THE
ONE THAT GOT AWAY
Lake Huites
by
David Masterson
Ranger
Dave |
The last glimmer of the sun’s iridescent rays peaked over the
Sierra Madre Mountains as our traveling party cruised through the small
town of El Fuerte. We turned off the paved road to an unpaved one that
meandered through the hilly landscape.
We were tired from our journey, which took us from Dallas to Mexico
City, and eventually to the small western Mexico city of Los Mochis.
Thankfully, our passage through customs was much smoother than the
mountainous road that would eventually lead us to our final destination – Lake
Huites.
Fortunately, a great meal and frozen margaritas were awaiting us at
the lodge. We had finally made it!
Early the next morning, we were amazed at what we saw as we emerged
from our comfortable air-conditioned guest rooms, a panoramic view
of the clear lake below. The view revealed long, sloping points dotted
with cactus and scrub trees. Rock formations and gravel points were
everywhere one looked. Nothing less than a bass angler's sanctuary.
We were there for three full days of fishing. Each day was an adventure
in itself as we covered this 30,000-acre impoundment.
I could go on and on about the quality of the fishing and the techniques
we used to catch over 1000 bass, between four men in three days, but
I will write about that another day. For now, however, I would like
to share what happened on our first day on Huites.
My guide and I had an excellent morning, landing over 50 bass, with
the largest close to 5-pounds, mostly on plastics. We headed back to
the lodge around noon. It was hot, at least 90 degrees, and the humidity
was high. Lunch and frosty margaritas provided a welcome respite from
the productive morning of fishing, and the hot sun. It was close to
2:00 by the time everyone had finished lunch, chatted, and enjoyed
a brief siesta.
Satiated by the delicious food and cold drinks, I looked at my guide
and nodded toward the lake with a wink. My good friend, Bob Taylor,
looked at me and the other guys as I stood up and said, “Aren't
you the persistent one Masterson." That I was, I wanted a big
bass!
I had decided to change tactics and instead of fishing shallow as
we had during the morning hours, we headed to some deep-water points
with big crankbaits. These fish were either in the pre-spawn stage,
or actually in their spawn, and if we could find beds in the stained
water off these deeper points, we might just score.
We headed for a long point the guide knew about close to the lodge.
"Here?" I asked as he cut the motor off and drifted towards
the point. He told me that a lot of big fish had come from this point,
and this was a good place to see if they would take the big cranks.
We tied up in about 30 foot of water to the top of a large tree. The
position we were in was perfect, both of us could throw crankbaits
parallel to the point on both sides, and cover it completely…this
was textbook.
It was about 2:15 and really getting hot when we made our first cast.
Our technique was to reel and kneel, cranking the big Fat Free shad
deep diving crank bait as fast as we could down the length of the point.
It was about 5 casts before we found fish….big fish!
We had hit the jackpot. The first bass was around 7-8 pounds, that
one jumped off right at the boat. The second was a solid 5...landed
her.
I looked at my watch and it was 2:20. Sweat was dripped from my forehead
as I chunked the big crank as far down the point as far as I could...dropped
the rod, and started cranking her back hard. When you working a big
crankbait like this on 15 lb. Berkley Big Game, you have to push the
rod tip down in the water as far as you can with your hand nipping
water with every crank
That's when I hooked a monster!
She ran deep and pulled drag. The guide said it was a big fish, and
went for the net. I fought the bass right to the boat, and quickly
lipped a hefty 8 pounder! A picture..release...high five and we were
back at it. I was pumped up!
Over the next 10 minutes we caught a dozen bass, with three of them
exceeding 8 pounds. I was in bass heaven. How could it get any better
than this?
Then things went into slow motion. I made another cast down the point
with the guides bait sailing through the air right next to mine.
In unison, we dropped to our knees and began the ritual, sweat was
dripping from my forehead like a wet dog, and my arms were aching as
we cranked the big baits down.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw him bow up….. “Oh Man… Oh
Man….. This is a grande fish buddy…this is grande“ he
shouted. His rod was bowed like crazy. He kept pressure on the fish
as drag started slipping off his reel...this fish was coming up.
If you have ever hung a really big bass, you know this feeling. You
feel like you have hooked a tornado, and its coming up to see what
the heck has got her hooked, and she’s not a happy camper.
Less than 15 feet from the boat she surfaced. All we saw was this
massive head and mouth come up, and slosh the water before diving.
This was a TROPHY BASS! WE ARE TALKING TEEN BABY!
The guide fought her towards the boat and she surfaced again, right
in front of me! I could see her silver dollar eyes and huge mouth that
had to have been at least 12 inches across….. frothing on the
surface. I could have dropped a soccer ball in her mouth…truly!
Instead of grabbing the net, (first mistake) I reached to lip her when
she exploded in my grip, shooting the crank bait into my right shoulder.
I tried to hold her, and for a spilt second I had her. Then, she was
gone…..gone.
For the next few seconds as I lay there, perched over the side of
the boat, my arms still in the water, soaked from the fight, and with
the crank bait still buried in my shoulder. My heart was racing, my
hands were shaking, and all I herd was the groaning of a few grown
men, plus a few other words.
I slowly looked over at my guide, and then I looked over at the boat
right next to us where Tony, our cameraman, was filming the action.
Oh, did I forget to tell you that this was all caught on film? Well
it was. Anyway.... I said "Tony, tell me partner, did you get
that?” Tony replied like a man that just watched his best friend
drop the winning lotto ticket down the drain. “I got it man.
I got it, every bit of it."
The guide and I both agreed it was a huge bass….a "teen" fish
without a doubt, and he said one of the largest he had ever had on.
I apologized repeatedly to him that day, and of course, was thoroughly
trashed by my fellow anglers the rest of the trip for not using the
net!
Sometimes, when I am going through old footage, I will just sit back
and run the footage in slow motion, over and over, remembering those
15 minutes, on Lake Huites. It was a day I will never forget. In case
you’re wondering, I am guessing the fish was larger than 15-16
pounds. I am 48 years old and have fished all over the world, fresh
and saltwater alike. As a professional guide in East Texas I have landed
22 bass over ten pounds up to 12.80, and I have 56 Peacock Bass up
to 22 pounds, so I know a big fish when I see one….but this
bass, this bad mama-sita was the biggest black bass I had ever had
my hands on.
Ranger Dave
For more information about fishing in Mexico contact
Trophy Quest
Adventures @ www.trophyquest.com
936 591 2971
LAKE HUITES
Lake Huites Dam was started in 1992 and completed in 1995. Even though
this project was initially surrounded with controversy, AKA (The Mystery
Lake) the dam was completed and the lake was flooded in record time.
The dam was built on the Rio Fuerte thus assuring the control of any
flooding downstream.
At normal pool, the Lake covers around
25,000 acres and is one of the most beautiful Mountain Lakes to be
found anywhere in the Americas. The Lake was originally stocked with
Florida strain bass that have quickly matured in size and numbers.
There is still seasonal netting on the lake, but it is not uncommon
for anglers to catch and release 60 -120 bass per day with opportunities
to land trophy bass in the ten pound class and better.
The Lake is located approximately 100 miles from the city of Los Mochis,
Sinaloa, which is the closest major city with a full service airport.
It is a little over three-hour drive from the lower foothills of the
Sierra Madre. For those anglers with private planes, a paved airstrip
is located in El Fuerte which is about an hour from the lake. Los Mochis
has several nice hotels and the downtown market is quite interesting.
As is any foreign country, anglers should visit market during the day
and take care if traveling alone at night.
