 Guapote Rainbow Bass Lake Arenal, Costa Rica Lake Arenal Guided Fishing We're heading to Lake Arenal, Cost Rica to test several popular fishing lures to see which ones will catch Rainbow Bass. This fish catching event is being sponsored by www.LuresThatCatchFish.com Event RESULTS How To Catch Rainbow Bass
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Everything You Need To Know To Catch Rainbow Bass How To Fish For Rainbow Bass In Lake Arenal Costa Rica Spinnerbait Fishing Techniques For Lake Arenal Lake Arenal can be a difficult lake to fish. In some places the shoreline has grass with roots and other places hidden trees and stumps. When the water level is low some of these hidden tree stumps are visible. During high water levels many of these stumps will be just below the water level. Many places on the lake are only accessible during high water seasons. This is where an experienced guide pays off. He will know where these just below water stumps are located and can put you right on them. The Guapote make beds in the wall of the lake during high water seasons and during low water levels you can actually see the big holes in the banks along the lake. An experienced fishing guide will also know where some of these Guapote spawning beds are located during the correct seasons. The Guapote move into deeper water as soon as the sun starts getting high which is around 10:00 am. They are hard to catch on spinner baits until again in the late evenings. However some local guides have reported catching them on spinners and diving plugs all day long.
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What Is The Best
Lures For Fishing Lake Arenal Costa Rica
Effective Lures
For Fishing Lake Arenal
Spinnerbaits
one ounce
spinnerbaits to catch the bigger rainbow bass. I
have also caught 6 inch rainbow bass on 3/4 to 1
ounce spinnerbaits, so you will occasionally catch
smaller rainbow bass on large lures as well. One
local lake Arenal fishing guide reported catching
the IGFA World Record Rainbow Bass during the middle
of the day so I can only suggest high percentage
methods and times for catching rainbow bass. This
does not mean you cannot catch rainbow bass at any
given time of the year or time of day. Rainbow Bass,
like large mouth bass are somewhat unpredictable in
their biting habits. My biggest largemouth bass (16
lbs caught in Florida) was caught during the
hottest time of the day and month of the year, so
you never know for sure. You just have to go fishing
enjoy your time on the water and see if they are
biting. Rising barometric pressure or lowering
pressure will also stimulate rainbow bass to bite.
Usually right before and during a rain storm moves
in you can count on some great rainbow bass fishing.
Crank Baits
Fishing with shallow diving crank
baits about twenty feet off the shoreline can be
effective for rainbow bass. The ridges and
points extend out into the lake for some distance
and you can troll shallow crank baits along these
points for some great rainbow action. I like to use
crank baits that dive 8 to 10 feet for tight
shoreline trolling. I troll larger deeper diving
crank baits that dive to 20 feet or more
approximately 50 to 100 feet off the shore line. Pay
attention to the degree of the points as they enter
the water because they will maintain the same slope
right into and below the water. This way you will
have an idea when you are entering more shallow
areas. It's a good idea to slow the boat trolling
speed and/or raise your rod tip high into the air
over your head in these point areas. This will make
your lure rise off the bottom more and avoid getting
snagged on submerged branches. It's a good idea to
have a lure retriever on board incase your plugs get
fowled on the underwater structure. A 5 to 8 ounce
lead weight with a couple wire loops attached that
will slip around your fishing line and glide down to
the fowled lure bumping it free will save a costly
investment in lost lures. Deep diving plugs can cost
upwards of $15 in Costa Rica, when you can find them
at all. You can troll crank baits anytime of the
day, but this is an effective way to catch rainbow
bass during the hotter times of the day when the
fish move offshore into deeper waters and it's
difficult to catch them on spinnerbaits or top water
lures.
Rainbow Bass
Information
I suspect that just prior to the mating and shortly after mating the rainbow
bass become active feeders similar to the habits of
the Largemouth bass. The water in Lake Arenal
remains a constant 76 degrees year around, so you
don't have the seasons driving the nesting habits of
the rainbow bass like you do with the largemouth
bass in the USA. Rainbow bass mating and nesting
habits are most likely initiated by the lake water
levels. The lake is used as the primary source of
fresh water and electricity for most of Costa Rica.
The water level is maintained by the abundant rain
fall in the rainforest. Lake Arenal area doesn't
have hot and dry seasons like the central
valley areas of Costa Rica. Lake Arenal has rain
year around, although more rainfall in certain
months that others. Once the rainbow bass start
nesting, the biting will slow down and you may
experience a problem
catching them. So the best fishing times should be
right before they go on the nest when they are
storing up food and energy for the nesting and
hatching period. After the eggs hatch in March the
females will start feeding again.
There are several varieties of
Guapote Rainbow Bass in Lake Arenal as well as a few
other varieties of fish that you can catch on lures.
Rainbow Bass is considered by all locals as the best
tasting fish of all the lake Arenal species. For
this reason they are over fished and even spear
fished by the locals. Guapote Rainbow Bass are
illegal to spearfish or to sell in restaurants so
the only way to legally have them is by catching
them on hook and line. However there are no legal
size limits or number of rainbow bass you can catch
and keep. This contributes to the difficulty of
catching rainbow bass of any size.
The record Guapote Rainbow Bass is currently around
13 lbs on lake Arenal, and fish are still taken in
the 8 to 10 lb range occasionally. The average
fish will be from 3 to 5 lbs. When you do get a strike they will fight much harder
than a largemouth bass. Most big ones will break off
during the battle. The rainbow bass is not an
aggressive feeder though and you have to make a
Live Bait
Fishing lake Arenal Costa Rica can be
one the most difficult lakes you will ever fish.
Rainbow Bass knows as Guapote are not aggressive
fish when it comes to biting, however they are
extremely aggressive fish when you mange to hook
one. I would compare the Rainbow Bass to saltwater
species such as Redfish or even Grouper on the
fighting side. You will definitely know it if you
hook into a trophy Rainbow Bass. Guapote (Rainbow
Bass) seem to bite better on live baits such as
Sardines or small minnows about 3 inches long. These
can be caught on small hooks and wigglers or tiny
worms along the shoreline of Lake Arenal.
Another effective bait is live palmetto bugs
fluttering on the surface at daylight.
The Spinnerbait Testing Grounds We're testing lures from some of the top spinner bait manufacturers to find the best spinner baits to use for a fishing trip to world famous Lake Arenal, Costa Rica for Guapote Rainbow Bass. Our plan is to spend three weeks fishing Lake Arenal in a variety of conditions with a fishing guide, a kayak and walking the shore to find the best performing spinner baits for catching Guapote Rainbow Bass.
Our Fishing Strategy On Lake Arenal On Lake Arenal the mornings and the evenings are about the only time you can catch fish along the shore line with spinner baits. The mornings come very early on Lake Arenal. Daylight will start around 5:30 to 6 am because of the equator. Darkness in the evening will occur around 5:30 to 6 pm. Our strategy is to fish the grass lines and tree stumps early in the morning up until about 10am and again in the evenings from about 3:30 to dark. During the heat of the day the Guapote move out to deeper locations in the lake are more difficult to catch.
Fishing Tackle We will be using three identical new Bass Pro Shops spinning reels with composite graphite 7 ft rods spooled with 15 lb Andes mono line. We will have spinnerbaits from three different manufacturers on the fishing outfits at all times and will be fishing 10 minutes with one, then 10 minutes with another, etc. I like the spinning reel for fishing spinner baits because it is easier to pitch lures with spinning reels as opposed to bait casters. I also like bait casters for certain fishing situations. The high winds often occurring on the lake lends itself better to open spinner reels also.
Spinnerbaits Selected For The Evaluation We visited the local Bass Pro Shops, Wal Mart, Target, Sports Authority and several local tackle supply shops looking specifically for white spinner baits with Gold Blades in 1/4 oz size. As you can see from the collection of spinner baits we obtained, it's very difficult to get white 1/4 once spinner baits with white skirts. We finally special ordered our lures below including the PERSUADER, TERMINATOR, MANN'S CLASSIC, BOOYAH, STANLEY WEDGE and LAZER EYE spinnerbaits in gold blades. We also ordered some white skirts extra so we can change the skirts if necessary. We were looking for these particular baits as we wanted a level playing field for all lures and because of the unique waters we will be fishing. We felt the gold blades would work best because of the overcast conditions often prevalent on the lake. NOTE - We were not able to locate any 1/4 ounce White Spinnerbait with Gold Blades locally or by ordering online. * All the lures below are 1/2 ounce and above. Our first Fishing Catching evaluation of 2011 will start on April 20th and the Guapote Rainbow Bass we are targeting requires a smaller bait as the local fish do not have bucket mouths like the largemouth bass. This is why we wanted 1/4 ounce lures. Also the water can be murky so we want gold blades. We will need Willow blades because of all the grass and roots along the shoreline that we have to cast in to. The white skirts are what seems to work locally as reported by the local fishing guides. We will take along extra skirts and blades to modify the lures accordingly
Lures Used For Fishing Lake Arenal During Our Lures That Catch Fish 2010 Rainbow Bass Event Spinnerbaits
PERSUADER TERMINATOR MANN'S CLASSIC BOOYAH
STANLEY WEDGE BOOYAH LAZER EYE NOTE: Stanley Wedge Spinnerbaits was the overall 2010 Costa Rica Rainbow Bass Lure Winner
Crank Baits
Which Lures Caught Fish?? Visit our RESULTS page to see which lures caught Rainbow Bass NOTE: Strike King, Bomber and Norman Crank Baits Won the Crank Bait Category
Information On Lake Arenal, Costa Rica
Lake Arenal Costa Rica is a
very unusual lake. it's approximately 33 square
miles and up to 200 feet deep in places. It's
located on the equator and
the lake temperature stays a constant 76 degree year
around due to the excellent tropical climate and the
nearby active volcano Arenal. The levels of the lake
water rises and falls during the year and makes for
excellent opportunities to fish for the famous
Guapote Rainbow Bass. The Guapote Bass grow to 15
lbs but the average fish will be in the 3 to 5 lb
range. A Local Fishing Guide reported catching the
unofficial IGFA World Record Guapote Rainbow Bass
last November. The Guapote is a hard running fish and can
break weak lines, knots and other tackle. The
Guapote is a distant cousin of the Peacock Bass.
Fishing on the lake can be very slow at times
especially when the water level is not rising or
falling. The lake does not see much fishing pressure
so the lake is not over fished, but there is a lot
of local illegal spear fishing for Guapote.
Lake Arenal Fishing Tours
Our Lake Arenal Local Fishing Guide Host For The Event
9.5 lb Rainbow Bass on Stanley Lures
Lake Arenal Fishing Report The lake is starting to fall now and that can lead to some good Guapote Rainbow Bass fishing. Pictured above is his biggest Guapote Rainbow Bass weighing in at 9.5 lbs. They are hitting smaller white or translucent spinnerbaits with gold wedge blades right now. I expect the fishing to become better as the water continues to fall. The females are full of row now and will be hatching their eggs soon. Now's also a great time for trolling deep diving plugs while sitting under the bimini and having a cool one. Guided Fishing On Lake Arenal For Guapote Rainbow Bass Guapote Rainbow Bass
All About Using Spinnerbaits - A site with everything you need to know about fishing spinnerbaits. Upcoming Lures That Catch Fish Evaluations Fish Catching Results Nice Guapote Caught By The Author Kayak Fishing in 2011
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Here's a
rainbow bass story I know
you'll love:
http://www.oneofakindgem.com/Big%20Guapote%20Fish%20Tale.htm
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We're always
evaluating our lures to see which ones catch big fish consistently.
There are a lot of fishing lures on the shelf when you go the the
local fishing supply store to make your choices. We've been fishing
for rainbow bass for many years and
we have tried many techniques and fishing lures. We're sure you can
catch monster rainbow bass if you implement the fishing techniques
on our website and fish the 
Rainbow Bass Can Be Very Aggressive
