|
|
|
Event Article:
El Salto with Shimano |
Fishing El Salto with pre-release Shimano Tackle and Jimmy Houston
(continued)
 Recommended
rods: Rods are a little tricky, since baitcasters are the way to go you will
have to invest in an oversized rod tube like the Bazooka, or package your rods
up in a capped off PVC shipping tube. Multi piece rods will do the trick but
make sure that they make use of relatively high modulus graphite.
|
 |
|
Sure felt a
lot bigger?! These fish fight hard, coupled with the fact these rods are
very sensitive as they are IM-10 |
With so much plastics action at El Salto a sensitive rod will help you detect
more bites, and ultimately land more of those double digit bass you came all the
way for. Most anglers will want to bring three rods, one that is suitable for
plastics, one that is good for medium cranking and double up for topwater, and
one that can cast heavier lures like mammoth cranks and swimbaits. Good lengths
for fishing out of the guide boats are anything from 6’6” to 7’2”.
|
 |
|
Brian is in
charge of customer service at Shimano |
Recommended lines: Due to the heavy structure at the bottom of the lake
you want something that will not break on you when pulling through rocky
structure or timber, and something with enough tensile strength to muscle big
fish away from the submerged trees.
|
 |
|
Red, a
regional Shimano rep works submerged structure far from bank, the guides
know the lake well, and many at Anglers Inn have been there for nearly a
decade |
We found 12-25lb mono good for the task, and braided lines even better.
With braided lines, you not only get a much better
feel for the bottom, but you'll get better abrasion resistance in the El Salto
structure as compared to mono.
|
 |
|
JIP races
across the lake with Dan, who is in charge of supporting Shimano customers
on the internet
|
|
 |
|
Ted bears
down on another one with plastics |
Recommended lures:
El Salto has some of the most aggressive bass we have ever targeted, and if you
are lucky enough to fish the lake for a couple days it is certainly worth trying
some techniques that you might not normally employ on the tail end of the trip.
When we asked the guides to pick their top two lures they went with a Watermelon
lizard as the top choice, followed by a deep diving crank citrus shad as a close
second.
|
 |
|
Ted asks our
guide to take us to a spot to fish jerkbaits |
Truth is that just about
everything we threw was effective, but we caught our biggest fish on exactly
what the guides recommended. We also found black and red lizards and 10 inch
worms effective at targeting bigger fish. Chartreuse, Gold, and White crankbaits
all produced plenty of strikes, but having larger deeper diving baits able to
get close to the tops of submerged trees was key. You will want to bring a few
that are capable of getting below 15 feet.
|
 |
|
At El Salto
the Tilapia like jerkbaits too! |
In the morning and evening
the topwater bite can sometimes be off the hook, and bringing spooks, poppers,
and buzzbaits is an absolute must. Then there is the good old spinnerbait, they
work here, but like the other baits they work better in the larger heavier
sizes. Bring some mammoth ones all the way up to 1½ oz, good colors include
white and chartreuse, and black and blue.
JIP captures some action from
shore
Though all swimbaits work
here we found the smaller ones to be more effective, even for the larger fish.
Storm swimbaits worked well in just about every pattern, and the ability
to get down deeper can help target the bigger fish when the samller ones are
hammering bait on the surface.
|
 |
|
Good night
El Salto |
Finally being hard core
jerkbait fishermen we tested an assortment of jerkbaits here at the lake, but
found them to be the least effective of all the baits we fished. They worked,
but other than right in front of the dam we found them to catch less numbers and
quality than any of the other lures.
|
 |
|
John proves
he really did catch that 7lbr with a picture |
Next
Section: More El Salto tips and how is your spanish?
|
|
|
|
