This is the Fish Arrow Flat Jack, same company that makes the Monster Jack. It's about 4 or 5" long and is apparently something of a waking surface bait without a lip. I checked it out but haven't seen it swim in the water. Tacklewarehouse has them in stock in 5 colors.

http://av.warehousesports.com/tac/ProductImages/FAFJ-FUN.JPG

Optimum T's Refrex has been around for a while and Tacklewarehouse has them now in 3 colors. The bass color is pretty nice looking.

http://av.warehousesports.com/tac/ProductImages/TSF-BS.JPG

That bait should be sweet at el salto. In the morning and evening there's a billion tilapia that get pushed up on the shore by the bass. Toss that thing right up on the shore by any kind of cover and twitch twitch in place. booooosh. have fun :)

Hey Rob,

Have you been there? This is my first trip so any tips you can offer would be great.

Thanks,

JUANCHO

Here's my report from when I went there:

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=5&topic_id=1841&mesg_id=1841&listing_type=search

There's a pic of a tilapia on there that I snagged under the boat dock so I could get a pic of it. There's jillions of those things in there. They just look like bluegill basically.

As far as tips go, the main tip is - get a guide who is good on that lake. I assume you speak spanish so language won't be an issue. We had a hard time communicating with our guide because he didn't speak any english at all. I speak some spanish but not enough to really communicate about fishing.

When we were there it seemed like there were two main patterns, either right on the shore fishing in cuts and around patches of hyacinth with topwaters, or out in the creek channels dragging plastic like worms or 7" senkos. Now I hear a lot of talk about 5" storm swimbaits producing there and it's obvious why with all the tilapia. If I were to go back, I'd be chucking 5 and 6" big hammers in the creek channels and around the wood. I'd probably fish 12" worms more, and of course look for the shallow topwater type bite in the shade pockets and in the evening. Those fish on the shallow stuff will eat the 9" Slammer for sure, you just gotta be on the right water where the big bass are at. The Slammer bite for me was all about casting the bait within 6" of the shore or the cover and then twitching it down like a rapala. Most of the bites, you'd twitch it down under the surface and it just wouldn't come back up. The water is so warm there that the fish just hold super tight to the cover by the shore.

Anyway, it's a big lake, tons of cover, tons of places to fish. So getting near the bigger fish is step 1.

Thanks a million Rob, that post really provided me with some insight as to what to expect. The baits you mention are the ones that I had already picked out for the trip, the only item i am missing is 12" worms, i have a bunch of 10" Power Worms and Gulp Worms that i purchased for the night tournaments this past season but i don't have any 12 inchers, do you have any particular brand in mind?

On another topic Rob, i received an email today from ABT lures, i actually purchased a couple of those Gladiator baits from them a while back so i guess my name was trown in their mailing list. Anyway they have a new bait out, it's called the Titan http://www.abtlures.com/titans/index.htm have you seen it? what do you think? I remember there were some issues with durability and the overall quality of the components on the Gladiator bait but this one looks a little bit better and obviously the price is not bad.

Take care and as always thanks for the valuable information.

JUANCHO

I dunno about worms, the ones I mostly use are some handpour worms I got just for El Salto - which ironically I didn't catch any fish on while I was there lol. Make sure you bring the big worm weights like 3/4 and 1oz for fishing deep on heavy line.

I saw that new ABT bait, I don't know what to say about it really. I'm not a huge fan of all these lures with no tails. Like look at this picture and tell me what is missing?

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/3033.jpg

All these lures I'm sure will catch fish, I just get more confidence if my lure really looks like what it's supposed to be imitating. I know someone will come and say that one of these tail-less baits is their favorite bait and it's the best ever, but I just think there's other baits that are more realistic and have great action too.

Attachment #1, (.jpg file)

Got my http://www.f150online.com/galleries/pictureview.cfm?pnum=108428&anum=3723 Flat Jack today.

And yes, it has Gammy hooks.

Dan

"Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less"

Deo Vindice

Attachment #1, (.cfm?pnum=108428&anum=3723 file)

You forgot to mention tons of Gill Nets. x(

I got bit well on larger rattle traps in the creek channels. As far as the guides go... don't be afraid to take over the boat. I didn't do it until half way throught the trip. We started catching bigger fish deeper than what they wanted to fish.

I would definitely take a mess of 5 & 6 inch Hammers and storms.

I threw my Flat Jack yesterday but no t/w bite. I really like its 'action'; very subtle, quiet-like movement which seem's more natural to me than so many of the larger t/w swimbaits. It 'stands' in the water with at least 1/2 its body out of the water. I do wonder if a Bluegill sit's with its 'eyes' out of the water though?

Here are 3 BassI caught yesterday that totaled a little over 13 lbs togeather:

http://www.f150online.com/galleries/pictureview.cfm?pnum=108549&anum=3723

http://www.f150online.com/galleries/pictureview.cfm?pnum=108542&anum=3723

http://www.f150online.com/galleries/pictureview.cfm?pnum=108546&anum=3723

And, here is my Flat Jack Bluegill:

http://www.f150online.com/galleries/pictureview.cfm?pnum=108428&anum=3723

Dan

"Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less"

Deo Vindice