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by Floyd Yarbrough
Flying on a plane has never bothered me. It is the taking off and
landing of the plane that causes me to squirm. That being said, I
admit I was a little apprehensive about taking off and landing a
total of 6 times to get from DFW airport to Los Mochis, Mexico for
a fishing trip to Lake Huites. Then again, the thought of getting
away from my office for 5 days on a vacation sounded too good. Especially
when Greg Van Steenkiste told me about the fishing at this great
new Mexican lake.
I knew this was going to be a good trip from the moment I got in
line at the American Airlines ticket counter at DFW Airport to check
in for my flight to Tucson. There in line in front of me stood John
Biondi, his son Byron and John's brother, Mark. They were each carrying
a suitcase, a huge soft-sided tackle bag and rods cases. So was I.
After introductions, it was apparent that each of us had mutual friends
who fished (a good friend of mine Ken Revell used to work with John at General Motors) and before we ever got off the ground, we had
caught more bass in the airport lounge in an hour than a lot of anglers
do in a day on a real lake.
After arrival in Tucson, we hooked up with Greg
Van Steenkiste of
Phoenix and his friends for the connecting flight into Mexico. Greg is CEO of Scientific
Bass, makers of Kick'n Bass fish attractant and the
Lip
Grip'r. Greg had been after me to go on a trip to Lake
Huites for some time. After all, he had been 4 or 5 times and every
time said the fishing was phenomenal.
We all departed Tucson, after a 2 hour Aero California airline delay,
and after a pretty short flight, landed in Hermosillo, Mexico. After
a brief stopover, we departed for another short flight to Los
Mochis, Mexico.
Upon arrival at 9:00 pm at the Los Mochis Airport, we were greeted
by Jose and the drivers from the Lake Huites Lodge. After making
sure we had all of our gear off the plane, we loaded the Suburbans
and vans for the 3 hour drive to the lodge. The first 2 hours were
on 2 lane highways and were normal. The time went by fast as each
of us in the Suburban got acquainted. When the convoy of 4 vehicles
arrived at the edge of the Sierra Madre mountains to start the drive
up to the lodge, the final 16 miles took about a hour. From the looks
and condition of the mountain road, it was apparent that we were
heading into some rugged mountain country.
 Upon
arrival at the Lodge that night, I was amazed at how nice it was.
This is roughing it? This place is brand new. The rooms were clean
and large. The staff had a full dinner, hot and ready for us. We
unloaded our gear, stuffed our faces and then retired at midnight
for a 5:00 am wake up. I would share a room with Mark Biondi, an
educator/coach from Kennedale, TX and neither one of us had to be
rocked to sleep that first night.
At 5 a.m. came a knock on the door and a waitress greeting us with
hot coffee. Breakfast was ready when we arrived at the dining room
and again the food was fresh and delicious.
Sunlight was just starting to break up the night over the Sierra
Madre mountains as we started loading up our stuff to head out for
the one minute ride down the mountain side to the boat launch. With
the lake down below, it was an awesome view. What a beautiful way
to start 3 days of nothing but fishing.
Time to fish. Manuel would be our guide and before I could introduce
myself, he was busy loading up our tackle into the boat. We immediately
motored down the lake for about 1/2 mile when Manuel stopped the
boat to start fishing. The water looked great. The scenery was almost
too much to take in. Every single spot looked so fishy. I didn't
know where to cast first.
Greg and I would be fishing together and we both started chunking
topwater lures. We couldn't get a bite the first 30 minutes. At least
not on a Spook. We would find out later that somewhere else on the
lake that morning, Byron Biondi would be smashing the bass on a small
Pop-R.
Time to move. We motored across the lake for about 1/2 mile to a
long brushy point. I picked up my white spinnerbait, with white double
willow leaf blades, and proceeded to chunk. On the 3rd cast, I caught
a 5 lb. bass. From the pull of that fish, I would have sworn it was
bigger. Just a few casts later, another 3 lb bass. Then another.
Then Greg landed a 5 lb bass on a Fluke. He caught another. I missed
one. A good one ate a white jig and frog.
Greg shouted, "Fish on!"
The race was on. After a couple of photos of the bigger ones, we
were too busy catching fish to take the time for photographs. We
spend the rest of the morning fishing several spots and every one
of them looked better than the last one. We were catching fish everywhere
we stopped.
At 11:30, our guide signaled it was lunchtime. These people were
trying to fatten us up for slaughter! The bean & tortilla soup
was so good I had two big bowls of it. Then they brought our main
course. I was stuffed. On top of everything else, there was a bottomless
bowl of homemade picante sauce and chips on every table. And even
though I don't drink alcohol, those who do could enjoy a frosty cold
brew or margarita, with an endless tap at their disposal, during
their stay. There is also an endless supply of cold bottled water,
soft drinks and iced tea. I promise, you won't want for anything
to eat or drink while you stay at Lake Huites Lodge.
After lunch, it was back out again. Greg and I were travelling down
the lake when we said, "That brushy shoreline over there looks
good. Let's fish it."
 The
bite was unbelievable. Every 10 feet we caught a fish. This went
on for over a mile of shoreline. Add that up. A better than average
bass (2 to 4 lbs) every 10 feet for a mile. I lost count on how many
doubles we had on. And we didn't even try and count all of the ones
that we lost or that jumped off the hook. By suppertime at dusk,
I was one tired puppy from catching bass. And my ribs were bruised
from setting the hook so many times.
After we had been fed a huge dinner, the anglers at the lodge all
got together for a little fellowship and to talk about their first
day on the lake. It was evident that every boat caught a lot of fish.
And on several different types of lures and presentations. After
an hour or two of this, most of us were pretty tired from the short
night before and we all turned in for the night.
Lake Huites was created when the Rio Fuerte
River was dammed. At
about 30 miles in length with 30,000 acres, the lake is more of a
river than a lake. I can't recall ever fishing a more brushy or rocky
lake. There were long sloping points every place we went with brush
piles and rocks everywhere. Imagine flooding the wilderness and mountains
of Mexico and you get a good idea of what Lake
Huites looks like.
Up until 1997, no Americans had fished this lake. This lake is also
the very first lake to de designated for sportfishing only by the
Mexican government. This means that the gill nets of the commercial
fishermen will have to stay out of the lake.
Day two. Again, coffee wake up call room service and then another
big breakfast. After a day of fishing on Huites, I came to understand
why these people feed you so good. You need the energy for the fishing
each day. Out we go again and the fishing is again phenomenal. This
time we start off with spinnerbaits and caught at least 30 in the
first 30 minutes of the day. We discovered they wanted the spinnerbait
ripped just below the surface.
Days 2 and 3 were carbon copies of the first day. Greg,
I, and every boat, caught and released hundreds of bass. Even though
we quit counting
each day at about 75 fish, we know we boated over 300 bass, with
a 3 to 4 lb. average in the 3 days we fished. And we probably jumped
off another 100 plus fish. The largest bass caught during our stay
was a 12 lber. by an angler staying at the lodge. And what makes
this even more remarkable is the fact that they were dropping the
lake 6 inches every day! Imagine if they hadn't been pulling water.
Trying to tell a bass angler who has never been to Lake
Huites about
the unbelievable fishing, is like trying to tell someone who has
never been a parent what it is like to have a kid. You really can't
know how awesome the fishing is until you go experience the adventure
for yourself.
The only thing negative about the trip is the fact that you eventually
have to leave to come home. I am counting the days until I return
this November and I'll take off and land 10 times if I have to. I
want to thank Greg Van Steenkiste for finally convincing me to go
to Huites; and Terry Hollan, Rene, Russell,
Kelly and the whole staff
at Lake Huites Lodge.
Lake Huites Lodge is the #1 place to stay and this is the affordable
vacation of a lifetime for any bass angler who wants to have a Reel
Mexican Bass Fishing Adventure.
Muchas grande lobina! Adios!
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