Lake Picachos Info?

bassdaddy · Post by **bassdaddy** » Fri May 22, 2020 7:16 am

My fishing partner and I are heading to Picachos the third week of January. Just wondering if any of the WB guys have any experience with the lake and any insight/information they would be willing to share.
Thank you

gman2 · Post by **gman2** » Sat May 23, 2020 11:31 am

I haven't been to Picachos but I have been to El Salto a few times. They are very similar I think. Unless you have a certain way you like to fish just listen to your guide. I call before I go and ask whats working best then stock up. I've been with Anglers Inn. They say they have a fully stocked tackle shop but they don't have much. Unless they've expanded. But the food and fishing is great like they advertise! I'm sure Picachos is just as good.

Rick G · Post by **Rick G** » Sat May 23, 2020 1:30 pm

I went with a group of 10 over the New Years Holiday this last December-January. First time there but have been to El Salto 12-15 times all out of Anglers Inn. Lake is very close to Airport so the ride is short. The fishing is very good for fish in the 1-3lb range with 100 plus caught easily per boat BEFORE lunch break lol. Great topwater lake in the am, Flukes followed by squarebills followed by big worms and Jigs as the day wore on. I fished out of the Ron Speed camp there and IMO the boats are better than Anglers Inn [real mod V bass boats with electronics that worked] but the camp not as luxurious as Anglers INN. Food about the same at both and the service at Anglers Inn is just a notch above. Lake is much smaller than El Salto for sure and the best bite for quality was way up the river on Jigs on the channel swings in 18-25 ft. I caught 4 in the 6-6.5lb range in 4 days and a slug of 4-5's. The bulk of our group were bass club guys and they had a blast with all the smaller fish and loved fishing in a big group watching each other hammer the 1-3lbers. LV500 Lucky craft lipless was a hot ticket. Biggest fish caught by the whole group the 4 days I was there was one 8lber. So which is better? El Salto or Picachos? For a lake to get bit on whatever you wanted to throw Picachos. For a Trophy and a shot at a fish over 10, El Salto hands down. Both fun in every way.

Crankem · Post by **Crankem** » Sat May 23, 2020 3:15 pm

Great Info Rick! Both Lakes sound great. Hope this Pandemic doesn't cause too many complications down in Old Mexico.

bassdaddy · Post by **bassdaddy** » Sun May 24, 2020 1:01 pm

Rick I sincerely appreciate your post...sent you a PM

Rick Pierce · Post by **Rick Pierce** » Sun May 24, 2020 4:30 pm

I’ve been to Picachos several times since it first opened and it’s a great experience. We use Ron Speed, though Chapman’s right next door and some of our group this year had to shift over to Angler’s Inn to finish two days in a 5 day fishing week.

We took consumers on a Bass Cat trip and we were there the last week of January. We are booked again at Ron Speeds around that same time frame. We did Comedero in February right head of the Bassmasters Classic, last year we did El Salto also. Picachos is the one everyone wants to go back to and several are couples on the trip.

Fish have grown and the largest we’ve caught as a group is a 9-12 and we caught several in then7 pound range. Most this year were in the 3 pound category. Ron Speed and I went up the river the first day as my partner had a flight glitch. We spent most of the next two days convincing our guides what we wanted to do. Most of our good fish were on critter baits and spinner baits.

You can literally catch them on anything at Picachos and that week of January I would take rattle baits, 1.5 cranks, large deep 10XD stuff, large swim baits are good for big fish. Four years ago I had 127 fish just myself after lunch, just flipping. My boat partner Stewart had about 50 after lunch. Five years ago one of our really good father and son teams set the standing record for Picachos and had 425 fish in one day. Nothing small and largest was over 7 lbs.

The foods amazing with either outfitter and if you hang out at El Cid On the exit food there is good, or the best steak house in Mazatlan is right down the block.

bassdaddy · Post by **bassdaddy** » Mon May 25, 2020 7:34 am

We've been to Salto and Comedero...the "convincing our guides what we want to do" issue can be very frustrating. Our experience has been that they are definitely tuned into throwing plastics at the bank or obvious structure and it can be difficult to talk them into anything outside their comfort zone. When you ask them for advice the number one answer has always been "iguana".

I'm sure my ability to speak Spanish should be better but it would be really nice to be able to speak to the guides about fishing strategies and have them be more receptive regarding our desires.
Once again, I sincerely appreciate your posts.

Pat · Post by **Pat** » Mon May 25, 2020 10:58 am

I was at El Salto-Picachos for a combo trip in beginning of March last year. I actually had more fun at Picachos. Did not get a lot of topwater, some late in the day targeting shade pockets with poppers. But we would get into big schools of 3-4 pounders. Cast after cast to the same spot. Caught them on 8" lizards, water melon red with the tail dipped chartruese. Bring lots, if you think you have enough, get another bag! There is not much of a tackle shop at Picachos. We also got on a killer soft swimbait bite with white or pearl 5-6" on a half oz head or weighted hook. Again dip the tail. Get the duralble swimbaits like for stripers. When I go back I am going to stock up on the Storm Wild Eye Swim Shads.
There is a lot more timber at Picachos than El Salto and you can flip the trees or work moving lures through them. Bigger Senkos are also good. I also had a good afternoon throwing square bills in shady banks. Our guide, El DIablo, was very good. He is a young man and spoke English very well. He grew up there before the lake was flooded and did a great job of mixing up the places we fished. Couple of our buddies got on a good deep crank bite, their guide tied off to a tree on a windy point and they were catching 4+ pounders one after another. I think they also had a 7. One of the best stories I have: I was fishing an 8" Junebug lizard (ran out of watermelon!) and got slammed by a good fish while I was reeling it back in. Released the fish and cast back out and reeled it back and caught another. This went on for about 20 minutes. The lizard was getting all torn up and finally had no head, half a tail and one leg left and they still bit it!

If you are going to Anglers Inn, they have very nice St Croix rods for you to use so you don't have to travel with your rods. They are in good shape and if one gets damaged or you want a different length or action just swap it out. Spool up your reels with fresh line, nothing less than 17# for mono or fluorocarbon and 30# braid works great for swimbaits or heavier for flipping trees. Call a week or so before you go and get the latest info. The guides are very helpful and work hard, so tip them accordingly. If you get hung up, just hand the rod to your guide and pick up another one. He will get it free while you fish. Same thing if you break off, he will tie a new bait on. They know how to tie good knots too. They will be happy to net or land your fish and unhook them for you too. You will get spoiled if you let yourself. Have fun!!