For the past two years I’ve been hearing about all the big fish being caught at Falcon. Not that any fisherman has every been known to misstate a fact but the tales of so many 20 pound plus 5 fish catches were a bit hard for me to believe at first.
These stories started coming more frequently when a couple fishing buddies of mine, Ed Parten and Bruce Shuler, started fishing south Texas bass tournaments last year. Parten, a well known bass fishing fugue around the State, had told me several times that a 20 pound weight in a tournament wouldn’t make a check and that it frequently took 30 plus pounds to win. For those readers who aren’t avid tournament fishermen 20 pounds usually wins a tournament in Texas where we have a five fish limit. In fact it probably would win in most states for a two day catch.
In mid March I made lodging reservations for a trip to Falcon to find out first hand what this lake was all about. The Oso Blanco Lodge in Zapata came highly recommended and a call to them was answered with what Texans know as that special kind of hospitality that can only be found in the Rio Grande Valley. Sonia Delorme, lodge manager, graciously explained the facilities at Oso Blanco and made our reservations.
Falcon is a 6 to 7 hour scenic drive from Houston so our early Sunday morning departure got us to the lake shortly after noon. Us was my beautiful wife, Paulette and a fishing buddy and touring BASS pro, Phil Whittemore. After checking in at Oso Blanco we still had a few hours of daylight and the weather was absolutely beautiful, mid 80’s, sunny with a comfortable breeze from the Gulf, so we decided to get in a couple hours of fishing before dark.
After getting our Mexico fishing licenses we headed east, toward the dam, so that we could fish the lake from one end to the other in the next few days. Falcon State Park is near the dam so that is where we launched. We headed for the first major creek we found on the Mexico side and went to the back of a small feeder creek on the southeast side of the creek. We hadn’t been fishing 15 minutes and got our first fish. In the next hour we caught eight more fish, the largest of which was around 6 pounds. These fish are not the timid garden variety bass we are used to around Houston, when you stick on of these babies you’d better have a firm grip on you rod handle or they’ll take your stuff away from you. By dark, which was just a couple hours, our best five fish would have weighed around 18 pounds. On the ride back to the lodge we talked about the prospects of doing this every day for the next two days.
Next morning we headed out for Old town of Guerrero where we had been told the fishing was good. Old Guerrero is usually partially submerged in Falcon but because the lake was 28 feet low it was high and dry and we couldn’t get to it for the shallow water. We did a little fishing but spend most of the morning exploring.
At 11 we headed back to Oso Blanco for lunch. We me owners Dave and Sonia Delorme in the Lodge lobby and had a very nice visit. Dave and Sonia are a couple of likable Snowbirds who, like many, could make the trip back to New York after the Rio Grande Valley experience. They have been in Zapatta for eight years now where the operated an RV Park before Oso Blanco. It’s very easy to see why they like it so much there. The place has everything you could ask for, spacious and very comfortable newly remodeled rooms, a swimming pool with BBQ pits, RV Park, on site, Oso Loco Restaurant from which you can enjoy a gorgeous view of the sun setting over old Mexico, enclosed fishing pier and even an on site tackle shop.
After lunch we headed to the tackle shop, Lunkerville Tackle, where the owner, Chip Harmon, gave us some tips for catching Falcon bass. Chip and his wife LeEtte run a very well stocked tackle shop and were very helpful in providing us with the right stuff to throw. They have five guides that wok for them and say they often come in with 10 pound class bass. That’s pretty classy in my book. Chip explained that although Falcon may not provide many State Record class bass it did have a very good population of bass in the six to 10 pound range. Our experience on this trip found that to be true.
Following one of Chip’s tips we decide to fish the creek is on. We caught fish in several areas of the creek throughout the afternoon. Although we didn’t get any big fish, our biggest was around 4 pounds, we did plenty nice fish. The sunset that evening was really spectacular.
The next morning we set out early for some serious bass fishing. We caught fish all morning with our biggest fish just under 7 pounds. No 10 pounders but more than enough quality fish to convince us that this lake was everything I had hear and more. The fishing was probably tough when we were there, especially for big fish, due to bright full moonlit nights. The hospitable atmosphere of the Rio Grande Valley, the gorgeous weather, the excellent fish population and the mean attitude of the bass combined to make this one of the most enjoyable fishing trips I can remember.
For lodging information call Dave or Sonia Delorme at the Oso Blanco Lodge.(210-765-4339) For fishing information, Guide Trips or tackle call Chip or LeEtte Harmon at Lunkerville Tackle & Guide Service.(210-765-3939) – Lake Mohave
– Lake Mohave
