Bass fishing is something that many people are comfortable with, and if you want to catch numbers and good-sized fish, choose a hot lake destination. Bass are everywhere, even Arizona lakes like Lake Havasu, Roosevelt Lake, and Alamo Lake get mentioned in fishing reports when they are hot. A problem is that a good lake can be really good for a long time, and then suffer fish kills and lose some of its luster. Other lakes like Lake Fork in Texas, O.H. Ivie also in Texas, and Clear Lake in California have been a top destination for Bass’n for a long time. My tip of the day is to research several lakes and then get current fishing reports before you book your trip. When you Google Best Bass Fishing in the world, names that usually appear are Lake El Salto and Baccarac in Mexico.
My fly-fishing buddy Rod Buchanan and I were interested in fishing El Salto and Baccarac. Both were an easy flight from Phoenix to Mazatlán and then a van ride from the airport to the lake. We arranged our trip with Pro Bass Adventures through Joshua Danieles who lives in Tempe, Arizona. The most attractive part of the trip was large numbers of fish, as well as the possibility of catching trophy-sized fish. The large, delicious meals, open bar, comfortable rooms were a bonus and meeting other friendly serious fishermen from around the world lead to many interesting conversations. We talked to Bob from Philly, who was on his fourth trip to the lake, and had previously landed a 12-pound bass on conventional gear.
We fished fly rods for three days, made thousands of casts, and averaged over 100 fish a day for our 10-hour fishing days. Yes, we were exhausted, but we were chasing the possibility of 10-pound bass. We caught mostly 2,3-, and 4-pound fish, and enough 5, 6, and 7 plus fish to keep it interesting. Rod caught the big fish of the trip in our boat, and we caught several double hookups weighing over 7 pounds. We were using 8 weight fly rods, and our most successful flies were white and looked like Shad.
Vince Deadmond can be reached at vincehasgonefishing@outlook.com and 480 818 1796.
