What They Bitin’? — El Salto June 2021
The number one question Hanna and I get before and after every trip to Anglers Inn in Mexico is “what are they biting on?” Everyone wants to know the hot bait or secret bait to squeeze in on that last express-mailed Tackle Warehouse order. Because we have no real sponsors or advertisers, we’re able to tell it like it is. That doesn’t necessarily mean that our info will apply to you – the guides down there fish differently, your preferences may vary, and the bite does change daily or even hourly. Even people who were down there with us had different levels of success on varying baits. They fished some that we didn’t, and vice versa.
With the notion that “your mileage may vary” as a guidepost, below is a list of the lures that we used successfully between June 12 and June 18 of this year, divided into three categories: (1) Lures that caught a lot of fish; (2) Lures that caught a handful of fish; (3) Lures that we fished but which didn’t produce. Of course, “a lot” and “a handful” are subjective terms. Furthermore, these don’t necessarily reflect effort, so while I caught more fish on a Berkley Warpig than I did on a Brush Hog, I also fished it a lot more. Nevertheless, here are the unvarnished, unfiltered lists. Feel free to use them for future packing efforts, but remember to always focus on the basics:
Lures that caught a lot of fish
10” Power Worm, Texas Rigged (black/blue and blue fleck)
7” Senko, Texas Rigged (green pumpkin and watermelon)
6” Senko, Texas Rigged (green pumpkin and watermelon)
Strike King 6XD (chartreuse/blue, citrus shad, barfish)
Strike King 8XD (chartreuse/blue, citrus shad, barfish)
Bomber Fat Free Shad (Citrus Shad)
½ ounce Berkley Warpig (black chrome and blue chrome)
½ ounce Strike King Redeye Shad (chrome blue)
Zoom Swimmer (Ayu, Blueback Herring, Table Rock Shad, Shad) on ½--1.25 ounce heads and underspins
Keitech Fat Swing Impact 4.8” (pro blue pearl red and shad) on ½-3/4 ounce heads and ¾ ounce underspin
Strike King Rage Swimmer 4.75” (KVD Magic)
Megabass Uoze Swim Jig ¾ ounce (Chartreuse White) with Keitech 4.8” Fat Swing Impact
Berkley Choppo 120mm (bone)
River2Sea Whopper Plopper 130mm (Powder)
SPRO BBZ Rat 40 (Brown and Grey Ghost)
Nichols Pulsator Depth Finder Spinnerbait double willow 1oz (Bombshell Shad)
Lucky Craft Slender Pointer 127 (Ghost Minnow)
Lures that caught a handful of fish
10” Power Worm, Carolina Rigged (black/blue)
5” Senko, wacky rigged (bubblegum)
¾ ounce flipping jig (black blue with junebug Zoom Mag Speed Craw)
¾ ounce Punch Rig (black/blue skirt with black neon or black/blue creature bait)
¾ ounce Football Jig (PBJ with Berkley Maxscent creature bait trailer)
8” Deps Sakamata Shad, Texas Rigged (blue glimmer)
8” Zoom Lizard, Texas Rigged (watermelon red)
Lucky Craft LC 1.5 (yellow bass)
Strike King KVD 1.5 (chartreuse black)
Stanley Code Red Spinnerbait ½ ounce double willow (chartreuse white)
War Eagle 3/4 ounce dual willow spinnerbait (chartreuse/white)
Yamamoto Light Wire dual willow 1oz spinnerbait (white)
Phenix Vibrator ½ ounce (chartreuse white with white skinny dipper trailer)
Storm Wildeye Swimbait 4” and 5” (chartreuse)
Strike King Sexy Spoon (sexy shad)
Lures that we fished but which didn’t produce
Huddleston 68 (redtail shiner)
SPRO BBZ Rat 50 (brown)
Osprey Talon Swimbait (chartreuse shad)
Brush Hog (green pumpkin)
Paycheck Repoman
Just because they didn’t catch fish doesn’t mean that they won’t. For example, the Brush Hog and Repoman have both produced exceptionally well in the past but just didn’t get used more than a few casts on this trip.
More notes on specific tackle successes and failures coming soon. Stay tuned!
