North 40 Hosted Trip: World's Best Bass Fishing - Lake Picachos - Day 1
A submerged tree was blocking our path along a steep shoreline we'd successfully been working. As our guide piloted the boat around it, I took a risk. I cast my double twisty fly rig into a saddle between limbs. I let them sink as long as I dared. As soon as I tightened the line, I felt resistance. I reared back on the 8-weight, expecting to quickly "bass" another two-pounder from snag infested waters. Instead, my arms were jacked back down. I buckled in and jacked them back up. I felt my line rubbing on a branch and added even more pressure before the water erupted with a huge bucket mouth. My guide’s mouth erupted in kind with a bunch of expletives, as he lunged for the net. I kept the rod loaded to the limit, stretching 20 lb. FC and stressing a size 1 jig hook to the max. As the bass tail walked toward my pressure, the hook blinked first, springing open and pulling free. Instead of sinking from sight, the bass kept throwing a surface tantrum and ended up, just barely, falling into the net.
When we touched down in Mazatlán on January 8th, I had visions of battling trophy bass. The reality of our trip to Anglers Inn on Lake Picachos was even better. This was my second trip to Anglers Inn at Lake Picachos, and I was hosting six anglers from Montana and Arizona, eager to enjoy a winter fly fishing vacation. This was day one…
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Picachos Dia de llegada (Arrival Day)
I’m generally an early riser, especially when a day of fishing is at hand. I rolled out of bed at the Palms in Mazatlán ready for action at 6 a.m. Our pick-up and transfer to Picachos was not until 9 a.m., so I had some time to enjoy the morning. I went down to the beach and watched the sunrise while waiting for the rest of the crew to show up for breakfast. I saw no sign of any fish working the edges of the surf, but I did see a beach angler land what looked like a nice Sierra with a spinning rod. Maybe next year, I’ll toss a fly.
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When the van arrived for our transfer to Anglers Inn, everyone was eager to get going. We took a quick detour around one of the marinas to check out the boating and yacht scene and then turned inland for the 40-minute trip up to Lake Picachos. As we approached the lake, it was clear we were not in Montana anymore. For instance, the lake was calm.
Arrival was accompanied by a tray of margaritas, cabin assignments, and a call to lunch for fresh mahi-mahi in short order. The immaculate grounds, hospitality, and level of service are the first things you notice right away at Anglers Inn. Their program is dialed in.
Over lunch, we broke into teams for our first of seven fishing sessions. Then we used our siesta window to set up rods and select the starting lineup of flies. There were so many flies, but did we have the right ones or enough of the ones that would work? We’d soon find out.
Sesión 1
This was my second trip to Picachos, so I had some idea of what to expect. Basically, lots of opportunity at pulling bass from shorelines and submerged cover. I rigged up an 8-weight rod with an SA Titan taper intermediate line. I looped on a five-foot shot of 20#. FC and then loop knotted a white solitude jawbreaker to the end. Adding two more feet of leader to the eye of the white fly, I tied on a black jawbreaker. Last year, the white fly was the ticket but the black one still found favor with a few fish. Sometimes, both flies would get hit and a Picachos Doble would ensue.
My partner for the afternoon was Marv. He was testing the waters of bass fishing with a fly rod for the first time. Regardless of my assurance that he’d do just fine, catching a few fish would soon take care of any pre-trip apprehensions. I’d explained that “bassing” was a much more aggressive style of fly fishing than the trout fishing we are used to in Montana. After a few fish, he got the idea and it did not take him long to find bass fly fishing happiness.
It soon became apparent that the black fly was numero uno on the menu. I managed to get one double hook-up with fish on both the black and white fly at the same time, but the black fly was clearly drawing the most attention. My immediate thought was, “I should have brought more!”
As the sun lowered, I broke out a popper. I’d been dreaming about the sound of a bass soaking down a popper since my last trip in March of 2018. After a few casts and a resounding Skasploosh, my daydreams were manifested in reality again.
After fishing, and before dinner, our group gathered at the Picachos Bar for choice beverages, tasty snacks, and a recount of everyone’s afternoon. This soon become the daily ritual after each fishing session. It was the best way to avoid having the retell each fishing story or event over and over. I became the moderator, calling out for the report or stories from each boat. We also shared information on flies, techniques, fishy locations, and I was able to make sure everyone was having a great time.
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Session one was a success and the prospects for the next three days looked great. Everyone seemed happy and at ease. While the evening popper fishing hour was not as good as we’d expected, the fish numbers and size qualities were excellent. Mark enjoyed a stellar afternoon catching a ridiculous number of fish. He was also on the leader board with a chunky 6 lb. fish. What would the next day bring?
