I'm back!
First thing I'll say, Angler's Inn is top notch for service. The staff will briskly walk everywhere whether it's to get you a drink, take your gear to and from the boat, or get you something to eat. The food wasn't 5 star but there was only one meal I wasn't completely stuffed and satisfied (my medium rare ribeye came out medium well/well done). The rooms are nothing fancy. Two twin beds, kinda small, barking geckos sneak in. But our sheets towels and clothes were cleaned and pressed daily, the room was cleaned spotless twice a day, and the beds were comfortable. All you can eat/drink left us all stuffed all week long.
I had one main guide, Jesus "el Diablo" Trinidad, I fished with every morning and 3 of the 5 afternoons. He was mid 20s and was very eager to make sure you didn't have to tie on anything, didn't have to take a fish off the hook, and didn't ever go thirsty. He was a wizard with getting lures/plastics back that had been hung up. Between myself and my uncle who I fished with the majority of the time, he saved all but 1 lure from trees 20-40 feet deep, no matter how many treble hooks.. El diablo could somewhat communicate in English. I'd rate him a 7 out of 10 as he was a very angler friendly guide. Maybe not the most avid fishing mind but that was ok. I also went with another guide two afternoons with other buddies when we switched up. This guide was just named junior. Junior was more of a fisherman and had a line in the water 80% of the time for himself. Zero English other than "jumper", "fish", "crank bait", "plastic", or "Carolina". Junior was a sweet kid but I'd rank him 4 out of 10.
The lake was about 45 foot low and dropped nearly 3 feet while we were there from irrigation and blue bird days.
On to the fishing. The first afternoon we get there, el Diablo takes us to two spots for the first couple hours. We are getting nailed every few casts on Texas rigs at the first spot with average weight about 2.5 lbs. We then move out deeper and start throwing XD 10 crank baits that dive 25-30 feet on a steep drop off next to a flat. My uncle got to watch me land 5-10 4+ pounders to his 1 dink. Started getting later and all the guides have us getting closer to camp. We get about 300 yards from camp and fish cranks off an island. This first evening at this spot we caught a few fish but nothing to write home about. All together for the 4 hours of the first afternoon, we ended up with 50-60 fish with the biggest around 5. Probably averaged 3 pounds per fish with best five around 21-23 pounds.
The next morning we try a few spots on top water and get nada. For some reason this lake is very hit or miss on top this time of year. We move deeper and then catch 25-35 on chatterbaits and Carolina rigs. We get close to the end and he takes us back to the island by camp and we get into the fish again. 30-45 more on fat free shads or XD 10s. Still not a ton of size. That afternoon when we went back out, the same pattern materialized. A few fish here and there on plastics and chatterbaits before going back to the island and slaying on cranks. At this point I'm wondering when the island is going to run out of fish.
Let's just say it didn't. We didn't stray too far from the island for 4 of the next 7 sessions. Deep cranks banging off of rocks and wood, coming onto and off of flats was very productive and we started to find some size. My uncle in one afternoon landed a 7.5, a 6.5, two 5s, and a buttload of 4s. I caught a 5.5 and a ton of 4s as well. Average fish that afternoon was easily 4 lbs. The other sessions at or near the island we caught easily 50-75 fish every 4 hours and size stayed in the 3-4 range. I ended up landing a four 6s, a 7, and one nearly 8. We tabulated catching over the entire trip 650-700 fish between the two of us, top being nearly 8, and probably 500 of those were right by camp at the island, including all the big ones minus one 6 I landed at a different spot.
Or our group of 8, everyone caught a ton of fish and the biggest was nearly 9. Not killing the giant size you'd think of Mexico fishing but still nothing to sneeze at. We all had a ton of fun and fellowship with our group and nobody left with their dobber down. Though I will say when we do this again next spring it will probably be at El Salto or Baccarac in an attempt to up the bigger fish caught.
I'll upload a couple pics from my phone but texags is usually pretty good at having those disappear when I do it. Yes I had the arms out one of these pretty badly but I'm also 6'5 pushing 300 so if I don't a 7 looks like a 3.
First thing I'll say, Angler's Inn is top notch for service. The staff will briskly walk everywhere whether it's to get you a drink, take your gear to and from the boat, or get you something to eat. The food wasn't 5 star but there was only one meal I wasn't completely stuffed and satisfied (my medium rare ribeye came out medium well/well done). The rooms are nothing fancy. Two twin beds, kinda small, barking geckos sneak in. But our sheets towels and clothes were cleaned and pressed daily, the room was cleaned spotless twice a day, and the beds were comfortable. All you can eat/drink left us all stuffed all week long.
I had one main guide, Jesus "el Diablo" Trinidad, I fished with every morning and 3 of the 5 afternoons. He was mid 20s and was very eager to make sure you didn't have to tie on anything, didn't have to take a fish off the hook, and didn't ever go thirsty. He was a wizard with getting lures/plastics back that had been hung up. Between myself and my uncle who I fished with the majority of the time, he saved all but 1 lure from trees 20-40 feet deep, no matter how many treble hooks.. El diablo could somewhat communicate in English. I'd rate him a 7 out of 10 as he was a very angler friendly guide. Maybe not the most avid fishing mind but that was ok. I also went with another guide two afternoons with other buddies when we switched up. This guide was just named junior. Junior was more of a fisherman and had a line in the water 80% of the time for himself. Zero English other than "jumper", "fish", "crank bait", "plastic", or "Carolina". Junior was a sweet kid but I'd rank him 4 out of 10.
The lake was about 45 foot low and dropped nearly 3 feet while we were there from irrigation and blue bird days.
On to the fishing. The first afternoon we get there, el Diablo takes us to two spots for the first couple hours. We are getting nailed every few casts on Texas rigs at the first spot with average weight about 2.5 lbs. We then move out deeper and start throwing XD 10 crank baits that dive 25-30 feet on a steep drop off next to a flat. My uncle got to watch me land 5-10 4+ pounders to his 1 dink. Started getting later and all the guides have us getting closer to camp. We get about 300 yards from camp and fish cranks off an island. This first evening at this spot we caught a few fish but nothing to write home about. All together for the 4 hours of the first afternoon, we ended up with 50-60 fish with the biggest around 5. Probably averaged 3 pounds per fish with best five around 21-23 pounds.
The next morning we try a few spots on top water and get nada. For some reason this lake is very hit or miss on top this time of year. We move deeper and then catch 25-35 on chatterbaits and Carolina rigs. We get close to the end and he takes us back to the island by camp and we get into the fish again. 30-45 more on fat free shads or XD 10s. Still not a ton of size. That afternoon when we went back out, the same pattern materialized. A few fish here and there on plastics and chatterbaits before going back to the island and slaying on cranks. At this point I'm wondering when the island is going to run out of fish.
Let's just say it didn't. We didn't stray too far from the island for 4 of the next 7 sessions. Deep cranks banging off of rocks and wood, coming onto and off of flats was very productive and we started to find some size. My uncle in one afternoon landed a 7.5, a 6.5, two 5s, and a buttload of 4s. I caught a 5.5 and a ton of 4s as well. Average fish that afternoon was easily 4 lbs. The other sessions at or near the island we caught easily 50-75 fish every 4 hours and size stayed in the 3-4 range. I ended up landing a four 6s, a 7, and one nearly 8. We tabulated catching over the entire trip 650-700 fish between the two of us, top being nearly 8, and probably 500 of those were right by camp at the island, including all the big ones minus one 6 I landed at a different spot.
Or our group of 8, everyone caught a ton of fish and the biggest was nearly 9. Not killing the giant size you'd think of Mexico fishing but still nothing to sneeze at. We all had a ton of fun and fellowship with our group and nobody left with their dobber down. Though I will say when we do this again next spring it will probably be at El Salto or Baccarac in an attempt to up the bigger fish caught.
I'll upload a couple pics from my phone but texags is usually pretty good at having those disappear when I do it. Yes I had the arms out one of these pretty badly but I'm also 6'5 pushing 300 so if I don't a 7 looks like a 3.
