Lake Mateos Reports
FISHING REPORT UPDATE
January 2010
Lake Mateos continues to produce outstanding numbers with some good fish.
Most bass run in the 2- to 6-pound range, but some approach 9 pounds. Chartreuse
spinnerbaits, white topwaters and watermelon plastics remain the hot baits.
Michael Smith and Russell Hoyle and others from Ashville, N.C., enjoyed a
combo package, fishing 2.5 days at Lake Mateos and 2.5 days at Lake El Salto. At
Lake Mateos, Smith and Hoyle landed more than 600 fish with at least one
breaking the 8-pound mark. “We caught many on spinnerbaits, but our primary
baits were watermelon lizards and flukes,” Smith explained. “The fish were
mostly shallow off points. We caught several fish in the 7- to 8-pound range
with one over 8 pounds, but they averaged about 4 pounds. On El Salto, we went
back to the lizards, but also caught some bass on watermelon and white swimbaits,
flukes and spinnerbaits.”
Lake Mateos stretches over 55,000 acres, about twice the size of Lake El
Salto. The lake record exceeds 14 pounds. With no human structures anywhere on
the isolated wilderness lake, most anglers target rocky outcroppings, points,
humps, creek channels or flooded timber. Work a watermelon, white or pearl
fluke, Yumdinger or senko next to the trees or drag Carolina-rigged lizards
along bottom contours.
FISHING REPORT UPDATE
January 2009
|
| Air Temp:
54°65°F (Early mornings/Late Evenings) - 85°-90°F (Lunch time) |
|
| Water Temp:
76° - 79°F |
|
Average number of bass per boat per day: 40 - 60 |
| Largest
bass caught: 8.2 pounds |
| Popular lures used this week: |
Popular lures used this week:
Topwater Baits:
- Lobina Lures Rio Rico poppers or Yellow Magics in white, white with sparkles and bleeding shad finishes.
- Heddon Zara Spook and Lucky Craft Sammy in shad, chrome with black top and white colors.
- Rapala Skitter Pop in chrome and gold chrome.
Swimbaits:
- Storm WildEye 4 and 5 inch Swim Shads in white with chartreuse top and pearl finishes.
Spinnerbaits:
- Booyah double willow blade: ½ and ¾ ounce in white/chartreuse.
Plastics:
- Zoom Super Flukes in pearl white.
- Eight-inch Zoom Lizards in watermelon with red flakes and watermelon
- Yamamoto Senkos, Yum Dingers or Bass Pro Shops in 5 and 6-inch sizes in watermelon with red flakes and watermelon shades.
Crankbaits:
- Bomber Fat Free Shad medium diver in citrus shad.
- Rat-L-Traps: ½ & ¾ -ounce sizes in silver with blue back and silver with black back.
- Rapala X-Rap or 4- to 5-inch jerkbaits in white and shad.
ADDITIONAL INFO:
The weather is warming up here at beautiful Lake Mateos. Fishing prospects
are warming up right along with it. The bass are moving up and into their
spawning areas. That always heralds great surface fishing opportunities. If you
like to take your bass off the top---and who doesn’t---better get down here
mucho pronto! As usual, the best topwater action is coming early and late in the
day. Working the surface with popper type lures has been very effective lately.
One of the primary keys here is to fish your lure extremely slow. Make your cast
right up close to cover and then leave it along. Get a real good grip on your
patience before you begin manipulating the lure. This is one time when patience
really pays. One of our recent clients was a guy who knows a whole bunch about
surface lures. He’s Zack Swanson, vice president of sales for the Normark
Corporation. “Our recent trip to Lake Mateos, Zack says, “was another wonderful
experience. Our most productive times were early morning and late evening. The
Rapala Sure Set Skitter Pop in the #7 size in the new chrome or gold chrome
colors were good lures. These lures must be fished very slowly and as near to
the cover as you can get. Give the lure one big pop and then let it set. “The
bass didn’t want to chase surface plugs, buzzbaits or any other fast moving
surface lures. Storm Chug Bugs in a #8 size in a chrome finish also worked very
well for us. “During the day, Texas rigged Trigger X Lizards in a watermelon red
flake were the ticket if you wanted to fish plastics. The ½-ounce Terminator
spinnerbait in a bright white shad finish was our Number 1 lure. We caught our
biggest fish on these lures by casting them to the shoreline and then slow
rolling them back to the boat. The titanium spinnerbaits held up far better than
some stainless steel models that the Mateos fish would simply destroy. We fished
near and around a lot of cover. If you could swim a DT crankbait through the
brush, you'd hook up with quality fish. Texas Rigged Lizards were another good
bet.” “We caught anywhere from 35 to 70 fish in a half day of fishing. Our total
for the full day usually ran from 70 to 100 fish. They were good quality fish.
Some of the 4 and 5-pounders fought like 10- pounders!” Jim Taibi was one of a
group of 10 anglers who also visited our Lake Mateos Anglers Inn operation in
January. Here’s Jim’s report of his group’s adventure. “Our group of ten had a
fantastic trip to Angler's Inn at Lake Mateos,” Jim says. “This was our second
trip and it was everything we hoped for and more. “As usual, the staff was very
accommodating, tending to our every wish and desire. Delfino cooked up a storm
and some of the new dishes were outstanding. I hope they make the list of
classic meals at the lodges. We had a lot of fun in camp besides the fishing.
The guys enjoyed teeing off on golf balls and hitting them over the river.
Everyone in camp came out to watch as Tim Tuttle hit a shot over the river
canyon that we estimated at 400 yards. “Having Steve (Bear) Babbidge at the
lodge while we were there was an added bonus. So was having Billy Chapman Jr.
drop by on his way back from the states.“The fishing was good for everyone in
our group. We would have enjoyed a longer topwater bite as the fish only hit for
the first 45 minutes in the morning. By far the weapon of choice was a
3/4th-ounce spinnerbait in chartreuse and white with big gold willow blades. The
extra weight of this size spinnerbait was responsible for about a foot more of
depth, which kept the bait barely visible during the retrieve. We fished these
all day long with the windy afternoon sessions being off the hook at times.
“Some of our fisherman had good results with 8-inch Zoom Lizards fished tight
through the trees. Watermelon and green pumpkin were the best colors. My boat
had an average of 70 fish per day. Most of them were super fat and spunky 2 to
3-pound fish. We definitely had our share of bigger fish as well. There were
numerous 5-pounders caught as well as a few 6 and 7-pounders. “Our largest fish
of the trip was a beautiful 8-pounder caught on a Rico by Mike Baca. “As I
mentioned, this was our second trip to Lake Mateos. We all noticed how much the
guides have learned about their craft in the past year. They take a lot of pride
in their job and perform it as professionals. Our guide Sparky has definitely
brought his A-game to the table. He was busy all day long, getting us off snags
and dealing with the fish. He was also very good at repairing spinnerbaits and
getting out braided line backlashes. He seemed at times to be one thought ahead
of me and already doing what I was about to ask.” Ingrid van Arnhem & Graham
Miller from Hollywood Hills, CA said: "Great staff, Great service, Great
accommodations, Great guides, Great fishing (my husband and I caught 40 - 50 per
day), Great food, all you can drink - Everyting about Lake Mateos is GREAT.
Imagine as a woman, coming home from a fishing trip and no laundry to do!
Everything was laundered prior to our departure. This was our first time at Lake
Mateos after fishing Lake El Salto on numerous occasions. "I'll be back", or I
should say, my husband and I will be back." It’s always good to have customers
share with us how they feel about their recent Anglers Inn visits. We much
appreciate what Zack and Jim give us their thoughts. Speaking of thoughts,
there’s another thought we’d like to share with you with regard to Lake Mateos.
Do you like a little solitude along with your fishing? Lake Mateos is a big body
of water. At roughly 52,000 acres it’s about twice the size of Lake El Salto.
Being on a lake that size means you’ll have a whole lot of it all to yourself.
There just isn’t that much pressure. If you want to find a stretch of water
that’s no one has tossed a bait into on the day you’re here it won’t be
difficult for you to do so. We guarantee, of course, that you’ll also enjoy the
service, accommodations and food that are a trademark of Billy Chapman, Jr.’s
Anglers Inn operations. As we’ve mentioned many times before, you don’t have to
take our word for it---just ask someone who has been here!
FISHING REPORT UPDATE
November 2008
|
| Air Temp:
54°65°F (Early mornings/Late Evenings) - 85°-90°F (Lunch time) |
|
| Water Temp:
76° - 79°F |
|
Average number of bass per boat per day: 40 - 60 |
| Largest
bass caught: 8.2 pounds |
| Popular lures used this week: |
- Buzzbait ½-ounce in white & chartreuse, black, black & blue.
- Rio Rico poppers: bone, white with sparkles and bleeding shad.
- Eight-inch Zoom Lizards: watermelon and watermelon red flake.
- Heddon Zara Spook in natural frog.
- Storm WildEye 4 and 5 -inch Swim Shads: white with chartreuse top, bunker and pearl. (Bring your spike-it chartreuse dye!).
- Rat-L-Traps: ½ -ounce in silver with blue back and silver with black back.
- Spinnerbaits in ½-ounce in white & chartreuse, white, chartreuse. Be sure to bring chartreuse split tail trailers.
- Berkley Power Worms:10-inch in watermelon red flake and tequila sunrise.
- Yamamoto Senkos or Yum Dingers in 5 & 6-inch length: watermelon red flake, black with blue flake and pumpkin seed.
- Bomber Fat Free Shad: medium divers in citrus shad.
ADDITIONAL INFO:
Are all fishermen liars or do all liars fish?
You’ve probably heard that comment or something like it before. It’s not
always true. Need proof? Just ask some of the anglers who had booked a November
trip with us to fish big Lake Mateos. Here’s what Joe Goldenson, of Scottsdale,
Arizona, had to say to us recently: “After receiving an e-mail the Saturday
before my son Erik and I were to leave for Lake Mateos, I was given a new and
fresh outlook on humanity because an actual business cared about our trade. “You
see, we got a phone call from Anglers Inn, they told us that fishing was not
good at Mateos right then and that it would be better for us to fish at Lake El
Salto or even postpone our trip to let the weather cool down and the bite heat
up! That’s when we realized we had booked with the right outfitter, Billy
Chapman’s Anglers Inn. “We couldn't cancel our flights because of the
non-refundable tickets they were, so we let them know that we'd be at the
Mazatlan airport on the 7th of November to be picked up as planned, but to go to
El Salto instead of Mateos. As always, everything would be taken care of. It was
and we fished at Lake Salto from Nov. 7 to 10. “We both want to stress that if
not for the quality of outfitting and honesty found in Billy Chapman, Jr.’s team
at Anglers Inn in telling us it would be better at El Salto than our planned
Lake Mateos outing, we would have been telling everyone that ‘it is fishing, not
catching!’ We’ll be back next year at one lake or the other.” Joe’s comments are
really meaningful to us. Here’s why. We here at Anglers Inn decided years ago,
you see, we’d “tell it like it is” with regard to the fishing prospects wherever
anglers sign on to fish with us. Has it paid off? You bet it has! That’s why the
vast majority of our clients are repeat customers. With over 30 years in the
business, we know that honesty is the based for a long-lasting friendship and
relationship with our customers. So we say that old business about all fishermen
being liars is so much malarkey. At least it is here at Anglers Inn and the
comments Joe and Erik provide are among the many who will tell you they agree.
We advised the Goldensons that Lake Mateos had been slow in November because
that’s how it was. We think that was due mainly to air temperatures. The daytime
temperature had been running into the 100s during much of the month. It has been
our experience that when this occurs, the bass tend to go down deep and that’s
not what Lake Mateos is not known for. During this period last year, with cooler
water temps, the topwater fishing was the best we’ve ever seen. We can give you
proof of that also. Steve Basarich was here last November. Here’s what he told
us: “I just wanted to let you know we had a terrific time at Lake Mateos. We
caught 484 bass in three days of fishing between three guys. The accommodations
were over the top. Billy did a fantastic job on the new lodge.” Marc Mills was
another of our 2007 November guests. He says: “Fishing started out great and
just got better and better and the fish got bigger and bigger. Our top fish was
my 8-pounder in the evening of the second night. I caught it on a large,
topwater Vixen. This is a great place to fish frog lures. I was given some of
the new Canyon Plastic Frogs and I ran out of them. I glued some of what I had
back together. “I was at Lake Mateos with Bill Rice and we had the best one hour
topwater action that I have ever seen and that Bill had ever seen in his 40
years of fishing. We didn’t catch a fish under 4-pounds and my top fish was more
than 8-pounds. Most of our fish were 6 and 7-pounders.” It pleases us to report
that things at Lake Mateos are already changing. Morning temperatures now have
dropped into the 50s and the bass are eyeballing the top just as they did a year
ago. Fish of more than 8-pounds have been taken lately and anglers are averaging
40 to 60 fish per boat. The better baits lately have been Rio Rico’s and
buzzbaits early in the morning and late in the evening. Plastic worms and
swimbaits have been producing during the mid-day. The spinnerbait bite is also
very good, especially with white and white & chartreuse colors. Attaching Zoom’s
Split Tail trailers in a chartreuse color to these baits make them even more
deadly. Again, here at Anglers Inn we are in business for the long term. That’s
why we make such an effort to give you the kind of fishing reports and customer
care you can take to the bank. Our objective is to earn your business over the
long haul. We hope you’ll come down and experience for yourself the best service
and accommodations to be had anywhere on any Mexican Lake. We guarantee that’s
exactly what you’ll get at Anglers Inn and we look forward to seeing you soon.
FISHING REPORT UPDATE
Sept 15th thru 30th2008
|
| Air Temp:
84°88°F (Early mornings) - 94°-99°F (Lunch time)
- 84°-88°F (Late afternoons) |
|
| Water Temp:
82° - 85°F |
|
Average number of bass per boat per day: 30 - 50 |
| Largest
bass caught:
|
| Popular lures used this week: |
- Lizards: 8-inch Zoom in watermelon, watermelon red flake, black with blue tail, and red shad.
- Berkley 10-inch Power Worms in watermelon red flake, watermelon, black with blue tail and red shad.
- Lobina Lures Rio Rico and Yellow Magic poppers: shad, white with sparkles and bleeding shad.
- Heddon Zara Spook and Lucky Craft Sammy in natural frog, bullfrog and chrome with black top.
- Yamamoto Senkos and Yum Dingers 5 and 6- inch. Best colors watermelon, watermelon red flake and black with blue flake.
- Spinnerbaits: 1/2- and 3/4-ounce in white, white & chartreuse and chartreuse.
- Storm WildEye 4 and 5-inch Swim Shads in pearl white and white with chartreuse top.
- Rat-L-Traps: 1/2- and 3/4-ounce in silver with blue back.
- Bomber Fat Free crankbaits in shad and Rapala DT16 deep divers in citrus shad, Tennessee shad and pearl white.
ADDITIONAL INFO:
Bass will be busting topwater baits this fall at Lakes Mateos.
Summertime rains have brought the lake up approximately 60-feet over the past
three months. When the lake reaches the height it is now, water moves into the
brush cover you’ll find all around the lake. The bass move into this brush
cover. Anglers who have been here when conditions were similar know surface
lures fished in and around the brush often bring crashing strikes. Water clarity
always plays a role where surface lures are concerned. Right now Lake Mateos
visibility is running 8 to10-feet. The fish will have no difficulty spotting
your lures. The lake’s water temperature is still warm, but is beginning to drop
a bit especially early and late in the day. Your best bet is to concentrate on
surface fishing early and late and switch to deep water tactics at mid-day. One
of the most productive surface lures recently has been the Lobina Rio Rico Pop
in a bleeding shad color. The reliable Zara Spook in a frog finish has also been
taking some nice fish. When you begin fishing deeper water try 8-inch Zoom
Lizards rigged Texas Style. Some of the best catches on these baits have been
made by anglers who’ve dipped the tails of the lures into a can of chartreuse
colored Spike-It dip in a garlic flavor. You’ll also be wise to bring a
selection of crankbaits as well as 5-inch Storm WildEye Swim Shads in a white
and chartreuse shade. Both Bomber Fat Free Shads in a citrus finish and the
Rapala DT 16 in shad have also been effective. We have a suggestion for you when
you throw the Swim Shad. Make your cast and let the lure sink to the bottom. Use
a slow retrieve all the way back to the boat. Stop reeling from time to time and
pop the bait up with your rod tip. Keep a good grip on your rod when you use
this approach! Spinnerbaits are usually one of the best fall baits at Lake
Mateos. So far they haven’t been red hot but you can bet it’s going to happen.
It sure has in the past. Casting spinnerbaits into pockets in the brush and then
using a slow, steady retrieve has usually been most effective. White and
chartreuse is always a good bet for spinnerbait skirts on Lake Mateos.
Spinnerbaits used with Zoom chartreuse trailers have also taken some dandy fish.
Here is what a recent group of fly fisherman said about their trip to Mateos:
My friends and I ventured to Lake Mateos during the last week of September. We
were happy to see that the lake was in great shape and the Bass were on the
grab! Despite the warm conditions, we still had very good topwater sessions
early and late in the day. The best topwater fly patterns were: Leo's Poppers
and Crease Flies (yellow and silver colors); Putz's Poppers (black w/ chartreuse
belly); Umpqua' Pike Fly (red/white) and Swimming Frog (orange belly). We fished
these flies with a Sage Largemouth BASS rod and fly line. During the midday
hours, the action kept its pace while fishing subsurface with baitfish style fly
patterns on sink tip fly lines. The hot subsurface patterns were: Umpqua's
Flashtail Clouser (brown/yellow on jig hook); Blanton's Whistler (red/white);
and Bisharat's Airhead (chartreuse/white). We averaged about 25 - 50 bass per
day, with the largest of the trip being about 7 pounds (topwater!) What an
amazing fishery - these Bass are in prime shape and put up a strong fight!
Fly Fishing Action in the Sierra Madre!
We came to the mountains to bust some bass and get some teamwork done. Looking
at my checklist we did both big time! The bass were in great shape. I was
especially impressed with their bright golden hue. They’re beautiful specimens
that anyone would be proud to catch. We caught them on topwater presentations.
We caught them on subsurface tempters. And you guessed it, we caught them
dropping down into the depths of the lake. The entire range of fly fishing
expression was realized as we explored this excellent fishery. If you were
willing to change your tactics, you got rewarded for the effort. Nice. The
Angler’s Inn operation at Lake Mateos is a first class experience (would you
expect otherwise?). The lodging is very comfortable, clean, and downright
serene. The food was a great celebration of local flavors and flair. “It’s a
must do for any fly fisher who appreciates quality gamefish, quality habitat,
and high quality service.”
Cheers, Ken
FISHING REPORT UPDATE
April 1st thru 30th2008
|
| Air Temp:
67°69°F (Early mornings) -
84°-89°F (Lunch time)
- 75°-80°F (Late afternoons) |
|
| Water Temp:
73° - 75°F |
|
Average number of bass per boat per day: 80 - 120 (being conservative) |
| Largest
bass caught: 13.4 pounds and 10.8 pounds
|
| Popular lures used this week: |
- Storm WildEye 4 and 5-inch Swim Shads in shad, pearl white and white with chartreuse top.
- Eight inch Zoom or 7-Yum Zellamanders Lizards in watermelon and watermelon red flake.
- Zara Spook, Sammy and Reaction Innovations Vixen in chrome with black top and frog.
- Rio RicoPop in white, white with sparkles and bleeding shad.
- Jigs in ½ & 3/4th-–ounce in black and blue, watermelon and green pumpkin with rattles.
- Ten inch Berkley Power Worms in watermelon red flake, watermelon purple red flake, black with blue tail and tequila sunrise.
- Pepper Sticks, Yamamoto Senkos, Yum Dingers or Bass Pro Shops 5 & 6-inch Stinkos in watermelon, watermelon red flake and white/chartreuse.
- Rat-L-Traps in ½ & ¾-ounce in silver with blue back.
- Booyah Spinnerbaits in ½ and ¾-ounce in white, white/chartreuse and chartreuse. Double willow blade with a gold/silver and gold/gold combo. Be sure to bring down your Zoom split tail trailers in white and chartreuse.
ADDITIONAL INFO:
Big Bass Are Busting Topwater Baits!
Chances are you’ve already heard about the tremendous spinnerbait fishing
Lake Mateos had been producing ever since we opened our Anglers Inn Lodge here
last November. Lately dropping water levels and warmer water temperatures have
brought a change. Recently our Mateos bass have been blasting the bejabbers out
of topwater baits and some of them have been really nice fish. Deeper water
continues to produce the trophy bass. The largest bass taken in April weighed
13.4-pounds. That’s a dandy bass any way you slice it. There have been many
other fish of more than 10-pounds. Early morning and late evening have been the
most productive periods for topwater action. The reliable old Zara Spook in a
frog finish has been a great producer. So has the Rico Pop and a Yellow Magic
Popper. Bob Davenport was among our April guests. Here’s what Bob had to say
about his visit: “Our trip to Lake Mateos wasn’t as good as I expected---it was
better! What an outstanding job you people have done. The food as well as the
service, lodging and personnel are outstanding. Your Ziggy, Julio, Ramon, Jules
and Fredrico could not have been more friendly or helpful. “Don and I fished
with Charlie and he was excellent. The fishing was phenomenal. In 3 ½ days four
of us caught 577 fish, most on topwater lures. My biggest was 7 ½-pounds. I also
had 6 ½-pounders and numerous 3 to 5-pounders. The next time I come down I hope
we can float the river for a day.” Our new Lake Mateos Anglers Inn Lodge is
rapidly becoming a favorite for couples. This is evident in the comments some of
the couples who were here recently shared with us. Here’s what Elaine and Vernon
Merrifield, of Ponca City, Oklahoma, told us: “We have fished many times with
Anglers Inn at El Salto, and we were filled with excited anticipation about
visiting Lake Mateos. We had already heard about the 80 to 100 fish days and the
size of those fish. “We found Paradise! The new Anglers Inn Lodge, coupled with
the incredible fishing, was the perfect retreat from our busy schedules. On the
second day of our trip, I boated a 10.2-pound lunker. It's certainly fun to land
the biggest fish of the trip and have bragging rights over my husband. The third
day of our trip, I let my husband go fishing with the guide while I busied
myself with sleeping late, a massage, and exploring the quaint Mexican village.
“What could be better than spending your days in a beautiful, tropical setting,
being catered to and pampered, and catching a 10.2 pound lunker! Anglers Inn and
Lake Mateos has it all. It’s unbelieveable!” Bob and Nina Stroupe were equally
enthusiastic about their April Lake Mateos visit: “Thank's to the great
hospitality of Ramon and Billy Chapman Jr., my friends and I had a great trip.
We caught in excess of 250 fish per boat for the three days fishing. We all had
quality fish as well as some little guys. However, the 6 and 7-pounders quite
frequent. What a great place for couples. The accomodations overlooking the
river were wonderful. “The guides were knowledgeable and put each of our boats
on fish every day. Cathy had never fished before and after catching a 6.5
pounder she said, "I'm hooked.” Her husband Steve is glad since we are planning
another trip in December. Donnie and his wife, Durenda, competed for the big
ones and I believe she won. As for me and Nina, we caught fish all day, every
day. I got an 8.4-pounder and Nina got a 6.25-pounder. Needless to say we were
very pleased. Most of our fish were caught on fat free crankbaits, watermelon
lizards, swim baits, white and yellow spinnerbaits. The topwater fishing was
great with Pop R's and Rico Pops. We recently had a group from Berkley and
Bassmaster with us as well. Here is what some of the anglers in the group had to
say. I LOVED Mateos, and have been talking it up to everyone since I returned. I
just have to say, Billy knows how to host. You just feel like you're in the lap
of luxury. I think the ultimate compliment is that I would gladly take my wife
to his lodges. They are that awesome. You just hate to leave! – Ronnell Smith,
BASS Editor
After the topwater bite tapers off most of fish are being caught in 14 to
25-feet of water off the deeper points, creek channels or islands. Over the
years the Storm WildEye Swimshad has produced many bass over 10-pounds at El
Salto Lake. Now it is starting to do the same at Lake Mateos. The better colors
have been the pearl white, white with a chartreuse top and shad colors in the 4
and 5-inch sizes. It also wise to also bring plenty of the 6-inch size in the
same colors mentioned above. Jermey Bott, and his fishing partner Mark Neal,
from Colorado, know something about big Lake Mateos bass. They were also among
our recent guests. Mark says: “The Anglers Inn staff is first-class. This is the
finest experience I’ve had at a destination fishing lodge. The trip far exceeded
my expectations. I caught a lot of fish in the 6 to 8-pound range. However my
biggest fish, a 13-pound 4-ouncer, was caught at 8 p.m. on a watermelon lizard.
The quality of this fishery is outstanding! I fly-fished for several days using
black woolly buggers and green and red poppers on both floating and Rio sink tip
lines”. And Jeremy says: “Lake Mateos is awesome! I caught my 10.8-pounder on a
5-inch swim bait. Fishing slow with an 8-inch watermelon lizard in 20 to 30-feet
of water was also very productive. The fish are deep off the points. Anglers Inn
has absolutely the best service of any lodge anywhere! Other anglers tell us
that’s it’s always wise to carry 7 and 8-inch watermelon red flake lizards for a
Lake Mateos adventure. This soft plastic bait has been one of the most
consistent Lake Mateos producers. Rig them with a smaller bullet weight for
morning fishing. Use a heavier bullet weight for afternoon angling. With the
amount of bass being caught in a three day period at Mateos, it’s possible to go
through several packs of these colored lizards in short order. On a final note,
don’t overlook the special Anglers Inn Summer Camp scheduled to start June 1. It
offers an incredible opportunity for you fathers and grandfathers to spend
quality time that all involved will treasure for the rest of their days. Besides
the tremendous bass fishing, we’ll have everything from ATV riding to clay
target shooting, fishing lessons, river float trips and more for youngsters to
enjoy.
Here’s a testimonial from a proud father:
WOW..Fathers, Uncles,Grandfathers and friends. if you ever want fantastic
lifetime memories with a child Anglers Inn can help!
My two sons and I, Garrison 14 and Sawyer 10 just completed our 3rd annual trip
with Anglers Inn to lake Mateos. Sawyer's big fish was 10.1lbs. Beating
Garrison's 9.9lb lunker from El Salto last year! Garrison's 7.8lbs. The fishing
was absolutely to dream about. Juan, our guide, makes the whole day easy.
whether it is top water spooks or lizards. Juan, always smiling, reties baits,
fixes backlashes, gets us un hung, takes fish off and of course delivers
refreshments. Therefore I was able to fish and man the camera. Capturing
memories and spending the best quality time with my boys. After the second day
Sawyer said" Dad I just can't quit smiling this the greatest trip ever!" Want to
talk numbers? When only counting fish landed we averaged 150 a day. Size? many
fish 5-7lbs. We took the time to swim, look for rocks and explore. What a
vacation! Being from Louisiana and being blessed to hunt and fish on Glasscock
Island, it take an amazing place to impress my boys. From the clean comfortable
lodging, the world class service, great food and the most friendly people- Billy
Chapman and Anglers Inn has it. Our group grows every year. We are already
planning our 4th annual trip. Thanks Billy. Every family needs to experience a
trip like this. Norm Thompson, Alexandria, Louisiana. In June your children will
just be getting out of school. There’s simply no better time or opportunity than
right now to get your own adventure lined up. The kids will love it! For more
details, give us a call. Let’s customize a trip for you!
FISHING REPORT UPDATE
January 2008
| Popular lures used this week: |
- Rat-L-Traps: 1/2- and 3/4-ounce in silver with blue back and gold.
- Lobina Lures Rio Rico poppers: white, white with sparkles and bleeding shad.
- Lizards: 8-inch Zoom, 7-inch Yum Zellamanders, 6-inch Berkley PowerBait in watermelon, watermelon red flake, black with blue tail, and junebug.
- Berkley Power Worms: 10-inch in black with blue tail, red shad and junebug.
- Storm WildEye Swim Shads: 4- and 5-inch in shad, pearl white and golden mullet.
- Rapala X-Rap and 4- to 5-inch jerkbaits in white, clown, perch and shad.
- Heddon Zara Spook, Lucky Craft Sammy and Reaction Innovations Vixen: clear, chrome with black top and white.
- Bomber Fat Free Shad Crankbaits: deep divers in citrus shad.
- Yamamoto Senkos, Yum Dingers and Bass Pro Shops 5- and 6-inch Stinkos: watermelon, watermelon red flake and black with blue flake.
- Chatterbaits: 1/2-ounce in white, white and chartreuse.
- Buzzbaits: 1/2- and 5/8-ounce in black, white, chartreuse.
ADDITIONAL INFO:
Incredible Topwaer Fishing Continues al Lake Mateos
By Billy Chapman Jr.
We continue to hear the same the same comments from recent
guests at our new Lake Mateos Lodge that we heard when we first opened last
November. These comments, and often they’re coming from widely traveled anglers
with years of experience, is that Lake Mateos is providing the finest topwater
bass fishing they’ve ever encountered. And if we’re not hearing that kind of
comment about surface lures, we’re hearing much the same thing regarding spinner
baits. The fishing has been flat out tremendous ever since our grand opening. It
is indeed gratifying for us to also hear the many kind things visitors are
saying about our new Lake Mateos Anglers Inn Lodge. We’d like to share a couple
of comments we’ve had from couples that have spent time with us. They say the
new lodge is a great place to simply relax in their own private cabin. They’ve
liked the unlimited access to a spa and the beauty of their surroundings. We
urge you to do what we’ve suggested many times before. It’s simply to ask
someone who has been an Anglers Inn guest how they felt about the experience.
This applies every bit as much to our new Lake Mateos operation as it does to
our world famous operation at El Salto Lake. Give us a call. Let us book a trip
for you. We’ll do our very best to add you to an ever growing list of happy
Anglers Inn clients. Also, check out our website at www.anglersinn.com to read
recent articles about Lake Mateos and to see our new gallery. Following are some
comments from anglers who spent time with us in recent weeks. Jim Taibi, along
with bandmates Tim Tuttle and Mike Baca and Tim’s brother Terry were among our
guests who fished Lake Mateos in mid-January. These men are experienced anglers
and all together have made more than 20 trips to El Salto. Here’s what Jim Taibi
had to say about their Lake Mateos visit. “Lake Mateos is an amazing place. What
we found upon arrival was a beautiful new lodge in a tropical jungle- like
location. As usual Ramon and Joel were there to greet us with Margarita’s and
appetizers as our bags and tackle were whisked off to our cabins. The new rooms
at Mateos are very spacious and well appointed. The new amenities have been well
thought out and we couldn’t have been more comfortable or content. “Being able
to relax outside at night with the river valley in full view was very special.
Anglers Inn at Mateos is a masterpiece in my opinion. Billy has done it again.
The lodge is very roomy and open with a great feel to it. The inside and outside
dining areas and bar are very comfortable and there are great views of the river
valley from all of the outside areas. The fire pit is a great place to relax
after one of Delfino’s amazing meals or a soothing massage at the spa. Speaking
of the food, the new lodge has not missed a beat in preparing the dishes that
Anglers Inn is famous for. Anyone who has been to Anglers Inn at El Salto will
recognize the excellent quality and presentation of the classic meals and
service style. The first thing you’ll notice at Mateos is how massive this body
of water is. At 55,000 surface acres it dwarfs El Salto Lake. There are endless
brush-lined banks and countless bays and coves with more diverse structure and
cover that any one angler can fathom. There are two main river systems entering
the north end of the lake. We had our best fishing in the Humaya River arm area.
We fished coves that were brimming with small tilapia and quality bass. Water
hyacinth and a very unique type of brush make for excellent spinner bait and
topwater fishing. “We caught all of our topwater fish on Rio Rico’s, Super
Spooks and Spro Bronzeye Frogs. By far the lure of choice for Mateos has to be
the ¾-ounce titanium-framed spinner bait in chartreuse & white or solid
chartreuse with gold blades. We slow-rolled the spinner baits on the outside of
the tree line for our better fish. A Rapala DT-16 crankbait in the bluegill
color was another good bait to use on the steeper rocky points. “There are many,
many bass in Lake Mateos. Some are small and some large. When we got in an area
that was producing smaller fish we would simply move to another location and
usually find solid 3 to 5-pound pound bass. There is no doubt that there are
giant bass to be caught in Mateos. We had fish of 7 and 8-pounds on this trip.
There may not be the numbers of huge bass that El Salto is famous for, but if
you want to catch quality fish all day long with unmatched scenery and serenity
then you should definitely give Mateos a try. I found it to be a little bit more
“fisherman friendly” and laid back than El Salto. I had the impression that a
lot of these fish had never seen a lure before. It’s also nice to fish all day
without seeing another boat or angler. “There is great fishing, great fun and
great memories to be had at Anglers Inn on Lake Mateos. The new fleet of bigger,
faster boats and eager guides and staff are waiting to make your vacation one of
the best of your life. My partners and I are all chomping at the bit to get back
to Lake Mateos. We have already booked our second trip for December of this
year.” Greg Wollner is the executive vice president of Rapala Lures. Greg was
also one of our January visitors. Note what he has to say about the topwater
fishing at Lake Mateos. “We had a great trip to Lake Mateos! We caught 75 to 150
fish per day with the best topwater action I have ever seen in my life. Every
morning we started with Rapala Skitter Pops (gold chrome was the best color)
then fished with Terminator white spinner baits, X-Rap Slashbaits and Storm
Swimbaits during the day. We caught six fish of more than 6-pounds in three days
and several that topped 4-pounds. “I have never been on a fishing trip with
better fishing and service. Anglers Inn was an A+ in both. Thank you for a great
trip.” Chappy Chapman and his fishing buddy Mike Yoke were also here in January.
Here’s what Chappy had to say about it. "Between my fishing buddy Mike Yoke and
I, we landed 114 bass in just one morning. Most of those bass were in the 4 to
6-pound range! You talk about bloody thumbs. The best thing about the half-day
of fishing is that more then half of these bass came on spinner baits. We
started out using a white & chartreuse color spinner bait but with the cloud
cover decided to go with a darker color. What a difference! “The bait of choice
that day was a ¾-ounce D&M custom spinner bait in the tilapia color. We used
"chunks" as trailers in the watermelon seed color. After we broke every one of
these spinner baits, we threw black spinner baits. It didn't seem to matter as
long as you had a darker color. “One of the keys to finding bass (and trust me
they are everywhere) was throwing next to a bush and letting the spinner bait
sink down about 5 or 6 seconds and then starting a slower retrieve. Almost every
tree it was---WHAM! Fish on! Long submerged points with buck brush were very
successful. Later in the day we fished a couple of submerged islands and also
had great success. “Just to break it up a bit, we started to throw a new
Senko-type bait called the "Pepper Stick" made by El Grande Lures. These baits
were made strictly for Mexico bass fishing and they work. The tilapia color
worked the best for us on Mateos. “Mike hooked his big fish on a spinner bait on
a point buck brush but it came unbuttoned right at the boat. This bass was
easily in the 9 to10-pound range. To sum it all up, we had 114 bass in the 4-6
pound range, lost a monster at the boat and had bloody thumbs from boating all
these fish. It was one heck of a morning for us."
FISHING REPORT UPDATE
Fall 2007
|
| Air Temp:
73°78°F (mornings and late evenings) - 89°-95°F (Siesta time) |
|
| Water Temp:
77° - 81°F |
|
Average number of bass per boat per day: 120 (2 anglers ended up with
762 bass in 3 days of fishing!) |
| Largest
bass caught: 7 to 8 pound range
|
| Popular lures used this week: |
- Bomber Fat Free Shad & Rapala DT16 Crank baits in deep
divers in citrus shad, parrot, fire tiger and white.
- Eight inch Zoom or 7” Yum Zellamanders Lizards in
watermelon, watermelon red flake, black with blue tail, and junebug.
- Storm WildEye 4 and 5-inch Swim Shads in shad and golden
mullet colors.
- Yamamoto Senkos, Yum Dingers or Bass Pro Shops 5 & 6 -inch
Stinkos in watermelon, watermelon red flake and black with blue flake.
- Rat-L-Traps in ½ & ¾-ounce in silver with blue back and
silver with black back.
- RicoPop in white, white with sparkles and shad.
- Zara Spook, Sammy and Reaction Innovations Vixen in clear,
chrome with black top and white.
- Rapala X-Rap or 4 to 5-inch jerk baits in white, clown,
perch and shad.
- Buzz baits in ½ & 5/8-ounce in black, white, chartreuse.
ADDITIONAL INFO:
You just can’t beat “taking ‘em off the top!” Bass fishermen may debate about
everything from lures colors to hook sizes, but there’s one thing on which they
have unanimous agreement. It’s that nothing compares to watching a largemouth
bust into a surface lure. If your heart doesn’t turn a somersault or two when
that happens, it’s time to quit fishin’ and take up crossword puzzles. Why do I
mention that subject? Because it’s something we’ve been hearing from one client
after another ever since we opened our beautiful new lodge on Mexico’s Lake
Mateos. “The top water fishing is the best I’ve ever seen,” is a comment we’ve
heard time after time over the past month. Following is a quick summary of what
some anglers who were here in November have told us. Dan Washington, of
Tennessee, was one of our recent guests. What he to say at the end of his visit
is typical of what we’ve heard about the terrific Lake Mateos surface angling.
“We fished two and a half days,” Dan says, “and we must have missed 30 to 40
more. We estimate we boated 424 bass. We caught fish all day on top water lures.
And that’s not all the fish would hit. We used every bait in our tackle box and
they hit everything. It was absolutely our greatest fishing trip ever. Our guide
was great and so were your staff and accommodations.” Monty Henderson, of
Arkansas, had much the same kind of summary. “The top water bite was the best
I’ve ever seen,” Monty says. “There were no really slow times during the day;
the bite was continuous. I’d never fished in November in Mexico before out trip
to Lake Mateos. I really like it! We caught 65 fish the first afternoon we were
there, 199 the second day and 160 the third day. Our largest bass weighed over
6-pounds and our single most productive lure was a Pop-R.” Gary Shumskie, of
Texas, and his fishing pal Pete Klein, say they got an estimated 300 bass on
their recent trip. Like so many others, they say they got fish all day long off
the top, but that the Lake Mateos bass aren’t picky. “We used every lure in our
tackle box,” they say. A Rico-Pop and a spinner bait with a white and chartreuse
skirt were among their top producers. Bill and Betty Eddleman, of Louisiana,
estimate they boated 280 bass on their recent visit with us. Their largest fish
weighed 6-pounds and they had their best luck with a Fat Free Shad and a Pop-R.
Steve Basarich, of California, is one of our A-Team members. His being a member
of that elite team tells you he’s a bass angler of considerable experience. He’s
been around and here’s what he has to say about new Lake Mateos operation: “We
had a terrific time at Lake Mateos. Billy Chapman Jr. has done a fantastic job
with his new lodge. The accommodations were over the top. The three of us in our
party boated 484 bass in three days. I look forward to seeing everyone when I
come back in May.” Jerry Sepulveda, of California, says he thought our Lake
Mateos Lodge was great. “We had excellent service in a relaxing atmosphere,”
Jerry says, “and the fishing was outstanding. A watermelon colored lizard, a
Rico-Pop and a 5-inch Senko were among our best baits.” Louis Villeneuve, of
California, used a counter to keep track of the number of fish he and his two
companions put in the boat on their recent trip. “The three of us had 484 fish
in just three days,” Louis reports. “We must have lost another 100 right at the
boat. Our trip was outstanding at every level.” This is what Dan and Debbie
Pendley said:
"Debbie and I wanted to send you a follow up report on our recent
fishing trip to Lake Mateos and El Salto. Upon arrival in Mazatlan on Monday we
were greeted by you staff, as usual, and driven to Lake Mateos where we were met
by Ramon and your friendly staff with margaritas and snacks and shown around
your wonderful new accommodations at Mateos. The brand new rooms and lodge
overlooking the river below was fantastic, only to be surpassed by the service
of your entire staff, which Debbie and I have grown accustomed after many
couples trips to El Salto. We had brought along a couple of our friends, Tom and
Dawn Cullinan for their first Mexico fishing adventure. We relaxed that
afternoon, having a great steak dinner while the wives enjoyed a massage and
facial as part of the couples package. Marty & Valerie Todt from Pennsylvania:
“My husband and I came down for the top water action and we were not
disappointed at all. We caught a total of 507 fish majority on top water. The
action is outstanding throughout the day! The new lodge is awesome! Cabañas and
plantings are lovely and picturesque. Roses and bougainvilleas all around.
Patios overlooking the river are a beautiful luxurious touch. Everything was
kept clean and comfortable, always. Your staff is amazing, so personable and
attentive. Anglers Inn truly has it all.
Tuesday morning was our first morning
of fishing and Sparky, our guide, immediately put us on fish where Debbie and I
caught a number on 2-5 lb. fish on large Zara Spooks and Pop R's. We moved out
to deeper water later in the morning where we caught more fish to 6 lbs. on
crank baits and 8" lizards with watermelon/chartreuse and kudzu being the best
colors. However, this is such a great fishery; I do not think color is all that
important. We had the same great fishing that afternoon and on both fishing
sessions Wednesday. We really enjoyed fishing out of the larger boats with the
75hp engines. We were able to fish for 4 hours Thursday morning before we hopped
on the Anglers Inn van to depart for the 2-hour ride to El Salto and the fishing
was spectacular. Debbie and I caught approximately 25-30 fish between 2-6lbs on
top waters early and then moved to a submerged hump that dropped off to deep
water where we caught over 70 bass. I threw a spinner bait and was catching a
fish on every cast for most of an hour. When this slowed, Debbie and I switched
to shallow crank baits and continued to catch fish on most casts. A little later
we moved to the edge of the hump where it dropped into deeper water and
continued to catch fish on lizards up until the time we had to come in to get
ready to go to El Salto. All in all we caught 100 bass that
morning........incredible. We caught over 300 bass while at Mateos and were
treated with the great hospitality and service Anglers Inn is known for. We
can't wait to come back!" Clay Adkins, of Louisiana, “The top water bite was the
best I’ve ever experienced,” Clay says, “and the weather was also great. We
caught 206 bass and the largest was 7-pounds. We had many fish in the 4 and
6-pound bracket. Our best baits were a watermelon lizard, buzz baits, spinner
baits and a Pop-R.” Joe Goldenson from Arizona says “Entering into the compound
of the new Anglers Inn at Lake Mateos, it was a feeling of foreboding. The road
led into and through a shantytown and then into the main entrance of what turned
out to be Billy Chapman, Jr.'s wonderful new fishing encampment. The six cabins
built for comfort and luxury for the visiting fishermen are second to none.
Everything from t.v.sets to well-stocked mini refrigerators is at your
fingertips. The beautiful river rock shower stall to the comfortable queen sized
beds is there for your use. What more could anyone want??....well great fishing,
of course. Even with the beauty of the lake's endowments, the fishing was even
more spectacular. The bass were numerous and even more powerful. I didn't know
if I had a whale or a one-pound fish the way they fought. My guide took me to a
place of beauty where I was just spellbound by the scenery. One hundred percent
top water fishing, all morning, all forenoon and all afternoon until dark. I
have never experienced anything like that. My poor Rico popper had three
quarters of its skin off and still, the fish kept on hitting it. If you like
action; if you like strong fish; if you like natural beauty like you've never
seen before, Lake Mateos is for you! The Humaya River which runs along side the
compound will be available for a morning's or afternoon's fishing. Wait 'til you
see the scenery there! Wow! I'm making myself jealous of the fishermen who are
there now! Lake Mateos' Anglers Inn has far exceeded my original expectations.
For a place that just opened less than two months ago, IT IS NOW THE PLACE TO
BE. I can't wait to go back. I want to fish that river!” Marc Mills, “Mateos is
OFF THE HOOK!! The lodge is absolutely beautiful and top quality you look over
the most beautiful forest and river. It is what postcards are made of!! Fishing
started out great and just got better and better and the fish got bigger and
bigger. Top fish was my 8+pounder in the evening on the second nigh on a large
top water Vixen. This is a great place to fish the FROGS. I was given some of
the new Canyon Plastic Frogs and ran out, so I glued what I had. I was there
with Bill Rice and we had the best 1hour top water that I have ever seen and
Bill had ever seen in his 40 years of fishing. We did not catch a fish under 4
pounds and my top fish was 8+ most of the fish were 6-7. These were true
4-8pound class not normal Mexico weight standards. Plus the number of fish in a
body of water that size is unbelievable!! Billy Chapman Jr. did it again!!! All
I can say is GET THERE!!” Donald Sheehan, “I just got back from Anglers Inn,
lake Mateos lodge. You have to go!!!!!!!!!! We caught about 300 quality Bass in
three days, ( I have the "bruises" to prove it). Explosive strikes!!!!!!, and
many Bass in the 4 to 6 pound range. This lodge just opened this month, and the
largest Bass so far is over 11 pounds, ( Zara Spook is the top water lure of
choice). Their El Salto lodge seems to have larger Bass; however as this lake
develops I am sure it will produce larger "lunkers". The inn itself is first
class; as we found El Salto in 2001. You will be spoiled by Billy Chapman and
his staff”. Gregory Ray, Vice President of Outdoor Connection says “I wanted to
thank everyone at Anglers Inn for such a great time. My client really enjoyed
the trip and is looking forward to bringing his 3 groups in next year. With what
I do for Outdoor Connection I have had the opportunity to travel all over the
world to hunt and fish with numerous outfitters. I can honestly say that Billy
and the entire Anglers Inn crew run one of the most organized destinations I
have ever been to. I believe the El Salto, Mateos, combo will be a huge success
for Outdoor Connection franchise owners! From the time we arrived at the airport
to the time we were dropped off we never had to ask for a thing, the staff was
very attentive and made sure we had everything we needed. I was really impressed
how the staff called everyone by name, we felt right at home. I guess I should
also mention the fishing was incredible I personally caught over 200 fish on our
3 day trip, the largest on El Salto was a 9-pounder. What I was really impressed
with was Mateos. I caught 77 fish in one day with the majority of those being in
the 5 to 6 pound range, and the best part, they were ALL on top water!
Thanks for a great trip. We are also planning a trip just for our franchise
owners for the 2008 season so make sure you stock up on the tequila”. Keith
Kaneko, Angling on the Fly, visited the new lodge at Lake Mateos and he says
“This is the most incredible top water LMB fishing I have ever experienced in my
life. Anglers Inn provides the best lodge experience that I have ever seen”.
Take a look at some of the pictures we’re including with this report. You’ll see
for yourself why our clients are saying what they have about our new Lake Mateos.
We knew the fishing here was going to be good or we wouldn’t have opened our new
lodge. But it has turned out to be even better than we expected. Come join us to
see what we’re talking about. We're kickin' ass on fish from 2 - 7 pounds.
Biggest fish this month? 9.6 pounds
FISHING REPORT UPDATE
Oct. 16th thru Oct 31st 2007
|
| Air Temp:
73°78°F (mornings and late evenings) - 89°-95°F (Siesta time) |
|
| Water Temp:
77° - 81°F |
|
Average number of bass per boat per day: 120 (2 anglers ended up with
762 bass in 3 days of fishing!) |
| Largest
bass caught: 7 to 8 pound range
|
| Popular lures used this week: |
-
Bomber Fat Free Shad & Rapala DT16 Crankbaits in deep divers in citrus shad,
parrot, fire tiger and white.
-
Eight inch Zoom or 7” Yum Zellamanders Lizards in watermelon, watermelon red
flake, black with blue tail, and junebug.
-
Storm WildEye 4 and 5-inch Swim Shads in shad and golden mullet colors.
-
Yamamoto Senkos, Yum Dingers or Bass Pro Shops 5 & 6 -inch Stinkos in
watermelon, watermelon red flake and black with blue flake.
-
Rat-L-Traps in ½ & ¾-ounce in silver with blue back and silver with black
back.
-
RicoPop in white, white with sparkles and shad.
-
Zara Spook, Sammy and Reaction Innovations Vixen in clear, chrome with black
top and white.
-
Rapala X-Rap or 4 to 5-inch jerkbaits in white, clown, perch and shad.
-
Buzzbaits in ½ & 5/8-ounce in black, white, chartreuse.
ADDITIONAL INFO:
Wow!
That one word is a good choice to describe the reaction of
the few anglers who have had opportunity to visit our new Anglers Inn lodge at
Mexico’s Lake Mateos. We had a limited number of anglers who signed on to be our
guests during the two weeks prior to our grand opening on Nov. 1. Most of these
fishermen had previously visited our operation at El Salto. “Billy Chapman has
done it again,” one of the October visitors said. “We knew he was Mexico’s
leading outfitter and fishing lodge operator. We didn’t think he could ever come
up with something that rivals the accommodations of Anglers Inn at El Salto, but
he sure did. There were a number of experienced anglers among our October
visitors. Even they weren’t prepared for the tremendous bass fishing Lake Mateos
offers. One of them said he wondered if the Lake Mateos bass had ever seen a
lure before. The truth of the matter is that on this 55,000 acre lake, probably
a good many of them hadn’t. Our guests used a variety of lures to catch fish. We
had many comments from those who were mostly throwing surface lures. There were
others who had equally good success with either spinnerbaits or plastic baits.
As has long been our practice, we prefer to let our guests tell you how they
felt about their Anglers Inn visit in their own words. Here’s what a few of them
had to tell us about Lake Mateos before they left for home: “The Lake Mateos
Anglers Inn Lodge is absolutely a first class operation.” Says Bob Martin. “It’s
the best we’ve found in 15 years of fishing in Mexico. We had excellent topwater
action in the mornings. We also fished long brushy points with big plastic
Lizards and Power Worms. Half ounce lipless crankbaits will also catch a lot of
fish. Look for bass pushing large schools of baby tilapia into the flats and
shallows. Try casting shallow running crankbaits into the baitfish schools.” Bob
and Cam Martin are already rebooked to come back in March. Gary and Ron Giudice
were also among our October visitors. “This was the best ever,” Gary says. “Lake
Mateos is the prettiest lake in the world and it has the most fish and the best
lodge. It’s just great!” Gary’s largest bass was an 8-pounder that he caught on
a jig in about 12-feet of water. Ron had much the same kind of comment. “The
high quality of everything associated with Anglers Inn always amazes me,” Ron
said. “On Lake Mateos there were almost too many bass to count. We estimate we
boated more than 100 fish per day. The action was never slow no matter what time
of day we were fishing.” Ron and Gary Giudice are already talking about coming
back this season. The Lake Mateos topwater action was what was especially
appealing to Ben Dilsaver. “Lake Mateos is the best topwater lake I’ve fished,”
Ben says. “If you wanted you could just fish topwater lures. If the topwater
fishing did slow down, a watermelon colored lizard was also excellent. I’m
looking forward to learning this lake. We are already talking about coming back
to Mateos this season” Jerry Bott had the same reaction as Ben. “The topwater
fishing is excellent,” he says. “We had hits on surface lures all day long.”
Jerry also had good success using a slow retrieve with a large spinnerbait. “We
had 80 to 100 fish each day,” Jerry says. Many anglers don’t expect too many
fish in the boat on their first bass fishing adventure. That wasn’t how things
turned out for Scott Pacheco. “I had an amazing first bass fishing trip,” Scott
says. Scott’s largest fish was a 7-pounder he caught on a watermelon colored
lizard. He estimates he had more than 120 bass in three days. “It was
unbelievable,” he says, “I will be back.” Ever been on a bass fishing trip where
for the better part of an hour you had a hit or caught a fish on almost every
cast? James Leggeti will tell you that was his experience on his first visit to
Lake Mateos. “We boated an estimated 150 bass in 2 ½ days of fishing,” James
reports. “One evening in a period of 30 to 45 minutes we caught a fish or had a
strike on 95 per cent of our casts.” Joseph McCarthy was another of our October
guests who had his first bass fishing experience. Joseph is a lifelong trout
angler. “This was my first bass fishing trip,” he says, “I caught more than 50
fish each time out. “I even caught several 2 to 5-pound fish on my fly rod. The
Lake Mateos fish are healthy and fat. They put up a good fight.” Bruce Morain
urges Lake Mateos anglers to get out early in the day. “The fishing was
unbelievable the first hour of the day,” Bruce says. “It was the best action I
have ever experienced. I personally caught 452 bass during the three days I
fished and my partner, Jerry Brand caught over 300 fish. A total of 762 bass! We
can’t wait to come back to Mateos! Have you noticed how often the word
“unbelievable” or “best ever” have surfaced in these reports from visitors to
our new Anglers Inn operation at Lake Mateos? And keep in mind that many of
these anglers have had considerable bass fishing experience, including multiple
trips to Anglers Inn at El Salto Lake. Even the first timers caught a bunch of
bass. You can do the same. But don’t delay booking your Lake Mateos visit as
soon as possible.
|