Whether you’re an experienced world-traveler or an air travel virgin, each airport presents its own set of challenges – and if you’re traveling to fish those concerns may be compounded. Whether you’re headed to Anglers Inn El Salto or Picachos or a number of other destinations in Sinaloa, General Rafael Buelna International Airport in Mazatlán (MZT) is likely your arrival point.

When learning to fish you need to go where you will get a lot of chances. If you’re only going to get one bite a day, and they’re only hitting one particular lure, it’s hard to refine your technique. If you only catch little fish, you won’t be tested. In Mexico, not only are there numbers of fish, but lots of quality specimens, too, so you’ll have tons of opportunities to catch them just about any way you want.

Right on the heels of “Who is the best guide at El Salto?” the top question we receive is whether it’s safe to go. It’s certainly a valid question about any foreign or domestic vacation destination, and especially when you’re discussing Mexico, which has gained a reputation for violent crime in recent years.

Circa summer 2009: I’m planning Pete’s 40th birthday party for February 2010 and I’m at a loss -- What to do? what to do? I think I threw him a surprise party on the actual date. Good golly I’m old. I can’t remember anything anymore. What I do remember is that before the actual birthday I gathered some friends to go to this place that Pete talked about endlessly: Lake El Salto, Mexico.

Hanna and I have been to Anglers Inn El Salto and Anglers Inn Picachos nearly 20 times combined, with more visits to the former than the latter. We’re frequently asked “Which guide should I request?” or “Who is the best guide?” When we don’t have a definitive answer, people assume we’re trying to hide something from them. If they only have the magic guide, they assume, they’ll catch one double digit after another after another. If only it were that easy.

Everyone always wants to catch a 10-pounder when they go to Anglers Inn, but no one wants to talk about the 10 pounds of extra weight it’s possible to bring home. I haven’t gone that far, but I’ve left with an extra five to be sure, as the food at Anglers Inn is ridiculously abundant and rich, and every part of it is YUMMY.

Even if you don’t bring your own rods to a fishing lodge, I strongly recommend bringing a handful of rod sleeves along in your luggage. They’re inexpensive, they don’t weigh much or take up much space, and they’ll save you lots of time and potentially some heartbreak.

I’ve been a redhead all my life, and I’m old enough to remember coming home from playing outside all day (Xbox hadn’t been invented) and having sun blisters on my shoulders. My mom would walk me upstairs, sit me on the top of the toilet, light a match, heat up a needle and poke the blister to release the “goo.”

Right now, due to COVID-19, discretionary travel has slowed to a trickle. Fine time to start a website about exotic fishing travel, right? Well, we’re not giving up. We will get back to it soon, and all of this pent up energy will make us appreciate the fun trips even more. We hope that you will help us support the fishing community by doing the same. In the meantime. Here are eight things you can do to prepare for when the floodgates open:

I am crossing my fingers that our June Anglers Inn El Salto trip will go off as planned, but in case it does not I have already reserved dates for the June of 2021, and have also blocked out rooms for November 2020.

A lot of people ask me if I’m ever in the office. They see my social media feed – which, I’ll admit, distorts reality a bit because I never post from work – and think I’m always in exotic locations traveling to fish. I wish that was the case. I manage my vacation time very carefully. In fact, I’m quite stingy with it.

A lot of you have seen the incredible pictures that Bassmaster photographer James Overstreet takes every day. I’ve spent a lot of time in the boat with J.O., and the most amazing thing about his work is how nonchalant he seems en route to getting those world-class shots. He can be telling you a story about his grandfather, eating a pickled egg, adjusting his sunglasses and facing the wrong way, but when the action goes down he picks up his Canon, swivels around, and gets the killer shot.