I just returned from my first trip to lakes Picachos and El Salto. When I was deciding on whether to go and then planning my trip, I found posts like this helpful so wanted to do the same.

I booked a combo trip to Anglers Inn on Lakes Picachos and El Salto through Pete and Hanna Robbins at Half Past First Cast Join us for Big Mexican Bass. I am really glad I booked through Hanna instead of booking directly with Anglers Inn. The price is the same but Pete/Hanna's insight was extremely helpful. Pete even texted some of the guides the week before my trip so I could narrow my tackle choices and also gave me some personal thoughts on whether to take my own rods. And being able to openly discuss tipping with them put me much more at ease with the whole process. I highly recommend you contact them if you book a trip, and the articles on their website detailing all the ins/outs of traveling to Mexico to catch bass are a great resource.

Safety: I never felt uneasy or unsafe. I used to have a deer lease in Mexico and there were times on some hunts I was a little uneasy. This trip was easy, safe and secure.

Travel: I flew non-stop on AA to Mazatlan both there and back. Flights were on time and airport easy to navigate. I even took 8 of my own rods (angler's inn will loan you rods for free if you want to avoid that hassle). Thanks to Pete and Hannah for lots of great info on packing/taking your own rods. I am Executive Platinum on AA so get 3 free checked bags, which made taking my rods easier. Free transportation to/from the lodge was in a comfortable van with an ice chest full of cold beverages.

Accommodations: Rooms at both lakes were comfortable and clean (2 double beds in each). The shower at Picachos wasn't very good due to low water pressure. Shower at El Salto was great. TV at Picachos was great with English channels and lots of variety. El Salto TV was so snowy you couldn't watch it. Every evening I put whatever clothes I had worn in the hamper and then next day they were returned clean, ironed and folded. It was nice to only pack 3 changes of clothes. Maids cleaned the room and made beds TWICE each day (morning and then after siesta). Your wake up call each morning was a knock on the door with cups of fresh coffee/juice. The lodge internet was good in the main dining areas. I had zero cell reception with AT&T at both lodges, which was a pain. My buddy had Verizon and had reception both places. I stay more than 100 hotel nights a year for my job and they could all learn something from Angler's Inn.

Food: Food was great. It isn't fine dining but good food that they take a lot of pride in. 2 nights we had ribeyes. Seafood one night. Mexican food. Ribs. Great breakfast every morning. Desserts. Cold beverages always available. And the service is top notch. They wait on you at every turn and are always friendly/professional.

Fishing: We fished Picachos for 3 days (2 full days and 2 half days). We averaged 94 bass per full day (the guide had a counter) using mostly ½ oz white chatterbaits, 5” watermelon/red flake senkos, and ¾ oz gold rattle traps. Size was generally between 2 - 4.5 pounds. Four and a half pounds was a really good one on Picachos. BUT...my biggest bass of the trip was caught on Picachos and weighed 7.5 (chatterbait). We fished El Salto 2.5 days. Probably 30-40 fish a day (no counter so an estimate) but overall quality much better. I caught 15 bass the first afternoon and 7 were over 5 pounds (all on 10" TX rigged pumpkin worms in 15-20ft of water). I caught a 6'10 and a 6'14 in a 4 cast span the last morning on a Sammy (spook-like bait). I loved both lakes.

Guides: We had a great experience with our guide on each lake. The guides know exactly how every point, creek, flat and channel runs. And that info is invaluable. However, I don't think they always know as much about "fishing". They want to fish the way they have always fished, especially my guide on El Salto. He was visibly upset that I wanted to throw a Sammy on a glass surface the last morning instead of a big chugger (Rico). And on a rare cloudy/windy afternoon on El Salto when I was thinking we should throw spinnerbaits/chatterbaits on shallow main lake structure....we still hunkered down offshore in 20 ft and threw TX rigged worms (with no success). It was an amazing trip but I realize that I packed my tackle for a late spawn/post spawn trip and we fished El Salto as if it were June. The Picachos guide seemed more in tune to seasonal migrations and lure selection, as we chased shad on main lake points and hit secondary points back in creeks. But all the guides work extremely hard and want you to succeed. I appreciated both of them and would fish with them again (even though I would be more vocal on how I liked to fish next time).

Cost: The original cost for a combo trip of 2.5 days fishing on both lakes including transportation to/from airport, lodging, meals, drinks, etc... was $2890 per person. We weren’t supposed to fish the first afternoon but arrived in time to get on the water by 3 so added a quick afternoon session (3-6pm) for $100 each. Tips were approximately $45 per day per angler for the guide, $25 per angler per day for housekeeping/kitchen staff and $10 per angler for each ride to/from airport. I used miles for my airfare. Airport parking was $120. Honestly, I don’t think I could hire a guide on Fork or Ivie and then pay for my accommodations/meals all that much cheaper. The only real downside for me to Mexico is that it’s double occupancy so you have to have someone who wants to go down there and room with you. I haven’t asked how much more the rate is for a single fisherman.

Feel free to message me any questions. I won’t call it the trip of a lifetime because I plan to go back….a lot.

So glad that it lived up to expectations. Now I'm mad that we won't be back down there until June.

Thank you so much for the pat on the back. It's our Disneyland and we love to share all our knowledge for others to experience. If anyone has any further questions they still need answered after your amazing write up please don't hesitate to contact us fishmore@halfpastfirstcast.com or ladyangler@anglersinn.com.

We are on our way there June 22-29. 2024, you must be tempted so hit us up and let's get you booked.

Great report!
I've been going to Mexico since 2015, normally I go to Oviachic, this year we got a report that the lake was only at 30 percent capacity and that they had some kind of a fish kill late fall last year, so we cancelled going this year. Another bit of bad news is that they are bringing in another pipeline for water to transport to another region of southwestern Mexico, which is going to be an additional drain on that lake. Great thing about Oviachic is we take our own boats and you get to be your own guide. I'll be contacting Pete here shortly.

You couldn’t have described the experiences I’ve had in Mexico with RSA any better either. Camps sound almost identical-down to the guides and mess and showers! I do hear Ron now has StarLink at Salto which should help with cell service if you need it. Can’t wait to get back down there. Picachos in late April is our next trip.

Look forward to hearing from you.

It is great but I totally get what you are saying about being more in charge of how and where you fish. Lots of the same baits going in the water, when I was there I threw a buzz bait early and it was like the fish had never seen one before. I caught 5 to 1 with my dad throwing a popper like the guides like.

Great write up and thanks for sharing this info.

Nice report BJackson, thank you for sharing...

Great report and thanks for the detail and pricing.

What reels did you take and what pound test did you use?

GMTX: I took 8 rods and reels (4 for me and 4 for my buddy - boat size can't handle much more than that). The reels were Johnny Morris Platinum Signature (JPT10HA). 5 were spooled with 20 pound sunline fluoro and 3 with 50 pound sunline braid. All the guides tie a flouro leader onto the end of the braid. My buddy broke a big one off on the fluoro. I might do 25 next time. On the rods, I took seven that were 7'3" and one that was 7'6". Next time I won't take anything longer than 7'3" because that extra 3 inches resulted in a 6 inch extension of my rod case and a little grief from the airline.

As a guy who has fished three different Mexico lakes on a total of 16 trips with three different outfitters I'll try to add some perspective to the guide situation. Most of the guides are locals and grew up in the vicinity of the lakes they guide on. Their experience of knowing exactly what the depth, contours and structure of each lake has typically been impressive. As far as actual fishing knowledge I have experienced a wide array of adeptness and ineptness. Most of the guides I've had have taken us on a popular milk runs and their desire is for us to throw lizards and senkos...absolutely not what I'm there to do. In their view it is the most effective way to roll up the numbers on their clickers in hopes of securing better than average tips. Can't really blame them but I have found if you state your preferences clearly (most of them speak much better English than they initially let on) and early you can improve your chances of fishing the way you want to fish. Keep in mind that I had a conversation with a guide at Picachos who stated he was clearly the best guide on the lake. I asked him how he got to be the best and he said "Because I've been bass fishing and guiding for eight years". I almost fell out of the boat laughing and I'm sure you other old/experienced guys are laughing as you read this. On a trip at Salto I boated a 10.88 on a glide bait that the guide said was "no bueno" because he had no idea what it was. I'm not saying there aren't quality guides on the Mexican lakes, I'm just saying if you are confident in your fishing abilities don't hesitate to use that knowledge instead of going along with every desire of the guides.

I agree on the guides. I'll let them choose the general areas, but I run the trolling motor 100% of the time unless I just want to take a break. I always make that clear ahead of time and make sure the honcho at the lodge is good with it. And we all know that throwing something the fish have never seen before can be golden at times.