Where do you fly in to?  If you go to Mazatlan stop at an ATM and get as many pesos as your card will allow.  You will get a good exchange rate from your bank at an ATM.  Use Pesos for tips if you can.  Mexican banks do not give the locals a good exchange rate, and it can take hours to for them to exchange dollars to pesos.  The staff will be accustomed to dealing with dollars, but they will appreciate anyone who tips in Pesos.  It is your hard earned money, and they work hard for tips, so why let a bank get a cut?

 

If you go to a bank ATM and the machine asks if you approve of their exchange rate, press decline.  You will still get your money, but it will be at the exchange rate your bank gives which will be significantly better than what the ATM is offering.  A decent exchange rate right now is 18.2 Pesos to one US $

On 12/1/2025 at 9:40 AM, bacolmm said:

1 week out. Just a couple minor tackle items to pick up. I did a video on the tackle I’m bringing. I’m open to any suggestions anyone might have. What’s the strategy for traveling with a stack of cash? I was going to bring a bunch of $100- and $50-dollar bills, but I’m guessing no one can make change, so I probably need a stack of $20’s, maybe even some smaller bills?

 

https://youtu.be/wbch3c9fxgE

 

Really enjoyed your video.  I'm going in February, and your packing is mirroring my own, though I expect that there will be more of a crankbait bite at that time of year (at least that's what I'm planning on).  One thing that did jump out at me were your reels.  I've never tried to go through security with line on my reels, but I have read that it can be an issue, so you should consider it--and I'm sure that others will chime in on that point.  

 

As to how much cash to bring, ask the outfitter what tips are appropriate.  Usually, the outfitter provides an informational sheet that has all sorts of miscellaneous info, and it typically includes a section on recommended tips.  But, generally speaking, you're going to want to obviously tip your guides, the camp manager usually gets a tip, and it is common to tip staff as well--especialy if they keep your margarita full .  Given the variety of people you might want to tip and the varying levels at which you might want to tip them, I would bring some more manageable bills (remember, no one is likely to be able to make change).  As to dollars vs. pesos, I've only been to Piccachos and El Salto with Ron Speed, and everything, I mean everything, was dollars.  I'll be surprised if Baccarac is any different.  For any incidental expenses while traveling, I just use a credit card.  

23 hours ago, rmcguirk said:

 

Really enjoyed your video.  I'm going in February, and your packing is mirroring my own, though I expect that there will be more of a crankbait bite at that time of year (at least that's what I'm planning on).  One thing that did jump out at me were your reels.  I've never tried to go through security with line on my reels, but I have read that it can be an issue, so you should consider it--and I'm sure that others will chime in on that point.  

 

As to how much cash to bring, ask the outfitter what tips are appropriate.  Usually, the outfitter provides an informational sheet that has all sorts of miscellaneous info, and it typically includes a section on recommended tips.  But, generally speaking, you're going to want to obviously tip your guides, the camp manager usually gets a tip, and it is common to tip staff as well--especialy if they keep your margarita full .  Given the variety of people you might want to tip and the varying levels at which you might want to tip them, I would bring some more manageable bills (remember, no one is likely to be able to make change).  As to dollars vs. pesos, I've only been to Piccachos and El Salto with Ron Speed, and everything, I mean everything, was dollars.  I'll be surprised if Baccarac is any different.  For any incidental expenses while traveling, I just use a credit card.  

Thanks! I'll post up my hindsight thoughts after my trip.

 

I talked with Josh and he said that line on the reels is fine to carry-on for the trip to Mexico, but not home. He also said that fishing weights need to be checked?

Back from 5 days of fishing Lake Baccarac with Pro Bass Adventures. I had a great time and I’m already planning on going back next year. Per some repeat customers, the fishing was extremely tough by Baccarac standards. It was still very good IMO, although I’d love to see what it’s like when it’s on fire. Bites were, however, difficult to come by, and we would go for relatively long stretches without a bite.

I was traveling solo with a group of 11 other anglers on a trip put on by Bass Talk Live. Most were very experienced anglers, including a few pros. I predictably got my butt kicked in comparison, I did however learn a lot. I got along great with everyone, and it would be difficult to imagine a better group of guys. I was paired with Kevin, whose son is a pro. We got along great and he predictably kicked my butt and taught me a lot all week.

The first half of day 1 was a wakeup call for both Kevin and me. I caught 3 bass with the largest being about 4.5 pounds. Kevin caught more, but the size was about the same.

I believe the guide you end up with is very important. Ours was great and absolutely worked his ass off for us all week. If I go back to Baccarac, I would, however, request a different guide. Mostly because I’d like to experience a different approach, and also see different parts of the lake. It seems to me that each guide has their own set of areas they’re comfortable with. Our guide was very old-school, which for the most part was in line with how Kevin and I wanted to fish. It was a bit extreme at times though IMO.

He was a huge fan of throwing 6-inch wacky rigged Senkos. Kevin and I immediately agreed that we’d share tackle. I had a bunch of Z-Man Giant TRD stick baits and Kevin had Yamamoto Senkos. He was not interested in us throwing the Z-Man baits, and we used the Yamamoto baits exclusively. We had to buy more from the tackle shop. At one point Kevin bought 7-inch Senkos and our guide wasn’t having it. We laughed about it. If we had pushed, he would have been fine with it, but it was clear he had strong opinions. In talking with other anglers, it was also clear that we were the only ones throwing wacky rigged Senkos and, I’m not sure it was the most effective approach.

The second half of day 1 was similar to the first half for me. I caught 7 bass all day from the back of the boat with my best 5 good for 13 pounds. Not what I was expecting, but I learned a lot. Kevin continued to catch more bass than me from the front deck and ended up with 2 8 pound bass.

After getting my butt kicked on day 1, I took the front deck on day 2. I did significantly better with about 25 total bass, 2 6 pounders, and 25 pounds for my best 5. Kevin still out-fished me from the back deck.

I took the front deck on day 3. I caught 20 bass, 2 5 pounders and 20 pounds for my best 5. Kevin out fished me again from the back deck.

I fished off the back deck on the morning of day 4 and it was my best of the trip. We had caught some key fish on topwater in the evenings, however topwater in the mornings sucked. I went against our guide’s recommendation, and stopped throwing topwater much earlier than Kevin, and caught a 5 pounder on a wacky rig. I then switched to a free rigged Z-Man Fatty Z and it would become one of my confidence baits for the trip. I caught 2 6’s and an 8, for a 28-pound bag and out fished Kevin from the back deck.

It had been clear and sunny all week and we got cloud cover on day 5, and I figured we’d smash em. It turned out to be a tough day. I caught my biggest bass (5.3 pounds) at the end of the day on a Rio Rico, and had just under 19 pounds for my best 5. Kevin caught a couple key big bass early and late, and kicked my butt yet again. Most of the day was a real grind with lots of casts and very few bites. Late in the morning I casted my trusty free-rig close to some brush a bit off the bank. When I went to drag it a bit, it felt heavy, and I swung hard with an 8-foot heavy rod. The rod doubled, and I could feel headshakes, but I was never able to move the bass on the other end. I instantly had Kevin’s and our guide’s attention. I had the bass on for a few seconds until it felt like it broke my line (20 lb flouro) with a headshake. It’s the only bass of the trip, that I lost, that I’m confident was very large. Our guide said “For sure grande” and Kevin said “I haven’t seen your rod bend like that all week”.

That’s cool that you went with the BTL trip. I listen to the podcast every day. Glad you were able to get into some toads! Even a tough time on Baccarac is better fishing than most anywhere else on the planet. Any pictures from the trip? 

 

 

 

Nice pics. Brings back many good memories! 

On 12/17/2025 at 6:54 AM, Jar11591 said:

That’s cool that you went with the BTL trip. I listen to the podcast every day. Glad you were able to get into some toads! Even a tough time on Baccarac is better fishing than most anywhere else on the planet. Any pictures from the trip? 

I actually got to fish with Matt Pangrac on Friday morning. He is a great guy and I really enjoyed sharing the boat with him! He mentioned me on the podcast today around 15 minutes in (I'm Matt from PA).

 

 

I'm glad you had a great trip.  Everyone thinks you catch 10 pound bass on every cast in Mexico.  The truth is, trophy bass are hard to catch anywhere.  There are lots of big bass in Mexico, but sometimes they just don't want to bite.  If you keep going back, you will have that special day where it seems way to easy.  

From the pictures it looks like water has already come down some from full pool.   Did anyone have luck with deep cranks?  I have water lower and clearer in my local lake for this time of year, and have started to catch bass deeper than usual.  

1 hour ago, king fisher said:

I'm glad you had a great trip.  Everyone thinks you catch 10 pound bass on every cast in Mexico.  The truth is, trophy bass are hard to catch anywhere.  There are lots of big bass in Mexico, but sometimes they just don't want to bite.  If you keep going back, you will have that special day where it seems way to easy.  

From the pictures it looks like water has already come down some from full pool.   Did anyone have luck with deep cranks?  I have water lower and clearer in my local lake for this time of year, and have started to catch bass deeper than usual.  

I believe there were 8 DD bass caught by our group (12 guys, 5 days) all of them via live scope. Deep cranks were not a major player. Main baits were topwater, small under-spins and free rigs.

2 hours ago, king fisher said:

I'm glad you had a great trip.  Everyone thinks you catch 10 pound bass on every cast in Mexico.  The truth is, trophy bass are hard to catch anywhere.  There are lots of big bass in Mexico, but sometimes they just don't want to bite.  If you keep going back, you will have that special day where it seems way to easy.  

Agreed ~ and I've been trying to dispel this myth for over 10 years. While there are what has to be considered an insane number of 3-6 lb bass in Lake Baccarac, if a basshead makes one of these trips and truly wants to catch a double-digit fish, deliberately fishing for them can seriously improve one's chances. There are a lot of ways to go about it.  Fishing with the right gear & baits, in the right places and at the right times, cannot be overstated. However, IMO, your guide is key. 

On my first trip in 2013, the bigger bass were hard to find.  I could have gone shallower and caught plenty of fish, but there was a good chance the bigger fish were deeper. 

And they were.  The morning before, if memory serves, @Dwight Hottle 

landed 3 fish over 9 lbs. in one magic spot.  Then at the end of the 4th day of our 5 day trip, I had ONE BITE All Day.  One.   But it was the right one.  My first DD fish and, at the time, a new PB. 

https://youtu.be/YtFl-6Whtfk?si=PSXaB1riOMxvU4uN

Since then I've made several trips (stopped counting after 10)

Only one trip I didn't get a DD, but someone else always did. 

It just wasn't my turn.  

Like @king fisher mentioned, subsequent trips can improve one's odds.

The great thing about that place is that when you put an average basshead

on above-average waters, anything is possible.

And I am living proof.

Still planning to be back there in Oct or Nov of 2026.

Fingers crossed. 

A-Jay

 

 

 

3 hours ago, bacolmm said:

I believe there were 8 DD bass caught by our group (12 guys, 5 days) all of them via live scope.

I was thinking that might have been what you were referring to when you said your guide was old school.  I personally have mixed feelings about live scope, but if I were a guide where others were using it, I would be on the live scope train at the first station.  In both guiding and tournament fishing, if you can't keep up you will get left behind.  Livescope will never be banned in Mexico.  Either embrace the technology or watch others get the DD bass and the big tips.  

 

I don't know if I would like to have a guide point out the big bass on livescope, but after hooking a big bass I'm sure I would warm up to the idea.

 

I know a lodge owner in Mexico that doesn't want to spend the money on the technology, and doesn't think his guides would bother to learn how to use it.  I reminded him he didn't own the only lodge on the lake, and if he didn't want to be first, he surely would be last.

@A-Jay I remember that trip as it was our first trip to lake Baccarac. Fishing by myself with just the guide who taught me to fish really slow on all my retrieves. Using a spinner bait, a scrounger with a fluke bait & a jig I caught a 9-0 , 9-4, 9-8, 8+ & a 7+ for 43 lbs plus change all before lunch. I lost a biggie when she jumped. All fishing up hill from about 25’ deep dragging the bait uphill to the boat which was tied off to a small tree in 8-10 feet. That was a big fish spot that we fished all morning. 

18 hours ago, king fisher said:

I was thinking that might have been what you were referring to when you said your guide was old school.  I personally have mixed feelings about live scope, but if I were a guide where others were using it, I would be on the live scope train at the first station.  In both guiding and tournament fishing, if you can't keep up you will get left behind.  Livescope will never be banned in Mexico.  Either embrace the technology or watch others get the DD bass and the big tips.  

 

I don't know if I would like to have a guide point out the big bass on livescope, but after hooking a big bass I'm sure I would warm up to the idea.

 

I know a lodge owner in Mexico that doesn't want to spend the money on the technology, and doesn't think his guides would bother to learn how to use it.  I reminded him he didn't own the only lodge on the lake, and if he didn't want to be first, he surely would be last.

You're correct. I'm not opposed to using Livescope, however I would prefer not to heavily rely on it to target individual bass. I would personally rather catch 7's and 8's casting at structure / cover than catch 10's shaking a minnow at an individual bass on the scope. Just my preference. Kevin, who I was fishing with, shared this preference. Having said that, there seemed to be others on our trip that were having more success with a wider variation of presentations than we were. IMO, our guide was a bit too married to throwing 6 inch Gary Yamamoto Senkos. 

22 hours ago, Dwight Hottle said:

@A-Jay I remember that trip as it was our first trip to lake Baccarac. Fishing by myself with just the guide who taught me to fish really slow on all my retrieves. Using a spinner bait, a scrounger with a fluke bait & a jig I caught a 9-0 , 9-4, 9-8, 8+ & a 7+ for 43 lbs plus change all before lunch. I lost a biggie when she jumped. All fishing up hill from about 25’ deep dragging the bait uphill to the boat which was tied off to a small tree in 8-10 feet. That was a big fish spot that we fished all morning. 

A slow retrieve seemed to be key. I have never fished topwater, or experienced a topwater bite like we did. Pop.....wait.........Pop........wait........Pop. Bites always came when the bait was sitting still and the bites seemed to be completely random, with long stretches in between.

 

 

Always a very exciting time.

~Dates locked in for late Oct 2026.

~Private/Charter Air Locked In & Reserved.

And perhaps the biggest deal,

~We have our favorite guide reserved for the whole trip.

BFJ & I will have the distinct privilege of fishing and teaming up with the 

Mike Bucca Swimbait group. We were there when Mike made his first trip.

Awesome folks and as you can imagine,

as talented and hardcore as they come.

The official countdown will commence after the new year.

And I'm already packed.

A-Jay

 

 

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Always a very exciting time.

~Dates locked in for late Oct 2026.

~Private/Charter Air Locked In & Reserved.

And perhaps the biggest deal,

~We have our favorite guide reserved for the whole trip.

BFJ & I will have the distinct privilege of fishing and teaming up with the 

Mike Bucca Swimbait group. We were there when Mike made his first trip.

Awesome folks and as you can imagine,

as talented and hardcore as they come.

The official countdown will commence after the new year.

And I'm already packed.

A-Jay

 

 

Love it! I'm excited for you! I'm planning on making the trip an annual thing. BTL is still working out the details; for now they're saying El Salto in December, Baccarac in February. I wish I could do both, but I don't believe I can. My preference is El Salto in December if it's sorted by then. If the El Salto trip gets moved to Baccarac, I will switch to the February trip if there's room.

Just Got Real ~ The Commercial Air Flights Have Been Booked!

No turning back now.

Lake Baccarac Or Bust ~

266 Days and a Wake Up !

And it looks like the Scrounga Club is making a comeback tour.

Let's Go !

A-Jay

Don’t forget the beetle spins!

323 Days for me. I just sent my deposit for El Salto in December. Hopefully they get that place sorted out before then! I really want to fish that lake! If they don't get it sorted, I'll be back at Baccarac which also doesn't suck! :-)

I'm going this October to learn at the foot of the masters Big Fish Jeff & his sidekick @A-Jay. My last trip there was a couple years ago during the slump. The lake is fishing well again so it should be a good time. And there is always the possibility of a few new PB's for our group.

1 hour ago, Dwight Hottle said:

I'm going this October to learn at the foot of the masters Big Fish Jeff & his sidekick @A-Jay. My last trip there was a couple years ago during the slump. The lake is fishing well again so it should be a good time. And there is always the possibility of a few new PB's for our group.

Should be a heck of a trip @Dwight Hottle . Time to cross over into the Teener Club !

Let's Go

A-Jay

258 Days and a wake-up ~

But my reels are ready now !

A-Jay

I'm really curious what a trip like this would cost. Total.

Ballpark of course as people live in different parts of the country.

More or less than $5k a person?

I have no clue.

If you don't mind me asking, what do you guys typically spend? Total. So travel there, fishing/stay, and travel back.

Might have to add something to the bucket list.

Thanks!

@HawkeyeSmallie when I to Lake Baccarac Lodge in 2017, between commercial airfare from Albany, NY to Los Mochis, the cost of the lodge itself, and tipping of the guide and lodge staff, I estimate I spent around $3500 total for 3 days of fishing. Add in a couple hundred more for a couple articles of clothing and a little bit of tackle that I needed to stock up on. Obviously that cost will be significantly higher today as prices of everything continue to get ridonkulous, and it’s been a while since I’ve priced out a trip.