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Russ "Bassdozer" Comeau
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Dr. Rogelio Villarreal and Miguel Garza of Lobinas Trofeo Fishing Team


Story by Russ Bassdozer y Rogelio Villarreal, MD

March 30, 2009

Rogelio: Let me give you some background information about the fishing conditions. The trip was from March 5th to 8th on el Salto in Mexico.

By this time, there is little bass activity left on the spawning nests. The females are finished laying for some time already.  Males have mostly drifted off the nests with their fry. So it is post-spawn season and most of the bass are slim now and some show signs of physical stress from the rigors of the spawn.

Post-spawn makes for tough fishing. We tried soft swimbaits, lipless rattlebaits, Senkos, spinnerbaits. All the trusty lures failed to produce. It wasn't until I broke out some of Yamamoto's new stuff (10" Kut Tails and 12" Kurly Tails) and some new Sebile lures (Magic Swimmers and big Koolie Minnows) that we finally got into the game.

So, that describes the fishing conditions and the rest of this report will tell how these new lures helped us to still land trophy largemouth even though all our old faithful lures didn't produce this time.

Russ: How deep were you fishing?

Rogelio: We fished anywhere from 4 to 30 feet deep according to the particular spot or place. Most fish we caught were from 6-12 feet.

Russ: Always in the trees?

Rogelio: The trees were the first recommendations of the guides. I will tell you why later, but we fished mainly in three scenarios:

  1. Trees: We threw plasticos in the trees including Yamamoto's new line of Kut and Curly Tails and the big single tail grubs.

  2. Deep Points. Casting to points with deeper water close by, and working Sebile swimbaits and minnows from shallow to deeper water.

  3. Submerged Islands. Ones with deeper water around, we were working the Sebiles from deeper water to the tops of the submerged islands.

However, our best success was in the trees.

Russ: Do you think you were catching mostly post-spawn females? Or were you catching post-spawn males too?

Rogelio: I think most of the fish were females, especially the bigger fish that selected the bigger Kut Tails and Curly Tails.

Russ: Did you see any newly-hatched bass being guarded by male bass? If so, where?

Rogelio: This question is very interesting. There were a lot of newly-hatched baby bass mainly around the trees, and that's why the question is so interesting at least for me. There is the myth that the big dinner plate holes that appear when the water level of the lake gets down, are lobinas nests. This is not true, at least not at el Salto and Bacurato; the big plate-shaped nests are always big tilapia nests!

Bass at these lakes build their nests right around the base of the tree trunks, and by this time, with the spawn already over, the tops of these trees were full of new baby bass at this time. Maybe this is why we were successful fishing the trees.

Rogelio feels bass spawn right at the base of trees such as these.

Ask anyone what is the most prolific cover in Mexico? Everyone knows it's trees. So I think bass use these trees starting with pre-spawn, the outlying trees, especially any tree lines that extend out almost forming points, are focal points for pre-spawn bass to stage. Then they move back to spawn in the shallow sections of trees. They spawn in the innermost trees that are sheltered from wind and wave action. As the eggs hatch, the baby bass schools eventually rise up to the surface layer where they can get blown or bounced around from tree to tree. Different bunches of baby bass can get blown together, forming larger schools all in the same trees, having two, three or more male bass cooperatively guarding their large mixed baby schools.

The females, after they spawn, they don't leave these trees either. They just move from the shallow trees to the somewhat deeper trees. Eventually the females, the baby bass, the males still guarding them, all wind up in the same trees during the post-spawn.

Russ: What type and pound test line was used? Are there any issues with line visibility or line abrasion in the trees?

Rogelio: I  used a couple of rods with 50 lb test braided line, and a couple with 20 lb test fluorocarbon line.

It is my impression that in this season (post-spawn) that clear fluorocarbon is better in terms of visibility, because bass are not that aggressive and can act fussy toward what they'll bite. So the more difficult and fussy the fish are, the more I'll throw fluorocarbon during the post-spawn season. With 20 lb. test fluorocarbon around the trees, there are no abrasion issues.

Braided line loses its color, but there are really no abrasion issues with braid either.

Russ: Do you use the same tackle and line for the Yamamoto soft baits and for the Sebile hardbaits?

Rogelio: I use heavy action G.Loomis rods and Shimano Chronarch reels for Yamamoto plasticos.

I used a Carrot Stix medium-heavy rod and Ardent reel for the Sebile hard baits.

Braided line most of the time for Yamamoto. Fluorocarbon for Sebile.

Russ: What type rigs did you use with the Yamamotos? Texas, Carolina, any other?

For the 8" single tail grubs and smaller 6-1/2" Kut Tails, I used Texas rigs.

By the way, although the fishing was slower than usual, there were times during the day that we got continuous actions using the smaller (6-1/2") Kut Tail. What an excellente plastico!

Yamamoto 6-1/2" Kut Tail caught impressive numbers of bass at times during the day.

The 6-1/2 inch Kut Tail worked excellent for quantity; the bigger Kut Tails for quality.

I utilized the Carolina Mexicano Rig for bigger 10-inch Kut Tails and 12-inch Curly Tails, You use two bullet weights (one big, one small) at about 30-60 centimeters (1-2 feet) above the plastico and with your pliers you close the upper hole of the smaller sinker. It holds itself and the larger sinker in place. No beads, no swivel, no paraphernalia, no additional knots, only the two bullet weights.

Carolina Mexicano rig is simple yet deadly. Thread a large bullet sinker followed by a small bullet sinker onto your line. Tie a hook on. Use pliers to crimp the small sinker in place about 1-2 feet above the hook. That's it.

Russ: What size hooks with the 10" Kut Tail, 12" Curly Tail, 8" Single Tail grub, 6-1/2" Kut Tail? Did you use the same hook and same riggings with all of them - or did you rig certain ones differently?

Rogelio: The hooks I used were the Yamamoto Sugoi Gamakatsu hooks in 5/0 size. These are the ones Mr. Yamamoto designed for fishing his soft plastics, so I use his 5/0 Yamamoto Sugoi hook with all sizes of his Kut Tails, Curly Tails and single tail grubs.

The red hooks you can see in some of the photos, they're also 5/0.

Russ: Last question... did you try the Senkos? Did Senkos work? Please comment.

Rogelio: We did try the Senkos. They did not work in any presentation. That 's puzzling since usually the Senko is our best plastico.

It's an interesting situation, because the fishing was so difficult this time, until I unpacked the bombs!!! The 10-inch Kut Tails on Carolina and 6-1/2" Kut Tails on Texas were a blast!!! Plus the Kurly Tails and the big single tails (grubs) really made for a good trip.

Russ: Anything else, muy amigo?

Rogelio: Yes, the Sebile Magic Swimmer. Ohhh my goodness, una maravilla!!!

Sebile Magic Swimmer 165 was used with the rod tip up, so it stayed near the surface.

We swam them close to the surface with the rod tips high, and the impact was brutal!! No matter what you were doing, you had to turn your head to look because of the ferocious sound when someone hooked up.

There were no true giants this time, but plenty of 6-9 pounders.

Russ: Six to nine pounders work for me!

Rogelio: Si!

Dr. Rogelio Villarreal and bass on Yamamoto 10" Kut Tail.

Yamamoto 10" Kut Tail cures the post-spawn blues.

Click here to see the Doctor and guide net post-spawn largemouth bass on Yamamoto 10-inch Kut Tail.

 

Yamamoto 10" Kut Tail was selective for the better quality bass.

Yamamoto 12" Curly Tail - a big bait that's selective for big bass.

Yamamoto 12" Curly Tail brings smile to Rogelio's face.

Click here to see the Doctor and guide net post-spawn largemouth bass on Yamamoto 12-inch Curly Tail.

Yamamoto 8" Single Tail works for Miguel Garza, a member of Mexico's Lobinas Trofeo Fishing Team.

Side view of Sebile Koolie Minnow 136 Medium Lip.

Belly view of Sebile Koolie Minnow 136 Medium Lip.

Patrick Sebile's Magic Swimmer and Koolie Minnow recommendations for trophy bass: