After waiting for the annual monsoon season to end, guests started arriving to Anglers Inn lodges in Mexico for the 2024-2025 season.  

Lake Picachos anglers were treated to huge numbers of fish caught daily including many doubles plus bigger fish. 

Baits favored have been lipless crankbaits, Choppo topwater lures, 10-inch black/blue PowerWorms, deep cranks, Senkos and swimbaits.  

News just received from our January guests report amazing catches while using the Umbrella (Alabama rig) with 3-inch white swim baits on ⅛ ounce white jig heads with 2/0 hooks.

From our Lake Picachos guests:  

Robert Bospflug and group returned to the lodge in October catching 100s of bass during their stay. A 10-inch black and blue Berkley PowerWorm enticed their biggest catch of 6 pounds, 10 ounces. Other popular baits were white spinnerbaits, watermelon/red Senkos, white 5-inch swimbaits and crankbaits. 

Pat Dilling and James Moseby made their fourth trip to Lake Picachos and enjoyed 100-plus fish per day including many doubles. Coves were the main target using green pumpkin Senkos, spinnerbaits, deep cranks, black Choppo topwater baits and 5-inch shad swimbaits.

Mike Marrone relied on 6XD and 10XD cranks and 5-inch swimbaits.

Buzz Broughton, Bill Atterman, George Deckman and Steve Sirmans leaned on lizards and Pop R topwater baits for their catches.

Tonya and Ron Giudice celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary at the lake. They’ve been making many trips with Anglers Inn throughout their marriage. For this trip lipless crankbaits and Choppo topwater baits were most productive for numbers, 100 plus bass each day with many doubles, while the10-inch PowerWorm accounted for more of the bigger catches, 6 pounders. What better place to celebrate such a happy occasion.

Bob Jury has been taking two Anglers Inn trips per year for the past six years. His last outing recorded 782 bass landed in their 7-day trip. Biggest fish in the net were 8.2 pounds and 7.5 pounds with many 6 plus pounders. Lizards, traps, whopper ploppers and square bills were baits of choice. A return in March is already reserved.  

Mike and Mickey Ishikawa are regulars with Anglers Inn and rule the lake.

Crystal River  

Crystal River – Cold Weather Bass  

Crystal River is known as a mecca for herds of manatees and schools of saltwater game fish. Lesser known is our phenomenal bass fishing. Yes, nearby Lake Rousseau (just minutes from our Floating Suites) is home to huge Florida bass fishing that can be caught in winter, even when Florida bass elsewhere are known to shut down in the cold.  

Florida lakes are notoriously shallow averaging just 9-feet deep. Water temperatures drop throughout the water column. But manmade Lake Rousseau, unlike the others, has deep water – 30 to 40 feet. In December through February, when temperatures can drop down to 45 degrees or less, most Florida bass anglers take time to play with gear. But Rousseau regulars seek out the holes and enjoy.  

Joe Thomas, host of Stihl’s Reel in the Outdoors for the Outdoor Channel, sampled Lake Rousseau during a massive cold front this last winter and the fishing was on fire. With Billy Henderson as his guide, the duo landed loads of fish, big fish.  

Their secret: Fish deep, drop umbrella (Alabama) rigs into the school. Use a Humminbird Helix 12 MEGA Alive forward-facing sonar to find the bass, drop rigs to the fish and simply hang on. Also, use a Minn Kota trolling motor with GPS anchor Spot-Lock to keep the boat in just the right position.

Visitors to the Anglers Inn Floating Suites saw the return of the migrating manatees to join with the year round residents. Snook, redfish, sea trout and largemouth bass action kept the anglers busy.

Amazon Peacock Bass

Preparing for the January/February season kept Anglers Inn staff and scheduled guests focused on packing.  

Call 1-800-GOTA-FISH now to book your trip for 2026. Stay tuned for exciting news about our planned eco tours.  

Anglers Inn University  

It’s time to make your reservation for classes at Anglers Inn University. Industry expert George Large will take you through any of the six courses offered at our campus at Pete’s Pier this winter. Go to Anglers Inn University Crystal River Campus to learn how to take your fishing experience to the next level. It’s a great way to introduce fishing to a friend, child or significant other.    

Our sponsors  

Anglers Inn is proud to be associated with the following manufacturers: Abu Garcia,Berkley, Fishing Tackle Retailer, Gray Taxidermy, Huk, Humminbird, MinnKota, Mossy Oak Fishing, Old Town, Penn, Plano and St. Croix Rods.

Social Media

Make it your routine to check Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for updated posts on the happenings at the various Anglers Inn destinations and services. We typically post Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  

Fridays on anglersinn.com  

Don’t forget to check our anglersinn.com Stories section of our News tab for our Friday 5s and Friday Flicks. These short narratives and videos give our readers one location to see the entire inventory as the Friday posts continue to grow in number and popularity and help our guests plan for their trips, guide them on packing needs and answer questions we typically receive.