By Pete Robbins – Half Past First Cast

As I’ve written before, the best time to go on a fishing trip to Lake El Salto or Lake Picachos is any time you can.

We’re happy to help arrange your visit to Anglers Inn at any time you want.  Fortunately, even if you’re a newbie to Mexican bass fishing, or international travel altogether, the trip pretty much runs itself. The staff is a well-oiled machine. They’ll never miss a pickup at the airport, they’ll have all of your paperwork in order, and your drink will never go dry. The only thing you really need to bring is a good attitude and a willingness to have an experience that ranges from great to really great.

However, Hanna and I usually go South of the Border twice a year, and we’re normally accompanied by a group of no fewer than eight anglers – and often as many as twenty-something.

Again, you don’t have to join us, but there are certain advantages in doing so.

A lot of that is the result of the fact that Hanna and I have complementary skill sets. She’s the details person, the money person, the one who ensures that the trains run on time and that everyone has what they need in terms of arrangements. No man (or woman) gets left behind or doesn’t have all of the information that they need.  On the flip side, I’m the fishing guy. I want to know every new lure, every proven lure, what is likely to work, where to get it and how to pack it properly. Combined, that’s a recipe for success.

Before the trip, if you have questions about process, ask her. If she doesn’t know, she’ll find out, with certainty, in a hurry and get back to you. If you have questions about gear, historically I’d say contact me, but she’s getting better and better at knowing the right answers. Sometimes I hear her talking on the phone describing particular lure sizes and colors and I’m absolutely shocked that it’s the same woman I married 18 years ago.

Our groups sit together at meal times (unless you’re dying to be alone, which we understand on occasion – e.g., if you just farmed a 10-pounder at the boat before lunch). That means that we’re constantly sharing not just fish stories, but also education. We encourage radical honesty and a minimum of exaggeration. If someone tells you they had five fish over 7 pounds in a single session you can generally believe it, and not worry that you’re shooting for an unreasonable goal.

You’ll also be privy to information beyond just what we’re catching them on – also how we’re catching them. So if they’re eating a Megabass Vision 110, but only if you pause it for over 5 seconds, you’ll have that piece of info. It’s not that we don’t share it with others at the lodge, but rather that we extend it especially freely to our groups.

And what if someone in one of our groups is really struggling? We’ll get in the boat with them to diagnose the problem. The Anglers Inn guides are exceptional teachers, but sometimes they’re timid about correcting people who don’t seem to want to be corrected. We (and Hanna in particular) have no such qualms. A few years back we were having a great trip but one first-timer complained that he couldn’t catch much of anything and thought it might be his guide. Hanna insisted on fishing a session with him and immediately saw that he had problems with casting and equipment. After she quickly caught a couple of fives and sixes, it was apparent that the guide was on fish, and her partner for the day let her adjust his
reels, took one of her offered lures, and listened to how she said to fish it. He went on to catch his personal best. We’re definitely not professional anglers or guides, but we’ve all ridden the struggle bus and know how much it sucks. We want you to get over that hump.

As noted above, we also have a wide selection of tackle at the lodge, which we continuously restock and supplement. Even if you follow our pre-trip packing instructions, you might not have exactly the right lure, or you may run out of them. We share freely if we have what you need. At this point, after 20 or so trips, we get as much of a thrill out of watching you succeed as we do catching fish ourselves. I hope that carries over. When we get back to the lodge for lunch or dinner, we are thrilled when someone is waiting at the bar to tell us about a PB, especially if something we said or a lure that we gave them made the difference.

Even better, we love fishing with new people and if we can be there firsthand for a breakthrough or a trophy fish, it makes the trip for us.

Most importantly, by joining us on a hosted trip you become part of our network and extend your own. We’ve built a “family” across the country and across the globe of our El Salto friends. If you need a fishing contact in Odessa, Texas or Wauwatosa, Wisconsin or Australia, for that matter, we’re never more than two degrees of separation away. Some of our closest friends in the world are people who we never would have otherwise met – and who are different from us in so many ways – but we’ve bonded through our time in Mexico. We have running text threads and Facebook chats, we exchange cards and gifts, and we celebrate each other’s life achievements – and it’s all about getting back to the lake where it all started.

If you’d like to join us on one of our hosted trips, email us today at [email protected] and let’s get you booked and make you part of our circle.