~ ~
Gary Yamamoto Releases New Laminates 925, 926, 927
Story by Russ Bassdozer

In February 2006, I visited La Presa El Cuchillo near the town of China in northeast Mexico. "La presa" means "the dam" in Spanish. Many of Mexico's trophy bass waters are man-made impoundments. They're not called lakes in Mexico. They're called dams.

It was a business trip to present a Yamamoto fishing clinic to many avid anglers at an outdoor exposition in downtown Monterrey.  I was the guest of Rodolfo Garcia, a tackle importer and distributor. Rodolfo's two premier tackle shops, both named "Best For Bass" are located in metropolitan Monterrey. His brother, Jose Garcia, and cousin, Eliud Garcia operate the family business. Through their company, Best for Bass, they have made Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits a household name among anglers in Mexico.

Of course, we just had to get away to fish one day. La Presa El Cuchillo is Mexico's newest and hottest trophy bass lake.

Blas Escamilla, host of the "Azteca Outdoors" TV show and co-host Carlos Gloria joined us. Carlos owns Motonautica which purchases, sells, rents and repairs outdoor sports recreational vehicles such as bass boats, fish and ski boats, wave runners, sea doos, ATVs, motorcycles, light trucks, 4x4s and other vehicles for hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation. Carlos is a fishing guide on El Cuchillo and has the Hacienta Santa Fe Lodge on nearby El Guerrero. So Carlos can guide fishing parties on two of the best "presas" in Mexico, the world-famous trophy bass factory El Guerrero and the still new and undiscovered El Cuchillo.

Lake Huites. El Salto. Baccarac. Comedero. El Guerrero. These are the most famous Mexican lakes where tourists travel on pilgrimages to catch ten pound bass. Anglers from the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan and fishermen from everywhere on the planet journey to just this one place, Mexico, to catch their bass of a lifetime. There are more double digit bass caught in Mexico than anywhere.

The newest Mecca for trophy bass is La Presa El Cuchillo. Opened to fishing in 1994, El Cuchillo may be unique among Mexico's presas in that local residents, bass anglers numbering in the thousands fish El Cuchillo passionately. Frequent bass tournament competitions with over two hundred local bass boats are commonplace. The many Mexican anglers who fish El Cuchillo have as new and modern bass boats, the latest outboards and advanced electronics as anywhere.

The first of many bass boats that I saw upon arrival in the town of China was a late model Triton about as big as a battleship with a 300 horsepower engine towering over the transom. The latest bass boat models were parked everywhere in town.

The local anglers who fish El Cuchillo, their bass fishing skills, ability to strategize, make decisions and understand bass are second to none.

El Cuchillo is currently well over full pool. When opened to fishing in 1994, El Cuchillo was about 17% full and it weathered a period of subsequent dry years so it did not fill quickly. About six months ago, it first reached 100% full, and it has increased in size by 40% over full pool within the past six months. In terms of size, by crisscrossing it by boat several times during the day, I would say the main basin appears to be about 10 to 12 miles long and 3 to 4 miles across at most places. I was able to fish all four quadrants of the main basin of El Cuchillo in one day, and gain a deep understanding of it.

There is also the San Juan River arm. The navigable length and nature of this water source inflow, I do not know and did not see. The river arm goes on for some spell more, yet an element of mystery and unfamiliarity surrounds it. My impression is most anglers fish the main body and do not go up the river arm too much if at all.

The river arm is said to have a crawdad population and good bass fishing. Yet it seems the river arm is uncharted territory for many of the local anglers. The main body of the presa is said to not have many crawfish. Regardless, the presa teems with countless hordes of silversides, tilapia, bluegill sunfish, gizzard shad, threadfin shad and several other small baitfish species common to the region. In addition, there are gar, bowfin, carp and catfish.

The dam is located some 48 miles south of the US-Mexican border. As part of developing this new Mecca for sportfishing, El Cuchillo was heavily stocked with Florida bass and anglers say the largemouth gene pool there is 54% Florida strain. Whether this is factual or not, it is what local anglers proudly told me about their beloved lake.

The other 46% of the bass genes in El Cuchillo? They say these are bass that were present in small presas that existed all along the San Juan River drainage and watershed. Local anglers reverently call these "Mexican bass." Where they came from originally or how long these bass have been in Mexico, local anglers do not know.

One map I've seen showed about one dozen of these smaller bass-laden presas, some of which are known to be thirty to forty or many more years old.

In 1989, when the major dam was constructed to form El Cuchillo and hold back and impound the waters of the San Juan River, the newly-forming impoundment of El Cuchillo overflowed and flooded many numerous smaller presas that had already been in the area for years.

These original smaller presas are now completley under or adjoined along the shoreline of El Cuchillo. These original presas are where the other 46% of the bass genes in El Cuchillo are said to come from. Although underwater or with their earthen dams broken and overflown by El Cuchillo, the original smaller presas are still mega-centers of bass activity. Fishing the locations of the original presas, whether adjoined along the shoreline or submerged mid-lake under twenty feet of water, that is the primary key to success on El Cuchillo as I see it.

As important as the original presas are any original streams or washes or gulches that are now underwater.

So are any flooded roadbeds, whether dirt roads or pavement, and any flooded streambeds. So are any creeks or streams or seeps still flowing, either year-round, seasonally or downpour incident-driven flowage veins. These are the places to fish for the bass of a lifetime on La Presa El Cuchillo.

In terms of lures to use,

This is a TV show host of Azteca Outdoors - Carlos Gloria - with a 7 to 9 pound largemouth caught on a Yamamoto product in a color I designed (rainbow trout Senko).

He is one of the top tournament angers in Monterrey. Mexico.

There are many tournament anglers there.

They have as good an understanding of bass and have as good or even better equipped bass boats than in the USA!

This is the start of our day at "false dawn" when it is light out but the sun is not up yet.

We had just left the launch ramp for my first fishing excursion in Mexico!

That's Blas and Carlos in the boat.

Rodolfo Garcia, owner of the two "Best For Bass" tackle shops in Monterrey.

We caught many fine fish like these on Yamamoto lures in different styles and colors.

This is Blas Escamilla in the back and Carlos up front, the two co-hosts of the Azteca Outdoors TV show.

Ahead of them is a flooded roadbed in about 101-12 feet of water now, with thick scrub brush fields on both sides.

This roadbed cut through the dense brush went on as far as the eye could see, and every stretch of it was loaded with bass.

We caught many fish that were over the underwater roadbed.

The guy next to me, John Hope, is a world famous bass biologist who catches trophy bass and surgically inserts telemetry radio tracking devices in their stomachs. Then he tracks the daily and seasonal habits of the trophy bass in order to get a better understanding of their biological needs and behavior.

A solid Snag Proof frog bite developed during the hotter windless afternoon moments. In high school many of us may have dissected frogs in bio lab class, but Delta frog doctors perform advanced procedures to surgically alter their frogs. We now end this odyssey on the Delta as frog-doctor Long Nguyen documents the steps necessary to operate.

~ ~