By Pete Robbins

Elite Series pro Bradley Hallman went to Mexico and caught some big ones.

Then he caught some bigger ones.

Then he caught the biggest one of all.

Actually, the Mexico trip was his wife’s idea. She bought them a Couple’s Package to Billy Chapman’s famed Anglers Inn on Lake El Salto for Christmas. That didn’t leave them much time to pack, as their plane departed for Mazatlan barley two weeks later. That alone would make Dawn a super-wife, but she was also six months pregnant with their third child at the time.

It would be wrong to assume that Dawn was a martyr, though. She wasn’t headed to some remote fish camp, where mosquitoes carry the guests away, never to be seen again, and the food consists of glorified beanie weenies and other unmentionables. No, she was headed to Anglers Inn, where a guest need never lift a finger and have all of his or her needs attended to.
“She got a massage every night after fishing,” Hallman reported. “And then we spent three days at Pueblo Bonito (in Mazatlan).”

But while the service was great, the food was world-class and the scenery was breathtaking, none of that would have mattered had the fishing been poor. It was anything but.
“I’ve been to some really good lakes like Falcon and Sugar,” Hallman said. “The difference with El Salto is that it doesn’t seem to have any dead water. On Falcon, there’s a lot of dead water, but when you find them, they’re grouped. On El Salto you can start fishing just about anywhere.”
The apparent key to the tremendous fishery is the forage base.
“It has more tilapia than any other lake,” Hallman said. “No ‘ifs’, ‘ands’ or ‘buts’ about it, they’re eating them. They sit right there on the surface, even in 20 feet they get really high in the water column. That’s why the topwater bite is so good.”

While Hallman had no trouble catching 25 an hour on a Senko first thing, his focus was on “El Grande,” and he plied big baits almost exclusively to bring her to the boat, specifically deep diving crankbaits and a mop jig with a big trailer. He caught two 9-pounders, one on a Norman’s DD-22 and the other on the jig. His wife, content to fish a big 10-inch worm out of the back of the boat, caught her personal best, an 8-pound-plus Florida-strain largemouth that may very well outweigh their soon-to-be-born baby. That just whetted their appetites, though, as there was a 13-pounder and an 11-pounder caught during their stay.

Even for a been-there-done-that pro, the quality of the fishery boggled his mind.
“The crankbait bite was a lot like Kentucky Lake or Guntersville,” Hallman said. “You’d pull up on a point with rock and when you found the sweet spot in 10 to 15 feet of water you’d catch them on cast after cast. You’d catch a six, then another six, then a seven, then a five and an eight.”

Fortunately, it didn’t take long to find the sweet spot. When they’d pull into an area, Hallman would point to the left, then to the right, then in the center. His guide, a longtime veteran of Anglers Inn, would tell him which of the three was best and it was off to the races. No Spanish language skills required.

After four days at the lodge, the Hallmans decamped to Pueblo Bonito in Mazatlan, but Hallman couldn’t shake the big fish bug. He chartered a boat for the morning the second day they were there and went out into the salt where he battled big amberjack on bass tackle with pencil poppers. Meanwhile Dawn went to the spa and they met up at 1 o’clock for lunch.
If that wasn’t enough, Hallman took home an even bigger trophy. With no intention to do so ahead of time, while at El Salto he met with the organization’s top brass, and the result is that Anglers Inn will be his title sponsor on tour in 2010 – right place, right time, right angler.

“It’ll be a really good deal for all of us,” Hallman said. “And it’s going to be a long-time deal. It’s not like Billy (Chapman) just got into the business. He knows everybody. And now that co-anglers are gone, the Marshalls are the type of guy who will spend on this type of trip.”

Most importantly for Hallman, it’s a family friendly environment. Whether it’s buying a boat or taking the trip of a lifetime, when a man spends that kind of money it’s a lot easier if mama’s involved. At Anglers Inn, you can go with your buddies or you can bring your wife – just be careful, she may outfish you.

While the implementation of Hallman’s new sponsorship is still in the formative stages, one plan that will quickly go into effect is an opportunity to fish with him at El Salto – time on one of the best lakes in the world with an Elite Series angler. The first trip will take place July 22 to 26, when the lake should be at summer pool and the big girls should be stacked up. Hallman has a full Elite Series schedule ahead of him between now and then, but it’s hard not to look forward to his second “trip of a lifetime.”

For more information about Anglers Inn, go to www.anglersinn.com.

To email Bradley Hallman for information about trips to El Salto, contact him at bradleyhallman@sbcglobal.net. If it takes him a while to get back to you, it may be because his thumbs are still healing from his recent Mexican adventure.