El Salto Fishing Report

This lake just keeps on producing great numbers of large bass. Every single group the past 3 weeks has had some of the best big bass fishing I have seen at this lake in over 5 years. There have been more numbers of 7 to 13 pound bass than I ever remember even in the first years. How many of you have ever caught three 10 lb bass in one day of fishing? Well, that is exactly what Tom Worthy did on June 11, fishing with Armando Sr. They have been using a citrus-color deep-diving crank bait. What happens this time of the year when the lake gets low from the crop irrigation is that the big bass bunch up along the river or on underwater islands.

Our guides have learned through the years just where these hot spots are located and when the fish inhabit these deep water humps it is “lights out.” Fantastic!!!!!

Bob Griggs from Texas just got back with his group yesterday and called this morning to book the whole camp for next June.

Personal Story

Twenty five years ago I was traveling the country running bird dogs in field trials and having a ball. My good friend in Los Mochis, Roberto Balderrama, called me and invited me back into the fishing business once again. After a little arm twisting, I agreed to go back to see him and fish Lake Comedero.

Well, it’s been quite a 25-year ride and I have enjoyed every minute of it and plan to spend more time at the lodges next season. However, I do plan to try and run a few field trials as I just never got to do enough of it 25 years ago.

I bought some nice Tennessee walking horses and raised some good bird dogs and am looking to enjoy this hobby when time permits. I went to a trial in Mexia, Texas back in March right after buying the horses. I was really excited to see a lot of my old friends after 25 years.

I saddled up my fine new horse and went to get mounted and I couldn’t get on the horse. I have ridden horses on and off all my life and never had a problem.

I soon realized I was a lot older and of course had gained a lot of weight. I was so embarrassed to have to get up on a 5 gallon bucket to mount my horse.

On my way back home I decided if I wanted to start back with my favorite hobby (trialing) I had to make some changes in my life. I am now 70 years old and if I don’t do it now I probably never will trial again. I made up my mind to lose some weight and gain some upper body strength so as to pull myself up in the saddle.

This was in the last week of March and I weighed 207 lbs with a pot gut and a tight 40 inches in the waist. Today, the 17th day of June, I weigh 176 lbs and I put on an old pair of 36 inch blue jeans. I had a problem with blood sugar, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc. when I started losing weight. Today I no longer have any problem with any of those illness.

I feel 25 years younger and have endless energy. How did I do it??? I didn’t do any of those diets you see on the TV. I know basically diets as such just don’t work. You lose the weight and then go back to eating normal and you wind up gaining it all back.

Here is what I did…. I picked out the foods I liked the most that didn’t have carbs. One of my favorite meals is fish, so I based my NEW LIFE HABIT on fish. All kinds of fish, but my main staple is ceviche, which I learned to make in Mexico. I just love it and it loves me. I also bought several cans of light Tuna, mixing Mayo and dill pickles with it. I bought several cans of sardines which I love with a little Tabasco. Once a week Virginia & I will grill 4 tilapia fillets on the outdoor grill. I brush them with olive oil and at the end brush on a little butter.

Every Sunday after church we eat fried catfish. Now, this is not too good if you are trying to lose weight… but I refuse to totally cut out all my favorite foods so I cheat one meal a week.

I also love salads if the lettuce is fresh and crispy but for me the biggest problem was the dressings to put on the salad. I couldn’t find any of the store-bought dressings I liked except the ones that were fattening. Therefore I made my own. I mixed a half cup of olive oil, 2 packets of Splenda, 1 tablespoon of garlic power and 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. MAN WHAT A GREAT DRESSING!!!!!!!!!

I hope to goodness I haven’t bored you with this personal story, but maybe some of you may wish to lose some weight and eating fish is a good way to do it.

The recipe for the ceviche is: 6 filets of tilapia from Walmart cut in small 1 inch cubes, 30 limes juiced in an electric juicer, 4 cloves of garlic chopped fine, one red, one yellow, and one orange bell pepper cut into 1 in. cubes, 1/2 cup of cilantro chopped very fine, 1/2 cup of olive oil, 6 green-top onions chopped into small pieces, and 4 firm Roma tomatoes cut into small pieces. Be sure and remove all the insides from the tomatoes as you want everything to be very firm and crisp.

I marinate the fish in the lime juice over night and then add all the other ingredients the next morning. Let it set in the fridge for maybe 4 hours and then get you a big bowl, add a few hits of Tabasco, a few hits of fresh ground black pepper and just pig out. I promise you won’t gain a pound eating ceviche and it’s good.

Some people think you are eating raw fish but it is not raw as the lime juice cooks it very well. It’s not raw even though it is not cooked using fire.

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR FISHING AND PLEASE WEAR THE LIFEJACKET

Today let’s start out with a fishing report from Lake El Salto. Our last large group for this season had great fishing as they weighed in 56 bass over 7 pounds. Drew Daniel of Arkansas & his boat partner Windy Brackney had a 13.2, 10lb, 10lb, 11lb, and a 9lb ALL IN ONE DAY which was the 9th of June.

Those fishermen who got through all the bad press, the travel advisory and everything else had some FANTASTIC fishing this season at Salto. It seems like crankbaits in the citrus color were the HOT bait.

I am very happy to announce that Ron Speed Jr. is back with the company as he takes the place of Charlie, who retired in March. Ron Jr. and I will be in the camps a lot next season, so come on down and join us for some great fishing.

I am going to change the content of this blog to include a wide variety of subjects that should make it more informative and entertaining. Today I am going to talk some about fish fillet knives and sharpeners. I have been interested in fillet knives most of my life and also just plain old pocket knives.

My uncle Jester Layfield–my mentor in bass fishing–always carried a very small yellow-handle case pocket knife with a small 2 in blade for skinning black bass. Two cuts on top and 2 cuts on the belly and with a pair of pliers, zip–off comes the hide.

I would bet that I have bought over 100 knives through the years looking for that special knife that sharpened easy and held its edge for a WHILE. Today, I carry a Case BROWN MULE, OR A Case SODBUSTER, in a holder on my belt. I buy almost all my pocket knives from Smokey Mountain Knife Works in Tennessee. Phone number is 1-800-251-9306.

Let’s talk about knife sharpeners. Until about 3 years ago I just couldn’t learn to use a stone to get my knives sharp enough to shave hair on my arm. About maybe 15 years ago I got so frustrated that I called my friend Ray Sasser, the outdoor editor of the Dallas Morning News and asked him if he could recommend a good sharpening system for knives. He recommended the Lansky system so I bought one and liked it so much I bought another. It was a good system but it took some time to set up all the rods and just took too much time.

I kept on looking for better and easier ways to sharpen my knives. About 3 weeks ago I found a sharpener called Meyerco on the net. I bought one and it was great. I sent Ray a note about it trying to pay him back for his help many years ago.

As things sometime go, about 3 or 4 days later I discovered a better knife sharpener made in Alaska by the Eagle River Knife Company. This small sharpener is great as all you do is pull the blade through it 10 times and you have a really sharp knife. Even a dummy like me can do it with no trouble at all, which means a 10 year old child can get a knife razor sharp in one minute without any problem.

This fantastic company also hand-makes one of the sharpest and truly beautiful fillet knives. It’s a bit pricey at $100, but it is a knife of a lifetime.

You can call toll free at 866-375-6433 or go on line at www.eagleriverknife.com or www.alaskanulu.com.

After 60 years looking for the best knife and best sharpener I feel like I have found it. In closing, let me recommend to you what I believe is the best electric fillet knife on the market. It is the American Angler yellow-handle knife they call the Elite or something like elite. Anyway, Walmart used to sell them, but now I guess they have stopped. You can find them on the Net and they sell for about $30. This knife is the favorite for Professional guides all over the country.

The Black & Decker fillet knife is ok for the price of $10 at Walmart, but is not in the class of the American Angler.

Hopefully these tips will be of benefit to you in your pursuit of knives and sharpeners.

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR FISHING AND WEAR THAT LIFEJACKET.