Many Arizonans head to Sonora’s beaches for the holidays. But for decades some American anglers have also been heading to a remote, lakeside community in the Sonoran Sierra.
San Pedro de la Cueva is a two-hour drive east of Hermosillo, the Sonoran capital, and sits on the banks of the massive El Novillo reservoir. For its roughly 1,500 residents, bass fishers from Arizona and elsewhere have become an economic engine for the town.
“You know, we got commercial fishing, we got farmers, but the tourists, it means a lot to the town, a lot,” said former mayor Pedro Silvas, a local store owner and angler in his own right.
Around 50 homes in town are rented or owned by seasonal visitors, and many residents earn income working for them, according to Silvas, who served as mayor from 2003 to 2006.
