Sorry to have been bad about my updates, after day 2 (day 1 of fishing) we woke up to spotty WiFi at the Lodge. They have starlink so I'm guessing it was a router problem. Needless to say, they didn't have anybody on site to fix it and that Remote a location in Mexico doesn't get same or even next day service.
Day 2 started rough. My father was stuck in the bathroom all night and missed the morning session, and I got next to zero sleep listening to the destruction of the bathroom in our cabin. However, the fishing made up for it.
I started with top water for about 5 minutes before giving up with zero action. I moved on Texas rig early and, oh boy, was it the right decision. In my tacklebox I have 8 plastic boxes positioned vertically. One is all worms (power worms, trick worms, speed worms, and senkos). Another is all creatures (lizards, brush hogs, craws, and randoms). These two boxes were filled to the brim, and by the time we pulled up to the lodge at 11:30, both were near empty. It didn't matter color, size, or type, anything I put on was getting hit. In 6 hours, I caught 193 bass. My guide who fished with me with my dad on the bench caught at least 75 while still running the trolling motor and taking off about half my fish when we weren't doubled up. We found a "burning bush) where every cast for over an hour we were getting hit. It was a bluff wall that had ledge about 8-10 feet down. I'd cast directly into the wall about 2 feet up, let it drop with a little extra line. By the time I picked it up, about half the time I had a fish. I'm not sure I made it to a third hop more than 10 times. It was the craziest action I've ever had across any of the 4 lakes I've fished in Mexico and anything I've had in the states. There weren't any "grandes" but a slew of 3 and 4 pounders. And boy, do these fish love to jump and tear apart plastics. This was the best catching session of the trip by far.
We get back to the lodge and I first go find my dad. Luckily whatever demon was plaguing his GI tract passed by the time he got out of bed, he got a massage, and was ready for lunch and the afternoon session. I grabbed all the extra plastics we had left in the room and we went out again.
In Mexico during the afternoons, you'll be hard pressed to find one without 15-20 mph constant winds with 30+ gusts. Needless to say, that made my Texas rig work much more difficult. I did some keeping the rod tip in the water until it hit bottom and doing small twitches with my rod about 6 inches out of the water and it had some effectiveness but was a hassle. We both started throwing XD6s and had good success, but nothing like I had that morning. A few good fish, dad had a couple over 6. Towards sundown when the wind died a bit we got back on the plastic bite. Between the two of us we probably had 75 fish in the 2:00-6:30 afternoon session.
Day 3 and 4 of of I was decided to go big fish hunting only and was throwing only giant plastics in the morning. Full size brush hogs, ZMan fat style senkos, and Ol Monster worms. My numbers were down and the size was still about the same. Moved back to crankbaits and swimbaits in the afternoon, about the same success. We boated plenty of fish but the biggest were all dads on day 2.
If your goal is to catch more fish than you've ever caught, Aguamilpa is your lake. If your goal is to catch about 1/4 of the numbers but boat 8s, 9s, and a chance at 10+, got to El Salto or Baccarac.
I will say I was definitely less sketched out in Nayarit than I was in Sinaloa. It's the safest list of Mexican states while Sinaloa is typically one of the top of the most dangerous. The owner of the Lodge at milpa is named Mario. He worked at the original lodge there under Billy Chapman Sr until Chapman tried to promote his sons at Mario's detriment and he opened his own lodge. One of Chapmans sons (with his American wife) owns Anglers Inn at Salto and Picachos. The other (with his Mexican wife) is now the equivalent of a congressman with the Mexican government. Mario is the only true home born and bred owner of a lodge for gringos at any of the lakes. Mario at one time in his late 20s worked at Baccarac as the main concierge/master of ceremonies of a now defunct lodge. He left to open his lodge at milpa about a year before the cartel killed several people (Mexicans) from the Baccarac lodge. He swears that Americans have zero to fear, and the cartels want them to come because it brings more money into Mexico. He said only one American has ever had anything happen to them while at a lodge and that's because they went asking around for drugs and got crossways with a low level cartel member. That cartel member was subsequently killed for the mess he caused. But Mario does say to do business in Mexico, he has had to speak with them, and that they have sworn not to cause any trouble and asked what he needed to make it more successful than it already is. They basically act as a shadow government.
Had a great time, with some great men. Got to see the eclipse at 98% and during lunch FaceTimed my wife and kids to see the totality from Cleburne.
Tons more I could share and can answer any questions, but I feel like I've already written a novel.
Here's some pics
