Anglers Inn El Salto Bass Fishing Report for December 29, 2005

Report:

Air Temp: 50°-56°F (Early Morning and late evenings) 75°-79°F (Siesta time)

Water Temp: 69°-72°F

Average number of bass per boat per day: 50-70

Largest bass caught: 10-1/2 pounds



Popular lures used this week:



1.Yamamoto Senkos, Yum Dingers or Bass Pro Shops 5, 6 & 7-inch Stinkos in watermelon, watermelon red flake, black with blue flake, red shad and white & chartreuse.

2. Zara Spook, Cultiva Tango Dancer and Reaction Innovations Vixen in chrome, chrome with black top, white and motor oil color.

3. RicoPop in white, white with sparkles and silver & black.

4. Eight inch Zoom or Yum Lizards and 10-inch Berkley Powerworms in black with blue tail, watermelon, watermelon red flake, blue flake, junebug.

5. Spinnerbaits in ½ to 1-ounce in white, white & chartreuse, chartreuse and shad.

6. Rapala X-Rap or 4 to 5-inch jerkbaits in white, clown, perch and shad.

7. Bomber Fat Free Shad & Rapala DT16 Crankbaits. Both medium & deep divers in citrus shad, parrot, fire tiger, white and red shad.

8. Storm WildEye 4 and 5-inch Swim Shads in mullet, golden mullet, white with chartreuse tip, bunker and shad.

9. Rat-L-Traps in ½ & ¾-ounce in silver with blue back and silver with black back.


ADDITIONAL INFO:

Top Bass Pro Says El Salto Lake Best Ever


Nobody knows what really great bass fishing is better than David Fritz. He?s a guy who has won the Bassmasters Classic, the FLW championship and the Bassmaster Angler of the Year award. A track record like that is hard to beat.

We mention Fritz because he recently got his first look at El Salto Lake. Here?s what he had to say about it: ?This was my first trip to El Salto Lake. It was by far the best trip I?ve ever been on. The service and hospitality is the best I?ve ever experienced. The fishing was also superb.

The fish were moving in the creek channels and around bluffs. Early in the morning fish can be taken on the surface with Chug Bugs. Other good choices are the new Rapala DT Flat which runs 7-foot deep or the DT 10 which is a 10-foot bait. A brown back with chartreuse sides and shad patterns work well. Many bass in the 3 to 6-pound range can be taken on cranks.

I caught roughly 25 bass per day on Rapala DT crankbaits in the morning. Mid-day I was Texas rigging or Carolina rigging Zoom 8-inch green pumpkin lizards. If fishing got a little slower, we threw cotton candy Zoom Centipedes. I caught seven fish on seven casts with the Centipede. My biggest bass of 7.15-pounds came on a Rapala Rattlin? Rap by fishing it like a spoon. Dropping it on the bottom in 15 to 25-feet on water has been successful. I caught an estimated 50 bass per day myself. If you don?t want to catch a lot of bass and gain 5-pounds of weight---don?t come to El Salto.


Travis and Courtney Williams, of Texas, also had a super El Salto adventure early this month. Courtney says: Travis and I had been looking forward to our fishing trip to El Salto for many months. The fishing was everything we hoped for. We caught an average of 100 plus fish per day for four days! Most of our fish were caught on topwater lures like the Sammy and Super Spook, wacky-rigged Senkos, and Texas rigged worms, lizards and brush hogs.

We caught so many 6 to 8-pound bass that I actually had bruises on my side by Day 3 just from setting the hook. What a great problem to have! My biggest bass topped 8.5-pounds (see photo) and Travis? biggest bass was about 8-pounds. The big bass were both caught on top with a frog colored Sammy. Thank you again for such a wonderful experience! We can?t wait to come back.

Tom Melton, of The Fisherman Magazine, was also here recently. He says: ?My first trip to Lake El Salto was a good one. Although I did not catch a 10-pounder, the amount of fish caught, plus the hospitality was superb. My largest bass weighed 8-pounds. It was a thrill because I caught it on a Zara Spook. On subsequent days I had fish to 5-pounds which rounded out the trip. I also caught my first striped marlin ever on a trip out of Mazatlan. It was a team effort between Tim Smith and myself. The Marlin weighed 200 pounds!?

Gary Besmer, of New York, summarized his recent visit here this way. ?The topwater action on this last trip to El Salto was the best ever. I fished the back of shallow coves in the earlier mornings and just before dark. I used a popper which produced this 10 ½-pounder (see photo) two 8-pounders, five 7-pounders, seven 6-pounders and more than a dozen 5-pounders. Thanks for a great time. I?m looking forward to my next trip.?