Bass anglers in the know are well aware of Lake Baccarac, the 33,000-acre lake in the high desert foothills of Mexico’s Sierra Madre Mountains. It was stocked with Florida-strain lunker bass in 1978 and has since gained a reputation as perhaps the best giant largemouth lake in the world. The Baccarac record bass of 19.10 pounds is also the Mexican record largemouth.
Last June 8-15, 13 American two-man teams of anglers – with resident lake guides on board – competed for a $14,000 top prize on the reservoir. The event was put on by Joshua Daniels, who owns Pro Bass Adventures, a fishing lodge on Baccarac.
They dubbed the event “King of the Baccarac.”
“We timed the tourney in June after the bass spawn, but during the annual Baccarac reservoir drawdown,” the 42-year old Phoenix resident tells Wired2fish. “They draw the lake down to about half its size in June, and that concentrates fish on long points and around channel drops and standing timber. It’s a choice time to target big fish, and of course we release all the bass we catch.”
Anglers fished out of well-equipped bass boats, and Phoenix anglers Mason Smook and Justin Loftin took home the top prize money for the three biggest bass caught during the event – which weighed an astounding 38-pounds, 7-ounces.
Prize money also was awarded to the second and third place total bass weight teams and for daily big fish caught.
All bass were weighed immediately after being caught on accurate Bubba digital scales on their boats, with photos and videos made. Then bass were released.
“Baccarac has steep canyon walls and long deep points, even during June when the lake is only about 20,000 acres in size,” Daniels explains. “But it really concentrates big fish, and that’s prime time to catch a giant weighing double digits.”
He says deep crankbaits and large 6-inch swim baits caught most big fish during the tournament. A favorite among Baccarac anglers are “Reel Prey” swim baits.
“We’re going to have another ‘King of the Baccarac’ next June 14-21,” Daniels explains. “We’re also going to have the first ‘King of El Salto’ tournament May 31-June 7, 2026, at our companion Mexican lodge on Lake El Salto.
“Both lakes will be in prime draw-down condition for superb big bass action. Both lakes have plenty of heavy bass. But Baccarac produces more fish weighing over 10 pounds, El Salto is choice for numbers of 4-to-8-pound largemouths.”
