Lake Chapala bass biting.

king fisher · March 10, 2021

After fishing salt water for 6 weeks, I finally got a break from work. I was going to go to my favorite small lake with big monster bass close to home, but my wife suggested I take a few days and go on a vacation in Chapala Jalisco. I was able to Kayak fish for three days.

The first two days were OK. I fished an Island I never fished before and landed 14 bass between 2 and 4 pounds, with one 5.5. The next day I fished a spot I had fished before and had a similar day with a 5.7 being the biggest.

The last day the wind was blowing and the waves were big. I had planned on launching at a different spot, and when I got there I had second thoughts. Launching was similar to launching the kayak on an ocean beach. The wind was blowing 15 MPH. straight in to the bay I was going to fish. I almost cancelled, but my wife assured me the weather was going to improve, so I unloaded my gear and she drove off. I had previously flipped my kayak and lost gear on this lake before, so I was extra cautious as I tied everything down.

I managed to launch without incident and pedaled towards a rock island I planned on starting at. I was completely wet by the time I got to the first rock pile and decided to only make a couple casts with a spinnerbait, before going around the point to more protected water. I never made it to the protected water. The first cast on the windward side of the rocks I hooked and landed a 3 pound bass. The day only got better from there. Every time I would drift by one of several rock out cropping's, I would cast just outside the breaking waves hook another bass and try and land it on the lee side of the rock. If I didn't catch a bass I would either go to another rock close by, or change spinnerbaits. I was planning on fishing crankbaits, but new I would snag in the abundant tilapia nets, and wouldn't be able to get them loose without risking flipping my Kayak.

The spinnerbait bite continued for 2 hours until as predicted the wind died down to zero and within a couple hours, the lake was calm. I tied on a square bill and started fishing the same rock piles. One rock I found when a large breaking wave revealed its location. When the wind calmed I pedaled over, and with my fish finder found not only one rock but a 100 yard ridge I wouldn't have found if the water had not been so rough. I spent most of the afternoon fishing that ridge. When they quite hitting square bills I could get a couple more on a spinnerbait. I would then fish a few other rock piles, before returning and crushing them on the ridge again.

When the day was done I had landed over 30 bass. Six were 5 to 6 pounds, and many 3-4 pounds. I had just landed a 5.5 and decided I had time to make one last cast. I hooked and landed one last bass of 8.3 pounds. For the first time in my life I didn't extend the day with multiple last casts, and met my wife at launch at the exact time I said I would. I know this is the kind of day people expect to have fishing for bass in Mexico. The truth is a day like this is rare. Even the best lakes with the best guides can be slow at times. A day like this for me is epic. Chapala is not a well known bass lake, and I can only fish there a handful of days a year. I only have a kayak, I have limited places close to where we stay to launch, and there are hundreds of nets to tangle in. With these limitations, I am happy to catch some decent size bass with a chance at one or two over 5 pounds. With my best 5 bass weighing over 30 pounds' it was by far the best day of bass fishing in my life. And to think I almost didn't go because of the wind. The bass in the picture taken at dusk looks like a 4 pound fish, but really was 8.3 pounds, just a bad picture. The other pics. are of 5 to 5.5 pound fish. I fished almost every lure in my box, but kept going back to the ones in the picture.