Alan with a girthy Largemouth taken on a green popper...We just completed our final day of fishing here at Lake Mateos. I was not able to blog last evening because... honestly, I am waaaay too tired! Yes, this topwater bass fishing is fun, but also can beat you down after a few days of pulling on these green-sided brutes! OK, enough excuses...
Yesterday, we all had slower fishing success during the AM hours... not sure why, but I guess it is a reminder that fishing is sometimes just that... fishing. We still caught fish in the morning, but we did have to work for them. A front was moving in and I guess one could surmise that it was that factor that stiffened the bass bite. Well, lucky for us the evening session proved to be downright crazy with many fish fooled on poppers, divers, and sliders. Some of the group members reported their best topwater trophies that evening.
Today proved to be a grand finale... some of the best fishing of the week occurred today. I witnessed Jim blow-up more than 20 fish on one single pass down this rocky shoreline. He was fishing his favorite "Blackie" popper and the bass ate it like candy. It resulted in a few nice sized bass that measured in the 5 to 6 pound class. Other comments from the group were that these Mateos bass are not "normal" Largemouth (like those in the north). They fight much harder like Smallmouth and can fold an 8 weight rod in half! The bass here have an astonishing growth rate, and this adds up to young bass that are BIG and strong!
Well, I am beat and can not stay awake now... zzzz... here are some pics that better tell the story of the past two days of fishing. I will prepare a final report and post it in the next few days while I am at Lake El Salto. Yes, I have the good fortune of heading to El Salto to complete my "work" ;-)... Fish On and Happy Holidays to everyone.
Yesterday, we all had slower fishing success during the AM hours... not sure why, but I guess it is a reminder that fishing is sometimes just that... fishing. We still caught fish in the morning, but we did have to work for them. A front was moving in and I guess one could surmise that it was that factor that stiffened the bass bite. Well, lucky for us the evening session proved to be downright crazy with many fish fooled on poppers, divers, and sliders. Some of the group members reported their best topwater trophies that evening.
Today proved to be a grand finale... some of the best fishing of the week occurred today. I witnessed Jim blow-up more than 20 fish on one single pass down this rocky shoreline. He was fishing his favorite "Blackie" popper and the bass ate it like candy. It resulted in a few nice sized bass that measured in the 5 to 6 pound class. Other comments from the group were that these Mateos bass are not "normal" Largemouth (like those in the north). They fight much harder like Smallmouth and can fold an 8 weight rod in half! The bass here have an astonishing growth rate, and this adds up to young bass that are BIG and strong!
Well, I am beat and can not stay awake now... zzzz... here are some pics that better tell the story of the past two days of fishing. I will prepare a final report and post it in the next few days while I am at Lake El Salto. Yes, I have the good fortune of heading to El Salto to complete my "work" ;-)... Fish On and Happy Holidays to everyone.
Owner Billy Chapman, Jr. (far left) showed up to greet the fly gang...
Mike looks surprised to be able to catch a Tilapia on a popper!
Mike fished big flies for big bass!
Bill fools a nice twilight bass!
6 + 3 equals 9 pounds of bass!
Bill lands a nice bass on an El Salto Special popper
Jim ruled the afternoon topwater session with "Blackie" (black popper)
Mike going big again...
Beautiful Lake Mateos
Morning double for Shiz and I...
Going eye-to-eye with bass at dawn...
Cloud cover building over Lake Mateos
