During the Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series offseason, I love traveling to bass fishing destinations outside of the U.S. with my wife, Trait, and cameraman Charles. We recently enjoyed a bass adventure to Monterrey, Mexico.
Our hosts were Marcello and Aldo, who import Bates fishing reels from their base in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I wasn’t sure what to expect when they invited us to fly to Monterrey. But I did know two things for sure – there are some huge bass in Mexico, and the food is amazing.
Our trip started with a short flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Monterrey. Soon after we landed, we enjoyed the best authentic Mexican tacos I’ve ever had in my life. None of the Mexican food I’ve ever eaten in America can compare.
The next morning, we drove to Lake El Cuchillo, which is about a two-hour drive from the U.S. border. Cuchillo looks exactly like South Texas fisheries. Think Lake Amistad and Lake Falcon. Buck bushes, mesquite and plenty of rocks.
I had been entered in Mexico’s biggest bass tournament. The event was sponsored by Bates Fishing and drew more than 100 boats. Although the competitors were Spanish speaking, it was evident that their enthusiasm level for bass fishing was 110%.
Every boat sported dual Power-Pole setups as well as forward-facing electronics. As we found during our trips to Africa, bass anglers outside of the U.S. take this sport seriously.
A nice guy named Hector was my teammate. With only a half day to practice, we had our work cut out for us. I kept it simple. My primary lures were jighead minnows and, of course, Bass Mafia Daingerous swimbaits.
The lake had a conservation slot-type limit. We were allowed to weigh in three bass under 20 inches and one over 20.
The two-day event couldn’t have gone any better. Both mornings began with breakfast tacos and lots of laughter. When the tournament got underway, Hector and I caught several grandee largemouth in the 6- to 8 1/2-pound range.
The bass were 18- to 22-feet deep and relating to rockpiles. I caught a few small bass on my swimbaits. Our bigger bass, including one that weighed 8.64 pounds, fell for jighead minnows.
We finished in fourth place, thanks mainly to the use of forward-facing sonar. This technology is being used at a high level in the U.S., but it’s just catching on in other countries. Because of what I’ve learned about it on the Elite Series, I felt like I had an advantage.
The Bassmaster Elite Series has fans globally, and everything we do is watched closely. It’s neat to see the trends we set on the Elite tour catching on in other countries.
Although Trait did not compete in the tournament, she fished with female anglers during the event and also caught some grandee bass. We thoroughly enjoyed our four days south of the border.
I posted a YouTube video of this trip on our “Zaldaingerous” podcast. Stay tuned to watch it all unfold.
We’ll be heading back to South Africa later this year. I can’t wait to meet more anglers from outside the U.S. who share the same passion for bass fishing as Americans do.
