Sportfishing on Lake Arenal

Enjoy a spectacular freshwater sportfishing day on Lake Arenal. You will connect with a professional bilingual fishing guide, who will take you out on a custom 20-foot bass boat complete with Yamaha four-stroke motor, trolling motor, and all bait and tackle (spinning rods, bait casters, and fly rods). 

Fishing here will be targeting delicious rainbow bass, the hard fighting machaca, tilapia, and mojarra. Lake Arenal is an artificial dammed lake created to generate electricity in the early 1970s and has since become an excellent source for the fishery. Anglers worldwide come to this location to fish on this incredible lake with views of the Arenal Volcano surrounded by nature and the tropical jungle.
 

Machaca is one of the most aggressive and hardest-fighting freshwater fish in Costa Rica, so much so they have earned the nickname “mini tarpon.” Once hooked, they will leap out of the water several times. They are related to piranha, although the machaca in Costa Rica is vegetarian for the most part. They typically aren’t considered table fare, but they are often used in soups. 

Rainbow bass is part of the cichlid family, which includes oscars, wrasse, angelfish, and the closely related peacock bass. Better known as ‘guapote’ here in Costa Rica, they are the main target of freshwater anglers. As the top predator in nearly all freshwater habitats, the rainbow bass is prized for its combination of intelligence, aggression, and great-tasting meat.

Machaca can be caught all year round in Costa Rica. They primarily feed at the surface as they are accustomed to falling fruit & seeds, so even if the water is murky, shallow, or deeper than usual, they will still hit your lure or fly if it makes a big enough splat.

Guapote can and are caught all year round, but the fishing is typically better when the lake water levels are lower as they have less space to hide in. Those months would coincide with our dry season or summer, so typically, Jan-May is spectacular.