We averaged over 70 fish per day in our boat!

I just returned from a fishing trip to Lake El Salto in Mazatlan Mexico and as usual it was a fantastic time.  My outfitter for this trip is Billy Chapman Jr’s Anglers Inn, I have fished here numerous times and his staff never disappoints.  In fact his staff is the reason to go here, the fishing takes care of itself with help from knowledgable guides.  Anglers Inn slogan is “Service is our Focus” and they live up to their motto for sure.

From the time you clear customs at the airport in Mazatlan you are greeted by an Anglers Inn representative and taken to the van for the 2 hour ride to the lodge, where upon arrival you are greeted with a large margarita and a smile.  While you are enjoying your drinks and a lite snack your gear is being taken to your room .  If you arrive early enough (2 to 3pm) you will be introduced to your guide and taken out for the evening bite.

It’s back to shore around 5:30 pm (depending on time of year) where you have time to freshen up and make your way to the bar for a cold beverage and catch up on all the fishing stories of the day.  Dinner is usually served between 6:30 and 7:00 pm consisting of anything from Steaks to traditional Mexican food, it’s always good and there is always plenty for seconds.

Morning starts at 5:00 am with a knock on the door and fresh coffee brought to your room.  As soon as you make your way to the open air dining room the buffet style breakfast with cook to order omletts will be waiting for you.  We made short work of our breafast and were on the water before first light and ready to throw the first cast at our selected spot just as the glow from the sunrise was peeking over the mountains.  We fish until 11:00 am when it is time once again to eat (yes I gained weight on this trip)more home made food and maybe a margarita or two.  After a short siesta it is time to do it all over again.

In the 3 shorts days we fished my boat (myself and father in law Gary) caught close to 200 fish which included a couple of 7 pounders for the big fish and one of those was caught on top water!  While neither Gary or I caught the double digit fish this time there were several in our group that did and I should also mention that everyday there were multiple 8 pound and 9 pound fish caught.

We obviously had a great time and can not wait to return.  I have posted pictures of our trip that you can check out here http://blog.fishandhunttheworld.com/photo-album/?album=17 

If you would like information on this trip please give me a call Greg Ray 918 407 2586 or email me greg@outdoor-connection.com

 Here is some information from the outfitter:

Welcome

 

All fishermen do some dreaming about the “big ones” now and then.  You’ve just taken the first step to making your own dreams comes true.  We’ve been doing that for fishermen for a long time here at Anglers Inn.  One of the reasons we can is because we’re smack in the middle of the most incredible fishing Mexico has to offer.  But that’s just one reason.  A second reasib, and it’s equally important, is we provide services that match the awesome angling opportunities.

 

You’d expect any business to toot its own flute.  We don’t have to do that.  There are others who do it for us.  You are probably already aware of what nationally and internationally known anglers who have visited Anglers Inn operations have had to say about the experience.  We’re talking about writers like Bassmaster’s Tim Tucker, top bass pros like Kevin Van Dam, and tackle industry leaders like Dave Pfeiffer, the top gun at Shimano.  If you ever have opportunity, ask internationally known writer and casting expert Stan Fagerstrom how he feels about Anglers Inn.  Or you might want to check with Bruce Holt, the chief executive officer for G.Loomis Rods.  Bruce caught four bass of more than 10-pounds the very first time he fished with us.

 

We’re willing to bet big bucks the experts we’ve named will tell you Anglers Inn is one of the best fishing operations they’ve ever seen.  And keep in mind that some of these guys have fished all over the world!  If you want a female opinion, check with Katie Watson, the award-winning business lady from Kellyville, Oklahoma.  And try this for size: Katie has

boated a couple dozen bass of more than 10-pounds in previous visits with us.  She’ll tell you one of the things she especially likes, besides the wondrous fishing, is the feeling of security she has while she’s here.

 

Regardless of where your travels take you, sooner or later things boil down to just people.  Ours are the best.  They take care of every need of each one of our visitors.  And that applies whether you’re fighting saltwater game fish like marlin, sailfish, snook, roosterfish or during the down time you have when you’ve come in from fishing for bass on famed El Salto Lake.

 

Again—you don’t have to take our word for it. Ask around.  Visit the top angling web sites.

Look at the fishing magazines. Watch television’s fishing shows.  Better yet, give us a call.  We can provide you with references from here to breakfast.  We welcome that opportunity and we urge you to check them out.  We say that in part because there’s another fact of which we’re extremely proud.  Darn few of the fishermen who come here, you see, come

only once.  Most want to come back and eventually do return.

 

They want to come back for the reasons we’ve just touched on—fishing thrills for anglers of all levels of expertise in a safe and secure environment, beautiful surroundings, excellent food and a hustling staff that’s second to none.

 

 

Famous Lake El Salto

 

 

There are many jewels in the Anglers Inn crown.  Certainly one of the brightest is famed Lake El Salto.  If you’ve fished enough to know a backlash from a barracuda, you know that plug pitchers from all over the globe say El Salto is the best bass lake the world has ever known.

 

Once again we don’t ask you to take our word for it.  Others have said or shown it for us. You may have already seen evidence of that on many of the nation’s TV fishing shows as well as in the top bass fishing publications.  Those television personalities and top writers will tell you the same things we’ve already mentioned—Anglers Inn provides service that matches the fantastic fishing to be found at this beautiful Mexican bass lake.

 

We were the first to introduce the world’s anglers to Lake El Salto.  As a matter of fact, the lake wouldn’t be producing the super action it does if we hadn’t worked with Mexican fish officials to introduce pure Florida strain bass when the lake was still in the process of forming. 

 

There’s no sweat involved in getting to El Salto.  All you need do is get to Mazatlan.  We’ll take it from there.  We’ll get your gear from the airport and into one of our modern vans. Less than two hours later you’ll be at beautiful El Salto Anglers Inn Lodge.  You’ll be enjoying your favorite beverage while darn near within casting distance of the best bass lake in the business and dreaming (there’s that word again!) about what you’re going to do to those monstrous bass out there in that lake tomorrow morning.  If one of our people isn’t right close to your elbow to take care of your every need, you can bet they won’t be much

farther away.

 

So what can you expect if you visit this bass fishing paradise?  It’s impossible to answer that question with short sentences and words of one syllable.  We don’t blow smoke in talking about El Salto Lake.  While we do control the services we provide, we don’t control the weather or the different levels of angling expertise our customers come with.  Common sense tells you both conditions will have a bearing on the number of fish caught.

 

We can tell you this: On a typical day our boats average from 30 to 80 bass caught.  It’s not unusual for these fish to have an average weight of 4-pounds, even heavier on occasion.  There was a time in the early days of its existence when El Salto was known as a Numbers” lake.  Anglers got a boat full of fish, but they were nearly all on the small side.  Recent years have witnessed a tremendous change.  El Salto now consistently kicks out more really big bass than any lake the world has ever known.

 

El Salto Lake has some things going for it you don’t always find where Mexican bass lakes are concerned.  Here you won’t find the drastic draw-downs that plague some of the others.  We’ve already mentioned the pure strain of Florida bass.  That’s something you don’t always find down here south of the border.  Because the lake is situated where it is—on the Tropic of Cancer—it doesn’t suffer from the drought common on certain of the other well known Mexican bass lakes.

 

There’s plenty of shoreline for the visiting angler to explore.  El Salto covers about 24,000 productive acres at full pool.  It is located at 600 foot elevation. The lake has always opened at full pool. There’s an abundance of cover from pads and shoreline vegetation to underwater timber—even a submerged graveyard.  All told you’ve got about 45 miles of shoreline to work with.  You’ll fish those shorelines out of comfortable Bass Tracker boats operated by experienced Mexican guides.  Many of our guides have been with us for years.  They know where the fish are and your best approach to getting a hook into them.  We

wish we had a couple of bucks for the countless times we’ve had successful anglers credit one or another of our guides for putting them onto the biggest bass they’ve ever put in the boat.

 

 Our season runs Oct. 1 through June 30.

 

Getting There

 

As we mentioned before, getting to the Anglers Inn Lodge at El Salto Lake poses no problems.  You get to Mazatlan and we’ll take it from there.  Lake El Salto is located in the state of Sinaloa about 1 ½ hours from the picturesque port of Mazatlan and about 800 miles from U.S. Border at Nogales, AZ.

 

Mazatlan is the main gateway city for commercial flights and private planes: You’ll be met at Mazatlan’s International Airport by members of the Anglers Inn staff.  We’ll see that your luggage gets to the Anglers Inn Lodge when you do.  There will be a tray full of our special  Margaritas waiting when you do!

 

Our repeat customers, and there’s a raft of them, already know what to expect.  They’ve come to anticipate the warm greeting they know they’ll get from the capable members of our friendly staff.  And that reminds us that we want to mention one more time how easy it is to verify everything you’ve just read—just ask someone who has been here!

 

Buena suerte, Amigo!  We’ll be looking for you.

 

 

AIRLINES SERVING MAZATLAN

 

Continental Airlines  

(800) 900-5000  direct flight from Houston to Mazatlan

 

America West           

(800) 235-9292  direct flight from Phoenix to Mazatlan

 

Alaska Airlines          

(800) 426-0333 Flights: San Francisco – Mazatlan, Seattle – Mazatlan,   Los Angeles – Mazatlan

 

Aero California 

(800) 237-6639  Flight:  Los Angeles – Mazatlan.

 

Mexicana                    

(800) 531-7921 Flights:  Denver – Mazatlan, Los Angeles -      Mazatlan, Miami – Mexico – Mazatlan

 

Aero Mexico Airlines 

(800) 021-4000 Flights: Juarez-Mazatlan. (Fly into El Paso, Texas, cross over by car), Las Vegas -

Hermosillo-Mazatlan, Miami-Mexico-Mazatlan.

 

 

Light Tackle

 

If action and variety is your game, you will want to combine a bass trip with one of our fun-filled light-tackle saltwater outings.  The inshore and near shore waters north of Mazatlan are enjoying a growing reputation as the place to wrangle with a dozen or more different species of desirable salt-water gamefish. 

 

The salty stretch between Lake El Salto and the resort city of Mazatlan is home of some of the finest light-tackle saltwater fishing in Mexico. 

 

Main game fish:  Dorado, sporty corvine, fierce fighting rooster fish, snook, yellow tail, snapper, amberjack, grouper, seabass, sierra and many more!

 

Frequently Asked Bass Questions

 

1. Q.                When is the absolute best time to experience Lake El Salto’s superb top-water fishing?
2. A.                 October through December produce the best sheer numbers of fish on top.
3. When does the pre-spawn fall on the lake?
4. A.             It usually occurs somewhere on the lake between December 15^th and February 15^th.
   1. When can I expect to enjoy spawning-bass action?
   2. A.                 From February 15^th until the end of March, normally.
   3. Give me some idea of the best time to fish for those big post-spawn females in El Salto?
   4. A.                 I would suggest the month of April when the topwater action is excellent.
   5. When is the absolute best month to catch trophy bass on the lake?

A.         Every month is a possibility, but May is exceptional if you like fishing plastic.

 

 

 

What you need to know at Anglers Inn!

 

TYPICAL BASS FISHING TRIP

 

Day #1:  Arrive in Mazatlan by air – You’ll be met at the airport by Anglers Inn staff who will see that your luggage is placed in your ground transportation vehicle – proceed to Anglers Inn Lakeside Lodge at Lake El Salto where you will be greeted by the Anglers Inn staff and a tray of the specail margaritas.  Dinner consists of everything from steaks and jumbo shrimp, to meals with a Mexican flare.  Anglers Inn has an open bar policy on all packages.

 

Day #2:  You will be awakened by our staff half hour prior to breakfast with a tray of coffee or juice.  Please leave tackle outside of room so we can transport it to your boat.  American style buffet for breakfast and then you’ll be on the water before sunup ready to go fishing.  After the morning fishing session you’ll return to the lodge for a hot lunch and a short siesta.  Back to you boat and fish until dark.  Return to the lodge to be met by Anglers Inn staff and their tray of goodies, followed by dinner.

 

Day #3:  More of the same depending on days of activities.

Day #4:  Same

Day #5:  After a leisurely breakfast, depart for Mazatlan or directly to airport.

 

Breakfast: 5:30 am

 

Lunch: 11:30 am

 

Dinner: 8:00 pm

 

Fishing from when to when: 6-11am and 2-7pm

 

Also, is lunch on the boats or back at the lodge. Lunch is served at the lodge. All boats come back in for lunch, then most people take a siesta and go back out in the afternoon.

 

• Water and Ice:  Purified ice and bottled water is provided in boats and all lodge facilities.  DO NOT DRINK THE TAP WATER.
• Insect repellent and sunscreen is a must, keep it on at all times when outdoors as from time to time we have a little fellow called a “No-Sec-Um!”  Keep door shut to prevent bugs from entering your room. 
• Laundry service is included in package and will be done daily if desired.
• Fishing license:  Provided at the lodge and included in all the packages.
• Suggested Tipping guidelines (paid at departure):  Our guides and lodge staff at Anglers Inn are very experienced, helpful, and believe that customer satisfaction always comes first.  If a client would like to give a gratuity, you can tip your guide directly at the end of you last fishing session, staff tip will be collected upon departure.  Average tip for guide per person per day is $20 to $25.  Average tip for staff per person per day is $15 to $25. 
• Phone:  We have a cell phone in the tackle shop.  Ask management for assistance.
• Taxidermy service for your trophy bass available upon request.  Ask management.
• Pro Shop open during meals.  Your Pro Shop bill will be settled at the end of your trip.  There is a fishing report posted in the tackle shop where you can check the HOT LURES.

 

 

Checklist:

• Rods and Case
• Airline Ticket
• Light Clothing
• Camera and Film
• Reels (3)
• Sunglasses
• Fishing Hat
• Tackle Box
• Proof of Citizenship
• Insect Repellent
• Sunscreen

 If you would like information on this trip please give me a call Greg Ray 918 407 2586 or email me greg@outdoor-connection.com