Lake La Lajilla: Mission Accomplished

FLW Mexico’s inaugural event was a major success

(Editors note: Jaime Luengo is the president of FLW Mexico.)

See all photos from the first FLW Mexico Tournament.

I wrote in my last blog that the weather for the first tournament for FLW Mexico would be great if a cold front didn’t appear on beautiful Lake La Lajilla.

And of course, prior to the tournament, a cold front hit La Lajilla, a small lake located about 200 miles from famed Lake Guerrero on Mexico’s east coast. The average temperature during this time of the year is generally around 70 degrees, yet during this event the air temperature was in the high 50s. As the two-day tournament began, the front gave us a break, but it gained strength for the last day. Sunday morning temperatures ranged from the high 40s to the low 50s.

The lower temperatures didn’t deter Chema Rosillo and Eduardo Silvestre, who won the tournament with a 10-fish limit of 33.15 pounds. Rafa Chavez and Hector Galan finished second with 33.08, and the team of Cesar Madrigal and Jesus Silvestre were third with 32.26.

Although single fish of 11.23 and 9.20 pounds were caught during practice, the bigger ones were more elusive during the tournament. On day one, Alfredo Kury from San Luis Potosi caught the biggest bass of the event at 8.70 pounds. He and partner Luis Kurty were just 1 pound behind the tournament leaders the first day before fading in the final round.

“Sundays are having a curse on me,” Kury told onlookers during the final weigh-in. In the last few events he has participated, he has slipped on the last day. For the record, though, Kury also has won a number of major tournaments in Mexico by coming from down in the pack on the last day.

“Well, Alfredo, what goes around comes around,” I told him as I emceed the weigh-in. “I recall that you beat me in the last minute of the day in a tournament a couple of years ago with two huge bass caught minutes before the tournament ended. Have you forgotten that?”

Kury took it well, knowing that all fishermen have their ups and downs and we have to deal with it. On the “up” side, after a poor start with only three fish weighing just under 5 pounds to show for it, Chavez and Galan presented the biggest bag of the tournament on Sunday – a whopping 28.22 pounds. That was not bad at all for post-front fishing.

“Patience and lure adjustment was the key to our catch,” says Chavez. “We began throwing spinnerbaits while a morning breeze blew. After that, targeting certain types of wood cover was the key.”

Chavez didn’t specify what type and depth of wood cover the pair was targeting. No wonder he’s keeping it a secret; he has another tournament on the lake soon.

As is usually the case, consistency was the name of this game. The winners, Rosillo and Silvestre, had a very good practice, highlighted by a fish that weighed almost 10 pounds. They found prespawn fish in water around 15 to 17 feet deep on the lake’s first drop-off. Some of these fish had moved up from deeper waters. Others had pulled back from the spawning flats as the water there turned dirtier and cooler due to the cold front.

In the tournament, Rosillo and Silvestre fished Yamamoto Senkos rigged Texas style and switched up colors during the event to keep the fish interested. Moving around, patiently waiting for fish to start feeding was a key to success. On Sunday, the water temperature rose to almost 69 degrees, which made the fish a little more interested in baits, though 80 degrees is typical for this lake at this time of year.

There was a lot of anticipation and excitement for the first FLW Mexico tournament among the Mexican fishing community. The event was a success. We had a big crowd of spectators at the weigh-ins, including a lot of local fishermen who didn’t get in the tournament this time, but said they wanted to next time.

People from Ciudad Valles and several towns around were curious to learn how a fishing event such as this one is conducted and spent a nice Sunday afternoon with us.

And so, mission accomplished. FLW Mexico is up and running, and we are looking forward for our next event at Lake Don Martin.