Warm Mexico Bass Fishing This Winter!

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

OLD MAN WINTER HAS OFFICIALLY ARRIVED…WARM SUNNY MEXICO AWAITS!!!

I’m not sure what the weather is doing for each and every one of you but here in Texas, it’s….well, typical Texas. One day it’s cold enough for a big heavy warm jacket, the next day it’s warm enough for shorts and t-shirts. That’s just typical for the Lone Star State. That said, I think it’s safe enough to say that Winter has officially arrived and it’s our busiest time of the year for having you good folks visit us in Mexico to escape Old Man Winter. A little over a week ago, I was hosting my general manager Carlos Lizarraga, his son Carlitos and our longtime friend and tour guide “Pistolitas” at our ranch in west Texas. Every year they come up for a week of hunting and mostly R & R before the BIG RUSH hits us at our lake operations in Mexico. Well, they’ve experienced cold weather in the past while visiting for hunting/R&R…but not like THIS trip! A big Arctic blast arrived with a fury on Saturday afternoon, December 17th…dropping temps by as much as 25 degrees within 30 minutes…from 70 degrees F down to 45 degrees F. By the time we woke up Sunday morning to go deer hunting, the temperature gauge on the front porch read 9 degrees….NINE. NUEVE. That was coupled with a wind chill of minus 3….BURRRRRR!!!! Folks, that’s cold! That’s not exactly ideal conditions to go put the boat in the water and wet a hook. I fished tournaments professionally for a while back in my younger years….and it’s temperatures like we had at the ranch almost two weeks ago that reminds me of why I don’t miss that aspect of the sport/profession! So what is there to do when one can’t get out on the lake due to cold weather and icy conditions? Of course after hunting season comes to a close? Head south! That’s the beauty of the locations of our lakes/lodges in western Mexico…it never gets THAT cold. We’re far enough south and west that we experience a warm climate year round. Sure, during Dec, Jan and half of February, it will be cool/cold enough early in the morning to wear a light jacket for that first or second boat ride across the lake, but by 8:30 am, you can be down to shorts and t-shirt…if you desire. So don’t let Old Man Winter keep you from going fishing these next few months. The bass are biting NOW and ready for your favorite topwater lure…or jig…or soft plastic…or spinnerbait…or whatever you like to use! Come on down where it’s warm and you don’t have to wait until the spring for the temperatures to get ideal or the bass to start biting again!

LAKE PICACHOS…A MUST EXPERIENCE FOR ALL BASS ANGLERS!!!!

If you have yet to fish this lake, you owe it to yourself to do so SOON! If you have, it should be on your list of lakes to return to soon. No, it’s not “new” anymore…but it’s still the newest of the lakes in Mexico and it’s actually better today than when it first opened 3 years ago! The bass are growing at a phenomenal rate…as we predicted. The numbers have yet to decline and that’s the only thing standing in the way of this becoming a great trophy bass lake. As I’ve stated many times in past updates, these new lakes in Mexico do not start to produce consistent numbers of the trophy bass (8 lbs and larger) until the numbers of smaller bass decline. Why? Because the smaller bass swim faster and big older bass are simply not interested in living in areas where they have to compete for food. This is why the older larger bass tend to live in a little deeper water provided they have adequate food, oxygen, water temperature and cover. They have all of this in Picachos.

Recently we had a big group fish Picachos…actually days prior to Christmas. Most boats were averaging 100 – 125 bass per day (2 anglers per boat)…some up to 180 per boat per day. Most of the bass ranged from 2 lbs – 4 lbs…but there were a significant number of much larger bass landed each day…meaning bass in the 5 lbs – 6 lbs class. The largest bass landed of the group weighed in at 8.5 lbs. Guess where this bass was caught? Off a ledge in 18′ of water! THAT….is what I’ve been saying for a while now. Yes, from time to time, someone will catch a bass of that size on topwater or in much shallower water…especially during the spawn months (Jan, Feb and March)…but if one wants to hook into bass of that size and larger, they’re there…but need to prepare to fish a little deeper where there’s more bass of THAT size and less of the 2 – 4 pound size. Truth is….this lake is still a numbers of quality bass lake. INSANE NUMBERS! If one wants to strictly go for giant trophy bass, we have two other lakes that fit the bill…and they’re two of the very best trophy bass lakes in the world…Lakes Comedero and Lake El Salto! Many just care about numbers…others just about trophy bass…and of course there are those who want BOTH. While Picachos has both, the best chance to get both is to book a “combo trip” …combining Comedero/Picachos or El Salto/Picachos. This will give the angler who wants both the very best opportunity to accomplish that goal.

A few weeks ago in early December, we were hosting one of our longtime groups organized by Mike Tuttle. Mike and his group have fished with us for nearly 30 years…and one of his group members, Dr. Bill Phelps, actually started fishing with my father on Lake Guerrero in the early to mid-70’s. Upon their return from Picachos in December, Mike called the office and said out of his 3 decades of fishing Mexico, this was THE BEST TRIP he’s ever experienced…for both numbers and average size! Folks, that’s saying something since Mike has fished Picachos 7 different times in the past 2 1/2 years…and has fished many many lakes in Mexico over the past 30 years! Like I stated above, the lake is getting better and better each year. The overall average size continues to grow and the bigger bass are showing up with “some” regularity.

Last….we have the largest and nicest facility on the lake. We were THE FIRST on Picachos and we believe we have the best service, food, attention to detail, guides and boats! Our guides now have 2 1/2 years of guiding experience…the first guides on the lake! Our bass boats are Xpress …the best in Mexico for fishing these rugged mountain lakes! Each boat is powered by 4-stroke Yamaha outboard engines…and every boat has a powerful 24-volt Minn Kota trolling motor that you can operate yourself if you like…or the guide. Then each boat is equipped with Lowrance sonars front and back. As with all of our operations, we offer bass rods so you don’t have to tote your own through airports. As I stated last Summer, we’re converting over to Dobyns Bass Rods…the best rods on the market! We just added more Dobyns Rods at Lake Picachos Bass Lodge last week! Get out of the house and head to beautiful AND WARM Lake Picachos! Don’t let the cold temperatures at home keep you bottled up in the house all Winter!

LAKE COMEDERO….IT’S BIG, BIG BASS TIME!!!

Oh yeah….oooooooh yeeeahhh!!! It’s THAT time of the year when all of those GIANTS move shallow for the spawn…which happens over the course of the next three months (Jan, Feb and March) on Comedero. The giant explosions that are about to take place on topwater! The feel of a giant 10 lbs bass and larger loading up on a spinnerbait, knocking slack in the line….or just having a giant eat a big jig and watching your line run sideways through that brush! It’s all about to happen,..as it does every year during this time! I simply cannot wait!!!! Get ready for my next update because I’m quite certain there are about to be some big fish (caught and lost) to talk about! You remember my update last January? The one that broke my heart and not just my line? The upper teen and maybe even a world record? Yeah….THAT ONE! Well, there were a lot more stories of big bass being caught and lost from last season…but that one left a mark on me forever! That bass, that I got to look at up close and personal twice, is just one of many examples and evidence that Comedero is not just about the “10 pound bass”….no, not even close. Lake Comedero definitely has bass in it much bigger than 10 lbs! If there’s ever going to be a new world record bass caught, I think Comedero has as good a chance of producing it as any lake in the world. This lake has upper teens in it for sure…as the lake record is 19 lbs. We’ve also had bass of 18 lbs landed. One might argue that it’s been a while since those bass were caught…and that would be true. However, we were closed there for 8 years prior to reopening last year. It only took the first year of being reopened to prove it still has that upper teen class of bass in it. Steve “Big O” Parks of Rage Tail, was on that same trip with me and he also hooked and lost a monster that he felt could have gone upper teens or 20 lbs. For those that don’t know Steve (Big O), he’s a true professional angler. He’s been bass fishing nearly 6 decades. He told me that day on Comedero after he lost the giant that of all the years he’s been fishing, he’s never hooked a bass that he couldn’t turn….until that day on Comedero! Steve has made NUMEROUS trips over 20 years to Brazil for the giant and powerful peacock bass. Steve told me that this giant bass on Comedero reminded him of how those peacocks pull on that initial “run”…pulling 10 – 20 yards of line and screaming that drag on the reel. That’s what happened to him after he hooked his giant…until she finally broke his line after running deep into the brush and rocks. It’s also what my giant I lost did to me…except my giant ran to open/deeper water…and after peeling off about 15 yards of line, she did a U-Turn and raced back toward me…before jumping out of the water 2 feet from the landing net, shaking her big giant head and the line breaking in the knot. I’ll probably never have another opportunity at a bass that size in my lifetime…but if it does happen again, it’s probably going to happen at Comedero. They’re in there….no doubt! Pro Angler and Legend Denny Brauer is convinced….calling Comedero his favorite of ALL Mexico bass lakes! It’s also why he’s returning again this season! Denny Brauer and Shane Moore fished 4 days at Comedero last January…and combined another 3 days at El Salto after fishing Comedero. Shane called me from El Salto saying he wasn’t fishing….he was totally “fished out” from 4 days of yanking on giant bass at Comedero! Folks….this lake is absolutely AWESOME! Also…from all indications, the three spawns last Jan – March had a tremendous survival rate and there are A LOT of bass in Comedero! I expect the numbers to be as good or better than last season and they were already 75 per boat average from Jan – March of 2016. This should be an incredible 3 months coming up!!! You like to catch big bass? You MUST get down there!!!!

LAKE EL SALTO….IT’S ABOUT THAT TIME AS WELL!!!

As with Comedero, the next 3 months are big time spawn action! The Fall Season was a bit of a “Jekyll and Hyde” in that it started off very slow in October due to extreme hot water on the surface caused by a few Hurricanes/Tropical Storms in August/September. As the cooler nights started showing up in November, the surface water temps also cooled down and more and more bass headed to shallower water. Jim Waits and his group, that fishes several times with us each year, was at El Salto in late November. Upon returning, Jim called me to give a report. He said, “Ron…this was the weirdest bite I’ve ever experienced on El Salto! We caught very few fish on plastics (worms, lizards, creature lures, etc)…but it turned out great because those bass were all over the “frogs”…topwaters!!!” Jim also told me that every single person in his group caught a bass weighing at least 7 lbs and some were MUCH larger!

Just when things looked to be back to normal when Jim and his group were at El Salto fishing, the lake was hit for nearly 48 hours of torrential rains….raising the lake level over 3 feet in a short period of time. Naturally this disrupted the feeding pattern of the bass in the lake …and probably the depth as well. This had about a 5 day adverse effect on the fishing but now all seems to be back to normal for this time of year. Which means the big bass that spawn on the January full moon are now going through pre-spawn and are feeding like crazy! I expect the big bass numbers to start rolling in.

LAKE HUITES…THIS LAKE IS DEFINITELY BACK!!!

As I reported to you in my November 2016 Update…Lake Huites is back with a fury! If you missed the update, please go to our “Blog” page on our website and read. Just the highlights here and a refresher for those who did read the update….I visited Lake Huites last April to check out the fishing. My partner in Mexico has been telling me for a year now that the great fishing has been back for a while and they’re catching BIG bass in Huites as well. Soooooo…I decided to invite my good friends and great bass fishermen, Terry Oldham and Steve “Big O” Parks to go with me and check out the fishing. My partner was not telling a fish story! We found great numbers, great overall size and even hooked into some bigguns! The lake is as beautiful as I had remembered it but the lodge has been completely rebuilt to 5-star status and the food is as close to gourmet as it gets for a fishing lodge operation! The drive from Los Mochis is smooth sailing as the infamous rough gravel road from the village of Choix is no longer rough…nor gravel. Yep, completely paved all the way to the lake and La Estancia – Huites Bass Lodge! The staff is second to none and the rooms are on the same level with the El Cid Castilla Beach hotel in Mazatlan. Oh and…there’s a new flight that started from Tucson, AZ that stops in Hermosillo and then on to Los Mochis. So the lake is like new with the fishing…the lodge is new from the one my father built years ago…the road out to the lake is new…and the flight is new. As for the fishing, this is definitely one of those “Best of Both Worlds” type of lakes in that the angler can catch great numbers…but also has a really good chance of hooking into a big bass of 8 lbs or larger. I personally got to look at one giant that was north of 10 lbs…but that’s all I have to say about THAT! Big O, Oldham and myself all caught bass in the 8 1/2 – 9 1/2 lbs range…numerous 6 and 7 pound bass…and too many to count from 2 – 5 lbs…but it was A LOT!!! MUCHOS!!!! Again, if you missed my November Update, I strongly encourage you to go back to the Blog page and read. This lake is on fire right now and I suspect it will remain that way for a long time. At the time we were there, there was no commercial fishing on the lake. My guide (Pedro), who worked for my father for many years on Huites, said there hasn’t been any commercial fishing on the lake in years and no talk of resuming either. So we didn’t have any of those annoying nets to deal with while fishing. At least not when we were there in April. Call me soon and I’ll give you more details about Huites and the packages we’re offering.

CONTACT OUR TRAVEL AGENT…MARTIN TRAVEL SERVICES!!!

Many of you who have fished with us and continue to fish with us, already use our travel agent, Martin Travel. If you do not, YOU SHOULD! There is a very good reason why we have used them for the past 15+ years…they are THE BEST!!! They handle 90% of our customers’ air and hotel arrangements for our trips to Brazil for the peacock bass as well as our trips to Mexico for the black bass. They have very competitive fares on all flights and also for your last night’s stay at El Cid in Mazatlan! More importantly, they are professionals and very very good at their job! Kevin Martin (owner) is a “hands on” owner and all of his staff take very good care of ALL our customers! Many of our fishing customers have been so impressed by Kevin’s services that they now use them for ALL of their travel needs…both domestic and international travel. From cruises, vacations, business or pleasure travel, they can do it better than anyone! I know you will be equally impressed as well. I will never use anyone else nor recommend anyone else. Call Martin Travel today!!! 800-627-8468

So there you have it folks! Just an “appetizer” for what I believe is about to take place starting with our groups heading down there today as well as the many groups heading to our lakes/lodges over the coming weeks/months. Expect to receive a lot of fantastic updates soon!

Call us today:800-722-0006
GOOD FISHIN’,
RON SPEED, JR.