Lake La Premavera, Culiacan, Mexico

[Gringo Pescador]

Went to my brother/sis in laws for new years, they live in a new housing developement called La Premavera outside of the city of Culiacan (Capitol of the state of Sinaloa) Mexico. The developement has a pretty large lake on it called Lake La Premavera. My brother in law is just starting out learning how to fish, his wife (with help from a friend) bought him a rod & reel, and a little tackle. I brought my breakdown rod and a little bit of tackle - had no idea what was in the lake so I just brought the basics.

Our first outing the whole family went out to a covered doc just off the clubhouse pool - it had tables, chairs, and a wetbar for parties. It was kind of weird because if your tried to fish from an equal place in the states, you would be run off before you got 10' from the place. When you looked over the edge, you could see catfish swiming around, they said that people come and toss bread to them often, so they are used to humans. I was kind of bummed, but the family was excited, so we put pieces of hot dog on hooks and everyone who wanted to got a chance to catch a fish, and I showed my bro how to hold them, release them, tie hooks, rig up lines, pretty much all of the basics. Everybody had a great time.

I started asking about the rest of the lake, he said he and his friend caught a different kind of fish in another location, so we hopped into a couple of kyaks to go check it out, it was a cove about a mile away, so we decided to hit it the next morning. That night I asked what they used to catch this fish and to describe the fish. The bait was Powerbait plastic worms and the fish had a BIG mouth - hmmmm.

We went to this cove the next morning (8-ish), and immediately started hooking into largemouth bass. In about an hour we caught and released two each and lost many more - most were around 1#, the largest I'm guessing was 2#. this got me very excited as my largest bass to date was just a little bigger than my thumb (see the string for the WL.com fishing contest)!

The next morning, I got up at sunup and was at the lake at about 6:30am and had a blast! I fished until 10 and lost count how many bass I C&Red. All were between 1 & 3# - though I did lose something that hit immediately when the bait hit the water, it made my drag sing for about 20' and then let go (my fault, I was so excited I forgot to set the hook). It was funny, there was a crew of groundkeepers nearby, they were watching me and every once in awhile one would come down and check out a fish before I threw it back and the grea I was using - they just couldn't believe this loco gringo would go through all that trouble and then release the fish!

One morning we went to breakfast in the clubhouse - they had a 11.5# largemouth mounted on a wall - the little plaque said it was caught out the that lake in February 2007. I would have loved to have been able to explore more of the lake! I ended up leaving most of the tackle I brought with me as a gift to my brother, and am waiting to get a report of his first lunker!

Oh and the weather... days in the high 80s, nights in the 40s the whole time, beautifull!

We also took a bus trip about 90 miles outside Mexico City, to where the Monarch Butterflies migrate - amazing - there was also a high mountain lake and river there that held trout, but I didn't get a chance to drop a line that trip.

Now I can't wait for the end of winter, so I can try to improve my bass fishing here!!

[A9]

Looks fun!

[cavdad45]

Looks like you had a rough time over the holidays with that miserable weather! :compress:

Mexico is quite an addiction, isn't it? I love my vacations down there, too.

[Derrick-k]

Im envious.

[fishnislife]

Sweet Gringo! Cool trip man. I'm jealous. Nothing like catching a Mexican bass. Expecially when there in Mexico. :geek:


fishnislife

[iPodrodder]

Has your brother-in-law caught his lunker yet?

[michaelunbewust]

ISNT IT CRAZY GRINGO! NO ONE BUT YOU ON A LAKE THAT WOULD BE COVERED WITH BASS BOATS UP HERE! MY MOTHER IS FROM MAZATLAN, AND MY COUSINS HAVE TAKEN ME TO A NUMBER OF THESE LAKES. IVE NOT BEEN DOWN WHERE YOU WERE AT FISHING, BUT, HAVE VISITED THE HOME OF JULIO CESAER CHAVEZ (CULIACAN'S HERO), AND, HE HAD A BUNCH OF BASS WALL MOUNTS. THE BOYS ON WINKLEMAN'S SHOW ARE ALWAYS GOING DOWN THERE, ALSO, AND YOU NEVER SEE MANY BOATS ON THIER SHOW. SWEET PICS, NOW, IM VERY ENVIOUS, AND, NEED A BASS FIX!:salut: HOPEFULLY YOUR BROTHER WILL BE HOOKED ON THE SPORT!ha!

[Rosann G]

What a great way to get to spend some time: Mexico, warm weather, relatives that you like and getting to fish. Lucky you.