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About Terry Hollan….
 Although
Terry Hollan is now considered to be one of the foremost authorities
regarding bass fishing in Mexico, his intense passion for bass fishing
was not spawned during his youth.
"Bass fishing was not an activity I was exposed to at an early
age," says the Amarillo, Texas resident and founder of Reel
Mexican Adventures, a company providing bass fishing adventures to
Mexico. "In fact, I was not introduced to bass fishing until
the late seventies or early eighties. However, from the time I made
my first cast, I knew I would enjoy the challenge of the sport. The
idea of enticing a predator to want to attack something that is lifeless,
something that I had to make appear real, was very appealing to me.
During the first few trips, bass fishing seemed easy enough, almost
too easy, as I was primarily fishing out of the private stock tanks
around the Texas Panhandle. Since my personality requires that I
pursue everything at 100%, I soon lost focus of my fishing pastime
due to other commitments with school, work and my real estate endeavors."
It was several years later, while listening to my good friend, Mark
Gill, and his father, Ed, recant stories of bass fishing exploits
at remote Mexican lakes that the bug for bass fishing bit me again. Mark told stories of their trips and catches that he and his father
were experiencing in Mexico and backed it up with photos of monster
bass.
"Mark's dad, Ed, was truly one of the first pioneers to travel
throughout Mexico before pavement was even a thought. Mark began
telling me of the trips and catches that he and his dad were experiencing
in Mexico. Wow! Photos of guys holding up 13 and 14-pound bass!"
Two weeks later, Hollan and Gill were on the road to Mexico, towing
high performance bass boats at breakneck speed in search of this
so-called bass fishing paradise. Two days later, they arrived at
Lake Baccarac.
"I must admit, I did have some doubt about the phenomenal catches
that Mark and Ed reported after each trip," reports Hollan. "However, after my first cast of the day, while standing
on a point, yielded an 8 pound 9 oz. bass, I knew that their tales
weren't exaggerated. By lunch that day, a fellow angler caught two
fish over 11 pounds. My fishing partner a 9 pound 8 oz. fish."
From that point on, Hollan was enamored with Mexico, its people
and, of course, the bass fishing. He spent every waking hour planning
out his upcoming schedule to Mexico. Would it be Guerrero? Maybe
Baccarac? What about Novello or Mateos? In several months, Hollan tested the waters at them all.
Hollan's passion for bass fishing in Mexico became contagious, as
many friends and acquaintances wanted to experience what Hollan had
found on his numerous angling forays "South of the Border." In
1993, Hollan launched an angling travel company - Reel Mexican
Adventures.
"As my fledgling Mexico bass fishing booking agency had started,
I kept hearing tales of a new Mexican lake that was being secretly
stocked with Florida Strain bass," he points out. "So every
time we passed by El Fuerte, Mexico on our way to fish a lake, we
stopped to check on progress of this new lake, Huites, named after
the town that was flooded when the dam was closed. I told Mark
Gill at that point that it was time to think big. Let's get a concession
on the new lake, build a room or two and have a place for some of
our very best friends to come catch bass.
"The first thing I did was contact Mexico City's tourism department.
After several conversations through, an interpreter, I picked up
a few bits of useful information. But my most productive conversation
was when I called Ron Speed. Ron had been doing business in Mexico for years at Guerrero, El
Salto and Commedero. Ron was
very courteous and provided me with all the information I needed
to establish a
lodge. Within a week after our conversation, I was second only to
Speed himself to have a concession on the lake."
During his pre-lodge preparation in the town of El Fuerte, Hollan befriended Jose "Pepe" Castello, who helped him search
for the right location on Lake Huites. The most important thing he
did was introduce Hollan to his future partner - Rene
Salazar - a
talented young man, who was a guide working for his parents who maintained
a bass fishing operation on a nearby lake.
"At the time of our first meeting, Rene was helping another
operator build a camp named Campo Buena Vista," Hollan reflected.
That was about the time Ernest Walker, a friend and client, came
along
and said, "This is a first-class lake and it needs a first-class
lodge."
Since Huites had been only open to American anglers for a few months,
Hollan knew he could establish a new lodge and still be in the relative
infancy of the boom that was to come to Huites. He and Ernest
Walker,
another self-proclaimed bass fanatic, knew that Huites had the potential
to be perhaps the best bass lake they had ever fished. They decided
to build Lake Huites Lodge.
Today, Lake Huites Lodge, is considered the "gold standard" by
which the other lodges are judged. And Terry Hollan has continued
his enthusiasm for bass fishing in Mexico.
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