IT IS NOT a bad thing to forget; it prevents clutter. After a couple hundred of these destination fishing adventures, I recall every one of them, just not the number. When that feeling grows that it’s time to go, bass haunt the memory.
Bass fishing, like baseball, was just too good to keep in the United States. Now over 74 countries have been stocked. In some places — Bulgaria, Namibia, New Brunswick and the Iberian Peninsula — bass are labeled “invasive” and “destructive.” These were introduced by enthusiasts without license or prior environmental study.
As Mexico advanced its agricultural development and power requirements, dams were constructed on dozens of rivers, and opportunity blossomed. Bass fishing evolved in one generation to a multibillion-dollar explosion of equipment, high-end boats, monster outboards and expanding electronics, with artificial intelligence (AI) on the way. Then came big-money tournaments and television shows. Mexico stood in this sunlight. These new lakes had no downside to native species.
Billy Chapman Sr. introduced Florida-strain largemouth into Lake Baccarac in 1975. Tilapia and shad were added as forage. In 1985, Billy Chapman Jr. stocked Lake El Salto with 200,000 Florida-strain fingerlings, and another legendary bass fishing destination awakened. There are dozens of Mexican bass lakes now.
