Summer 2016 Newsletter – Mexico Bass Fishing Update

[Editor: this article first appeared on www.ronsfishingblog and may only be used by permission of Ron Speed Jr.]

TEAMING UP WITH MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING TV

Ron Speed Jr’s Adventures has teamed up with Major League Fishing TV show. CEO Don Rucks of MLF has been fishing with us in Mexico for many years and continues to visit our fishing operations in Mexico every year. Legendary pro angler Denny Brauer has fished with us every year for the past 15 years and will be returning again this season for his 16th trip! Here is our newest commercial piece that will begin airing on Major League Fishing TV show. Denny Brauer narrates and gives full endorsement for Ron Speed Jr’s Adventures. Click the player below (or the following link) to watch a short video and M.L.F. commercial https://vimeo.com/169280407/b15ad5cb4c

That, folks, is quite an endorsement by one of the most respected people in our industry. Denny is not only one of the best anglers of our lifetime but is a total class act. Anyone that knows him personally or had the pleasure of meeting him, knows this to be a fact. Thank you, Denny, for placing your complete trust in us when choosing your Mexico bass outfitter!

Don Rucks of M.L.F. is also a class act and we are very excited to be part of the M.L.F. Team! With my travel schedule being very hectic these days, I don’t have the kind of time I had years ago to sit at home and watch TV. However, I can tell you that I rarely miss an episode of Major League Fishing WHEN I AM AT HOME. I thoroughly enjoy watching these pro anglers — many whom are friends of mine — and seeing how they race against the clock and the thought process involved on which pattern they decide to fish. Novice anglers can learn A LOT from watching this show. Plus, it’s just flat out VERY entertaining! Don and his guys from M.L.F. have already booked their trips with us for the upcoming season.

LAKE PICACHOS — “THEY’RE GROWING UP!!!”

This was a common theme and quote from our customers this season — time and time again! If you have kept up with my updates over the past year, I have repeatedly claimed the best time to catch bigger bass from Picachos is in March, April, May and June. This season wasn’t any different. Yes, we catch some big bass in earlier months during the season but if you want the best chance at hooking more big bass than normal, then those 4 latter months of the season have proven to be the best. Why? Well, as I’ve stated many times in the past, March/April months we have both the threadfin and gizzard shad spawning — the bigger bass move up shallow(er) during those two months to feed on shad — particularly the big gizzard shad in April. In May/June, the bigger bass move out and settle in the normal summer pattern on humps and ledges — making them easier to isolate. However, the biggest reason in all four of these months is that they are bunched up in BIG schools, which naturally gives the angler a better chance or more opportunities to hook or land big bass. As for numbers, you can catch all the numbers you want from this lake in just about any month of the year. This lake is just filthy with bass.

All of this said and back to the “They’re growing up” quote — well, even in the earlier months I heard this time and time again from customers. They’re right! I’ve witnessed with my own eyes and experienced it myself many times this season. Let me tell you about some of my experiences back in April as I spent most of the month at Picachos. On April 11th, Terry Oldham (Oldham Lures), Steve “Big O” Parks (Rage Tail) headed to Picachos. After fishing Picachos many times the past two years in April, we pretty much knew what to expect as far as the pattern — shad spawning on mud flats and bigger bass up feeding on them. Well, sure enough, the first day Oldham and Big O found a big mud flat/ledge not far from our lodge. It didn’t have much brush or cover on it at all. About 9 am, I get a call from Big O telling me to “get over here — lots of 4 – 6 pound bass on this flat!” I was fishing with David Sikes, outdoors editor at the Corpus Christi Caller Times newspaper. By the time we arrived at the location that Big O and Oldham found these fish, the water on the surface had slicked off like glass — not even a ripple and the high sun had driven those bass back out to deep water. Still, we just had to fish it, while Oldham/Big O went to look for another “honey hole”. David and I didn’t fare too well on it but stuck it out for the next couple of hours — one here, one there kinda deal. About 11:30 am, Oldham and Big O returned to see how we did. We told them “not good.” But the ripple on the water was just starting to return. A little breeze always helps on a place like this one. Anyway, Oldham said “I’ll bet these bass are about to move back on top of this thing and not that far out.” Well, just as he said that, he threw way out off the flat into about 25′ – 30′ of water, and BAM! He locked in to a nice 8 1/2 pound beauty! It was time to go in for lunch but that afternoon I vowed to return to the spot. For the next few days, this big mud flat produced tons of 4 – 7 pound bass! I took a break from Picachos to head to our other lakes for a week, returning to Picachos on April 25. I wasn’t for certain if the shad would still be spawning on those mud flats but I had to at least check them out before trying a different pattern. Well sure enough, they were still spawning! These mud flats were just stacked with 4 – 7 pound bass and even Dr. Sessions from Texas landed a 9 1/2 pounder off that honey hole in front of the lodge that Oldham/Big O had found two weeks before!

My customers fishing that last week of April were content on staying with that pattern and catching lots of 4 – 7 pound bass. However, I wanted to go test some deeper ledges to see if some bigger bass had settled in on the normal May/June summer pattern. It didn’t take me but a half a day to find the answer to this question — YES! One morning I went to one of my favorite humps that is about 18′ on top of the hump but has 35 – 45′ of water all around it. It’s also VERY BRUSHY! In fact, it’s so brushy that it requires some heavy braid line to fish. Like with most humps and this type of pattern, the bass don’t live on the hump or feed on it all day. No, it’s a timing hole/spot. I was mentally prepared to sit and wait out the bass/bite. I didn’t get my first bite until around 7:45 am, almost an hour after arriving this spot. That first bite produced a gorgeous 8 1/2 pound toad on a 1 oz Oldham Jig with a Missile Bait D-Stroyer attached! My second cast, same Oldham jig and D-Stroyer, produced — well, I will never know how big that bass was because she got me wrapped up in all that thick brush. But she definitely slammed that jig and felt heavy. Third cast — within 5 seconds or less from the jig entering that brush on the hump, produced another 8 1/2 hawg! For the next 1 1/2 hours, the bite stayed fast and furious. I “landed” 22 bass fishing by myself — 3 over 8 pounds, 5 over 7 pounds, 4 over 6 pounds and the other 11 bass were all between 4 and 5 pounds. NOT ONE of the 22 bass weighed under 4 pounds! That was in a little less than 2 hours of fishing alone. I probably hooked that many or more that I simply couldn’t do anything with because of the thick heavy cover. And of course that combined with the size/strength of these bigger bass. I finally moved on to another deep water ledge around 10 am. And between then and lunchtime, I landed another 25 bass, this time only 3 under 4 pounds, biggest 8 pounds and the rest a mix of 4 – 7 pounders! So YESSSSS — the bass are definitely growing up in Picachos. No, I’m not ready to declare Picachos a true trophy bass lake yet as it’s not. But it definitely has some big bass in it and if you are looking to combine insane numbers with a chance to catch some quality 4 – 7 pound bass in the same trip, same lake, then look no further than Picachos. It’s still the best bass lake in the world for vast numbers of bass but it’s getting closer to that trophy status each year. If you are a diehard trophy angler only, then we have two other lakes in Comedero and El Salto to fill your trophy appetite! In fact, I believe Comedero and El Salto to be two of the best trophy bass lakes in the world right now. We are able to offer our customers a chance to fish all three lakes in the same trip — or two of your choice. Nobody else can offer three elite bass lakes like Comedero, El Salto and Picachos all in the same trip. But Ron Speed Jr’s Adventures can! Call us today and come experience it with us!

LAKES COMEDERO & EL SALTO — TWO BEST TROPHY BASS LAKES IN THE WORLD???

Yes, I think it can be argued that these two lakes are the best trophy bass lakes in the world. However, it doesn’t really need to be argued. The FACT is, at the very least, they are two of the very best trophy bass lakes in the world. Comedero and El Salto continue to produce a lot of big bass every year. What really separates these two lakes from other trophy lakes is that they both are still producing great NUMBERS to go along with those big bass. This season our anglers averaged 70 – 80 bass per boat, per day on Comedero while hunting that giant bass of a lifetime. At El Salto, our anglers averaged right at 100 bass per boat, per day. That’s just unheard of on lakes that have been opened as long as these two.

One of the main reasons for these two lakes still producing great numbers and big bass is due to the bass having protection from local fishermen. These two lakes are considered mountain lakes that have great depth. Comedero being much deeper than El Salto but as many of you (that have fished El Salto with us) know, El Salto is anything but shallow. This deep water allows bass to go and stay out of the local fishermen’s nets. Those nets average 10′ in depth, from the water’s surface. That’s it. Another reason these lakes are still producing so well after being opened for 2 decades and longer is due to the use of irrigation and tremendous monsoon rainfall they receive each year. During the fall time of the year, the water level begins to slowly drop from the constant pull for irrigating local crops. By the time June rolls around, these lakes can be down anywhere from 20′ (El Salto) to 50′ (Comedero). In mid to late June, the annual monsoon season begins — and for the next 2 1/2 – 3 months, it rains approximately 30″ at Comedero and approximately 20″ at El Salto, When the rains begin in June, green vegetation begins to grow up on the shore. By mid to late July, a lot of that vegetation becomes submerged by the rising water. After the initial decaying process has passed, this provides a lot of oxygen back into the lake, making it similar to a new lake again. This is very good for the bass as well as the forage in the lake — and the reproduction of fish in the lake.

Yes, there have been great lakes of the past in Mexico that were ruined by commercial fishermen and my father had operations on some of those. However, those lakes were more shallow, flat and didn’t have the heavy fluctuation like we have in Comedero, El Salto, Picachos and other mountain lakes in western Mexico. Aside from unforeseen acts from Mother Nature, I truly believe lakes like Comedero, El Salto and Picachos will continue to be great for many years. If you don’t believe me, just look at Comedero. That lake opened in 1987 and today is still one of if not the best bass lake in the world. Same with El Salto — it opened in 1990 and has rarely seen bad fishing years. Still great today. So when our customers decide to come fish with us on one of these lakes, they can feel a certain amount of confidence that the fishing will be at least good, and likely great.

We are opened during what we consider to be the best months of fishing on these two lakes. We open our operation on Comedero December 1st and close at the end of March. I believe we could open earlier and close later and still have “good” fishing, but we are adamant about providing GREAT fishing for our customers. Comedero being deeper, it takes longer for the water on the surface to cool down after the monsoon season (June – Sept) and tropical storm season (Aug – Oct/Nov), which usually happens in late November. This is when those giant bass move to more shallow water and our customers can catch big bass on topwater, spinnerbaits and other shallow water lures. After the last spawn (March), most of the bigger bass head to deeper water in April as there is no shad spawn that late on Comedero. Therefore I have decided to close by April 1st. Again, I could leave it open another month or longer and believe the fishing will be fairly good. But I want it great for ALL of our customers. As for El Salto, not being as deep and not having quite the runoff from the summer monsoon rains as Comedero, that water is generally cool enough on the surface to catch a lot of good fish by October. Therefore we open then and continue fishing it until the rainy season is in full swing by July. Yes, those bass head to deeper water in April/May but not nearly as deep as Comedero. Thus the reason we stay open longer there. Same with Picachos — Oct – July.

Call me and let’s discuss what lake best fits you as well as what time of year for these lakes best fits you based upon the type of fishing you wish to do. I will not pull any punches with you and will certainly tell you like it is. Many of you know this as you’ve already discussed and taken my advice in the past. It doesn’t always work out as that’s just part of fishing. But we get it right a lot more than we get it wrong. Our many years of experience and success backs that claim. Call me today and let’s talk about it.

DOBYNS FISHING RODS — BEST ON THE MARKET!!!

I have fished a number of different brands of bass rods over the years. I fished the tournament circuits for years with great success and been sponsored by many different big name rod manufacturers during that time. I’ve had great success with some rods, others not so much. However, I can honestly say that I have never been happier with a bass rod than I am with the Dobyns brand of bass rods. In fact, I am so happy with them that I am adding more to our Brazil and Mexico operations for our customers’ use this coming season. As you should know by now, we provide all fishing rods in both Brazil and Mexico for our anglers. Most are 6′ 6″ to 7′ in length, and from medium heavy to heavy, and even “some” flipping/pitching rods.
Gary Dobyns makes what I believe to be the very best rods on the market. No, I have not fished every rod on the market but I have fished with enough rods for nearly 5 decades to make such a claim. If you fish with us in Brazil or Mexico this season, I’m sure you’ll be just as pleased with them as I am. If you don’t make a trip with us this coming season, then I strongly encourage you to go buy you a few to test and decide for yourself. Again, I’m confident you’ll be very happy Dobyns with rods. Gary certainly knows how to make a great fishing rod! I encourage you to visit their website www.dobynsrods.com and check out their line of rods as well as to find one of their dealers in your area. You can also contact them directly by calling (530) 671-1989.

GOOD FISHIN’,
RON SPEED, JR.