spawn in the same month and the same full moon, it is not the case in these western Mexico mountain lakes. You have three different groups of fish that spawn three different times,” he said.

The big bass months actually come on the shad spawn.

“Your best months on this lake to catch a 7-pound bass is usually March, April, May and June because the shad are spawning and it pulls those big fish in there, especially the gizzard shad. In May and June they settle up on summer patterns and you can isolate the fish then,” Speed said.

As the lake matures, Speed expects the quality to continue to improve. However, if it holds to pattern with previous lakes, numbers will decline some.

“Right now for the guy that just wants your pole bent, this is your lake,” he said.

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