Favorite Fishing Destinations Countdown: Honorable Mentions

A 9-2 largemouth from Mexico's Lake El Salto, fishing out of Anglers Inn International

Last week I noted that I would soon start a countdown of favorite fishing destinations. I've been mulling that one, and have my list mostly together, although it continues to shift in my mind, as I suppose it always will. Ten was the target, but I couldn't quite cut it that small, so I had to acknowledge a handful of honorable mentions before beginning the Top 10 listings. I'll hit these quickly in a single post and in no particular order. Top 10 will get individual posts and will count down to No. 1, although as I noted in last week's post, there isn't a lot of separation between any of the honorable mentions and the last ones I'll highlight in the countdown. I'm more than a little bit fond of all of them!

Lake El Salto - Given the spectacular fishing and scenery and the entire experience at Anglers Inn International, El Salto probably couldn't stay out of the Top 10, except that it's more accurately dubbed a place I "have fished" than one I "do fish." I'm thankful to have had the opportunity to fish their twice and of course I hope to return someday, but it's tough to say whether that will ever happen.

Big Pier 60 - Big Pier 60 in Clearwater Beach is similar, but very different. It's very accessible and I've spent dozens of days (and nights) fishing there. Most were more than three decades ago, though. It will forever remain one of my favorite places to fish, especially at night, under the lights, for speckled trout.

Reelfoot Lake - I've often likened Reelfoot to the world's largest farm pond, based on appearance and the way it fishes. I've gotten to spend some crazily fun days catching big bluegills, channel cats, crappie or bass from Tennessee's earthquake lake, and I always enjoy hanging out at Blue Bank Resort.

Buffalo River - Flowing freely for its entire 135 miles through Arkansas' Ozark Mountains, the Buffalo National River is quite simply a spectacular place to explore, whether by wading or floating. Great smallmouth opportunities are truly a bonus. The only downside from my standpoint is that the Buffalo is about a 15-hour drive from my house.

New River - Speaking of spectacular smallmouth rivers, the New is another of my absolute favorites, and I've had opportunities at times to fish sections spread from the relatively gentle upper reaches in Western North Carolina to the famous whitewater section of New River Gorge in West Virginia. Check out New River Outdoor Company in Virginia or Adventures On the Gorge in West Virginia if you want to discover this spectacular River for yourself.

6 Favorite Fish from 2014

Toward the end of the year I always like looking back at favorite fishing trips, days on the water and specific fish. For the moment, I'm going focus on specific fish and what made each a favorite. And I'll just go ahead and apologize now to any extra cool fish from this year that I'm not thinking about at the moment.

Northern Minnesota Tulibee - It was neither a trophy nor a kind of fish that most anglers even target. So why was it one of my favorites? Mostly, I suppose, because I'd never caught a tulibee, and being sort of a wannabe northern woodsman during the winter, I'm intrigued by all things ice. It also was a fun catch because I marked just inches beneath the ice when I was fishing near the bottom for bluegills, so I reeled up quickly and started jigging with a very short line. It hammered the bait and just about pulled the rod out of my hand.


Green Bay Smallmouth - We didn't have scales, so I can't assign an actual weight. I'm guessing high 5s, at least, though, and it may even have outweighed a 5-11 (my biggest weighed smallmouth) that I caught from Erie about a month later. This particular fish, which came from a small Green Bay tributary, was an extra prize and very satisfying because enduring winter weather made fishing unusual tough that week. I caught it on a Get Bit Baits Crawling Tube.

Lake Pactola Lake Trout - The cool thing abut the laker was how similar it was to another lake I caught a few years ago while ice fishing on the same lake. Both days I was fishing with Tyler French on days based out of Deadwood and we were jigging over deep points, and I caught both fish on minnow-tipped Lindy Watsit Grubs!

Niagara River Brown Trout - My biggest brown ever - right around 10 pounds - and I caught in the midst of catching a gazillion jumbo smallmouths on tubes at the mouth of the Niagara River with Capt. Frank Campbell. Again, it was a Get Bit Baits Crawling Tube that did the job. That day was actually one of my favorites from last year, but I suppose that's another story for another time.

El Salto Largemouth - It was my first trip to Angler's Inn at Mexico's Lake El Salto in about15 years, and the 9-2 largemouth I caught on the first full day of the trip might have been my biggest bass since last time I was there. I've caught a few big pond bass that I haven't weighed, so I'm not sure about that, but it was sure one of the biggest in quite a few years. It was a classic El Salto fish that hit a big Power Worm fished through flooded trees. My first trip to El Salto, by the way, yielded a 10 1/2, which remains the biggest bass I've ever weighed.

Red Lake Walleye -The best walleye from my most recent trip wasn't a genuine trophy by Minnesota walleye standards -- just a good quality fish. However, I caught it from the first sleeper ice house I've ever spent a night in, and I caught just moments after arriving. I probably hadn't been fishing two minutes when the fish hit, and I was surprised to bring up a thick-bodied walleye that landed right in the middle of the Red Lake slot and therefore went right back down into the hole almost as quickly as it came out.

Loaded for Pigs

I'm packed light for El Salto -- but in a heavy sort of way. With a tropical climate and daily laundry service, clothes needed for a visit to Angler's Inn are minimal. In truth, once I get to the lodge, there really isn't much that I will need. The bulk of my stuff is fishing gear, including reels, hard baits, soft plastics and terminal tackle. But even that isn't terribly extensive because time has shown what the fish like to eat there. They like giant Power Worms, and swimbaits, Fat Free Shad crankbaits, topwater lures, spinnerbaits and big jigs. That's the stuff that gets it done, so I didn't try to get fancy with other stuff.

I say light in a heavy duty sort of way because pretty much everything is on the big end. Big worms, big hooks, big crankbaits, big swimbaits. Fish in El Salto are used to eating tilapia, overgrown crawfish and other large forage, so they favor big baits. Plus, a big part of why I'm traveling so far from home to fish for bass is that I'm hoping to catch a giant, and while small baits produce occasional big fish, even at El Salto, usually it's the oversized offerings that get the job done.

Highlighting the heavy duty stuff is Abu Garcia's new Revo Beast, a brute of a reel with lots of power, a big cranking handle and oversized grips. It was designed for throwing jumbo swimbaits and the like and for handling the fish that attack those kinds of baits. The Beast is ready to be unleashed, and I'm eager to match it up against an El Salto Hawg.