Best Mexico El Salto Trip, so far

[Pat Dilling]

I was going to say the best trip ever, but I keep saying that!  The next one might be even better.  My wife Kate and I just got back from 4 1/2 days of fishing with Anglers Inn.  The goal this year was for Kate to beat her personal best of 6.55 lbs that she caught 2 years ago.  The very first morning she topped it, and then some by landing a 9.82 lb bass on a little swimbait! Then, two days later I matched her with a 9.82 pounder on a 6XD crankbait.  I did not want to take away any glory from her by catching a bigger one. The fishing this year was phenomenal, 7 pounders were cheap and the braggin' board was full of them!  Kate also caught an 8.12 and a 7.5.  I had 3 over 8 and 5 or 6 7s. I did catch a 7.6 and a 5 at the same time on an A-rig. We did not bother to take a picture of anything under 7, and we still took quite a few!  Kate caught most of her fish on swimbaits, but also learned to fish a crankbait, catching some on a Dredger 14.5, including the 8.12 pound fish!  Best color was Chartreuse/blue.  I caught fish with the 6XD, white chatterbait, A-rig and a black/blue 10" power worm.

A lot of fish were up in the water column chasing shad and tilapia. For the folks fishing at the lodge,  the better fish, over 8 lbs, were almost all caught on reaction baits.  But lots more were also caught on various worms and a few on jigs.  We could not get a topwater bite going, but others had great success.The water level was about 10 ft lower than last year, so the places I used a 10XD last year, I used the 6XD this year.  I really learned a lot about fighting big powerful fish on a crankbait.

Here are a few pictures:  Our 9.82 fish, and my double on the a-rig,
 

[Donald Garner]

Pat, congrats on a very successful trip.  Congrats to your wife on her new PB also.  Bet that was some fight there with that double on that A-rig 

Tks for sharing the trip and those pictures with us also.

[J.W.]

Pat, looks like one heck of a good time! Congrats to your wife. If she beats her new PB she'll pretty well be in double digits!

[Pat Dilling]

Thanks guys.  If you keep a bucket list, I highly recommend a trip to El Salto, especially with Anglers Inn.  The trouble is, once you do it, you'll want to do it again!

[Mike Cork]

What a trip... I would love to do it one day... Got to get these grand kids out of the house and maybe I can afford it when I'm not buying breakfast cereal.