Crazyju

I go to Picachos every year. Logistics for both lakes are the same. Anglers Inn Is great. Billy takes care of his guest. Check all tackle that has a hook or metal in it. Reels go in carry on bag. As of now going you can have line on them, but coming back you will need to remove the line to carry them on. I travel with the couple that wrote this article about El Salto y Picachos I think they have been 20+ times. over the years. https://www.halfpastfirstcast.com/el-salto-and-picachos

If you can, request Daniel Osuna to be your guide. He is awsome. That lake is fun to fish.

Where are you fishing out of?

Who are you flying with? I have been to Panama twice and flew in with Delta and then Copa to David and had a huge carry on and a personal item.

The lake is around 15ft lower than last year. They are working on the Dam.

We took 22 dredgers and came back with 2. Had to be hitting bottom or trees to get bit. We asked our guide to stay deep and fish for bigger.

90 percent of our fish came on a 20.5 dredger or 5" swimbait. Alot more on the dredger. Went through 300 + dingers last year. Didnt even use 20 this time. We did catch some on A-rig, but really didnt throw it enough. If you can, request Gustavo as your guide.

I Spent 4 ½ days fishing Lake Picachos in Mexico with 3 good friends last week. This was the second January in a row we went and the trip could not have went better. The flights were all on time. Anglers Inn was waiting on us at the airport and we were fishing in less than 2 hours after landing in Mazatlan. The food and service was top notch and our guide Daniel kept us laughing the whole trip. We landed over 1200 fish, with a 7.0, 6.84, 6.34 as big fish. The number of 3.5-4lbers on this lake is unreal. Already planning return trip. Great trip Dan and Peter and Pete the crazy Hungarian. Thank you Daniel for keeping us on fish!

Anglers Inn is top notch, I have not used them yet for the Amazon, but 4 or 5 that I traveled with to Panama last year used them for their trip and they couldnt stop talking about the service.

When did you go? I am going back again in January. Already packing baits.

Actually there is a sandbar directly below the dam that always has people wading. You do have to pay attention to the flow, but it is a great place to fish in the fall for smallmouths.

Just looked at their website and it states "All lake activities closed until further notice" Any insite when it might open back up?

We have caught 5 or 6 over the years on the Big O and Kissimmee. The everglades gators are the mean ones. Had a big one come off a bank and go over the trolling motor and this one was ticked.

I am kicking myself for not taking Alabama rigs with me. We got into several suspended schools that I think we would have caught mutiple fish at a time.

3 of the big ones came on deep divers. DD22s and we were killing them on the Berkley dredger until we lost the only 2 we had. Bait was not the difference in size it was location. We spent the morning fishing banks for numbers and the evening in 25 + water. 3/4 oz swimbaits were probably the 2nd best producer, but again, we fished them deeper. I did find that telling our guide that we wanted to go after bigger fish was the difference from what we caught and other groups that were there.

What a trip. I have wanted to fish in Mexico for years now, and finally got the opportunity. Went down with 3 other guys that usually travel to Florida this time of the year. We used Ron Speed and every detail was perfect. They picked us up at the airport at 1pm and we were eating Nachos at the lodge by 2:30. Spent a few hours relaxing on the porch overlooking the lake, took a short nap and Dinner was ready at 6. Every meal was phenomenal. We fished 4 days 6am til noon, then lunch and a siesta, back on the water at 2 until 6:15. Dinner was waiting on. We caught 200 fish in our boat each of the first 3 days and 259 on day 4. The other 2 guys did almost as well. We had a 7.82 , 7.21, 6.98 and a 5.46 for our 4 biggest. Ton of 2.5-4.5 pounders. We caught fish on the bank with senkos and in 35ft+ on swimbaits. Our guide let us tell him how we wanted to fish. Beautiful lake surrounded by mountains, wildlife everywhere. Already planning to go back next year.

I have used the string trick twice on myself and 4 times on other people. The one below, I tried to talk the guy that was fishing with me (and the one who stuck me with his bait) to do the string trick, but he was turning white and about to faint. Key to the string trick is hard downward pressure on the hook shank. That is what gives the barb room to release.

Soddy Custom is the best shop around. Plenty of creeks to stay in with smaller boats, but current is usually not an issue, cruiser waves will get you though. After the water comes up (May15th). Soddy lake is great for bank fishing. The covert around Jones bay Marina is another good bank spot. Soddy Creek has a few boat ramps that you can park and walk a little while the water is down.

We had a rough trip. Numbers were down and only 1 over 5lb. Cold mornings (37) and winds that would not quit. Quick video of the catches.

Every surge brake I have had had 5 pin. The last pin is to lock them out when in reverse.

Be very careful water is very low. Stay in the channels.

No. gen 2 and 3 solixs are suposed to be compatable with live. I would go with the much bigger screen. Doesnt look like a major upgrade between the two.

I go down do south Fla every year with a group of guys. This will be our 3 rd time on the Big O. We go in Feb. It usually takes us a few days to figure things out, but after that it gets real good. The water is way up this year, so it will be much easier to run than the last few. Galen Fugh is a great guide.

No this turret is going to be mounted directly to the boat. I chose them, because I have dealer right down the road and I am trying to get this together quickly.

I built this one myself, but the concept is the same with the ones listed. I have a rite hit turret on order for another boat that should be here tomorrow.