eight pound class. Dale had presented his offering around the shaded side of the structure, and upon making contact was consumed by what would be his first big bass. After a brief highfive, we were off to lunch. Upon arriving it was obvious we were not the only ones catching big fish. There were many reports of bass surpassing the eight pound mark. With the daytime temps nearing their peak of about 80 degrees, everyone including our guides took time out to rest. This little siesta usually lasts about two hours and off you go again. At first one might think this ordeal of a siesta is uncalled for, however, as the afternoon lingers and the temps rise, it is very obvious why they do it. A little rest never hurt anyone. Upon returning to the water we concentrated our efforts on deep diving crankbaits. For the most part, we worked points and submerged tree lines. Our action was by no means fast, and considering the conditions, who would expect it to be? However, as with our morning bite, we were able to boat bass well into the five pound class. Not bad for high skies and almost no wind. The later part of the day would find us returning to our morning strategy, working the outside points at the mouth of the coves and continuing into the ends. The difference was, we found bass in the backs, instead of the points, and I mean some big fish. In one particular cove, we fished our way in, hitting every possible ambush point with no results until we hit a bare shoreline at the very end of the cove. There I presented my jerkbait after Dale had fished the entire area, and was greeted by an incredible swirl. I set the hook and came up empty handed. The fact is, I had some very straight hooks. All three of us quickly commented that it was a very big fish, or as the locals would say, mui grande lubina. A few minutes later and only a few feet away I was again greeted by an enormous swirl. However, this time I made contact, and was rewarded with an incredible ten pound El Salto bass. The interesting thing was the jig and craw that was still in its mouth from Kline Nissan, official dealership of Simply Fishing Television and the home of Simply Fishing Vehicles Allow me the pleasure of quoting your next vehicle. Nissan Armada LE: 317 hp, 385 lb-ft of torque and can tow up to 9,100 lbs call me or email your needs today, the gang at Kline is always here to serve your automotive needs. New vehicles arriving daily at Kline Nissan, Maplewood MN. Your world class Nissan dealer... Jeff Miller 651-379-4300

a previous angler. Upon removing the hook, I couldn’t help but notice how light the line was. I doubt it was even 15 lb. test. Again, this offered even more testimony on the need for appropriate gear. But wouldn’t you like to have been at the table for that story about the one that got away? Well, everything has its reason for happening. We closed our first day with yet another very big bass and were off to the dinner table. At dinner, it was obvious that everyone was on big bass. We had only one problem - Lago El Salto had permanently claimed many of our better lures. Well, it looked to me like it was time to check out the camp’s tackle shop again, and after another brief shopping spree, we chose partners and prepared ourselves for day two on Lago El Salto. Morning greeted us with yet another picture perfect day, with light clouds, very slight winds, and expected high temps in the low 80s. It wasn’t long after meeting Fermin at the boat that my new fishing partner Jack Sushay and I were off. Our approach was very much like our first day - we chose to hit points and small pockets as we entered what seemed to be probable spawning areas. Our lure choices were also for the most part unchanged. However, we didn’t venture into the backs of the coves at all. We concentrated only on the transition areas. Without a locator it was hard to judge the actual depth of the water and exactly how steep these areas were. Nonetheless, they were holding bass and we were catching them. Jack stuck with a surface chugger for most of the morning, as I continued to change out lure groups. At noon we really hadn’t caught any large bass. Although we had six in the boat, our largest was only five pounds. After lunch and a few rounds of skeet shooting, we were off again. Our first stop was a vertical wall, with shade and what seemed to be very deep water. Although I thought the area looked good and had potential, it failed to yield any big bass. We continued to seek out these shaded areas with much the same results - no big bass. At about 2:30 pm, Jack, Fermin and I found ourselves on the inside turn of a land mass connecting a small point to the main shore. Our first approach was deep diving cranks. I chose a Poe’s 400 Plus and went to work. After a few casts I was witness to a very large bass following my crankbait. Because I had been making occasional contact with submerged objects and not the bass, I opted to change out to a 1 oz. Rattle Trap. I also instructed Jack to make the same change. Within only a few casts, both Jack and I were hooked up. This was to be the start of some of