FLW Mexico at the Starting Gate
(Editors note: Jaime Luengo is the president of FLW Mexico.)
We are as busy as a squirrel getting ready for winter, barely three weeks away from our first FLW-sanctioned tournament here in Mexico.
Our excitement is so great that we wanted to share this important news with all of you. Believe me, fishermen in Mexico are talking it up as if it were dock talk surrounding the Forrest Wood Cup. What really matters at the end of the line is knowing that FLW is showing its true devotion to promoting bass fishing and making it a truly international sport.
We have planned four tournaments in Old Mexico. Most of these lakes that will host these events probably aren’t as familiar to most anglers as famous Mexican lakes such as Guerrero, El Salto, Amistad, Falcon or Huites, but they’re great bass lakes nevertheless.
We have designed our qualifiers in those lakes to make it easier for the vast majority of our fishermen to be able to transport themselves to and from the lakes easier and in a shorter period of time.
Our well-known Mexican lakes have the reputation for harboring huge bass, with less fishing pressure than most waters in the U.S. But that’s not to say the bass in these lakes are pushovers and won’t present a challenge. Still, they also have the capability to produce big weights. I think that you will be interested to know the results of our tournaments, and learn more about Mexican lakes that perhaps you did not know much about before.
Here are short descriptions of the lakes we chose and what anglers are likely to find when they compete in our tournaments. For more information, please check our website: flwmexico.com.mx
La Lajilla, Feb. 6-7: This is a small lake in the Huasteca Potosina, located in the northern/central region on the east coast of Mexico just about 200 miles south of famous Lake Guerrero. La Lajilla has been a well-kept secret for quite some time. Fishermen and fishery managers have been doing a great job conserving the bass in this beautiful lake, where catching 4-pound fish is not a big thing to accomplish.
On the first weekend in February, this lake will host our first tournament. Yes, I know most of you think we are crazy. We should be by the fireplace drinking hot chocolate. But to be honest with you, unless a severe and very rare cold front comes through, the weather will be very pleasant, and bass will be spawning. All the Florida-strain grandes surely will be showing off their beautiful round bellies.
Conservatively, a daily limit of 25 pounds has a crack at winning this event, so we think that our tournament series will be off to a great start.
Don Martin, April 2-3: Located 90 miles west of Nuevo Laredo, this lake has hosted several important tournaments. With a sufficient amount of cover and great drop-offs topped with rocks and brush, Don Martin fishes a lot like Lake Amistad not so far away on the border with Texas.
For sure, Don Martin harbors some big Florida-strain bass, and it’s likely most competitors will bring in limits both days. Somewhere in the range of 40 pounds will be needed to win this tournament.
El Palmito, June 4-5: El Palmito is in the center of the northern part of Mexico and located 120 miles west from Torreon Coahulia. This lake with a variety of cover and structure will offer anglers different types of fishing opportunities to show off all their skills and favorite techniques.
Fishermen in the northern region of Mexico are eager and already talking about the lake and the fishing conditions they are likely to encounter in early June. This is likely to be a difficult tournament, and we are expecting 30 to 35 pounds to win. As is always the case for a summer tournament, the climate conditions and how they position the fish will play a big role in the quality of the stringers.
Zimapan, July 2-3: A relatively “new” lake, Zimapan is about 20 years old. It’s located approximately 150 miles from Mexico City, right in the center of our country.
It’s an extremely clear lake with very little wood or grass cover. Rocks, boulders, chunk rock and all sorts of bizarre outcroppings make good cover for bass, however. Zimapan is similar to a typical desert lake in Arizona, with a huge difference being that the water temperature fluctuates from 67 to 77 degrees regardless of the season. This allows bass to gorge on tilapia and grow throughout the year.
Fernando Hiriart, the official name of Zimapan, gets a lot of fishing pressure from both commercial fishermen and sport fishermen. Due to the clear water and conditions, bass here tend to be very finicky and difficult to pattern. I’ve seen a couple of big-name pros from the U.S. struggle just to catch a few fish here, much less get a pattern going.
The lake reminds me of some of the White River lakes, which is fitting, as Zimapan will be the last hurdle for the anglers who aspire to fish the Costa FLW Series Championship next November on Table Rock Lake. In my humble opinion, this is a great lake to test an angler’s abilities and prove how good he is.
As always we are looking forward to sharing the results of our tournaments with all of you. Please look for news of our events on flwfishing.com, as well as flwmexico.com.mx.
Gracias.