On May 4th, 2011 I will be heading off on an exciting 1-year trek across Central & South America. I will be carrying two fishing rods in my backpack - one spin casting & one fly rod. Join my adventure as I search for each country's best fishing spots, learn local techniques, and show you how to get in on the action. Rainbow Bass fishing in Nicaragua, Machaca in Costa Rica, and Peacock Bass in Guyana are only a few of the adventures on the itinerary.
Real Fishing Magazine (Winter 2011) - Explosions from Arenal Article
My first feature fishing article is now out in Bob Izumi's Real Fishing Magazine (2011 Winter Edition). The article is about my exciting fishing trip to Costa Rica's volcano town "La Fortuna". I had the opportunity to fish for Central America's notoriously aggressive Rainbow Bass on Lake Arenal, which sits at the base of Volcano Arenal, one of the most active volcanoes in the world. I don't want to spoil any surprises, so if you get the opportunity, head to your local magazine stand or bookstore to pick up a copy. This is the first of many more adventure fishing articles to come, so stay tuned.
For more fishing articles and free online issues, visit http://www.realfishing.com/
It has been a while since my last post as I took a break from fishing to focus on writing a few magazine articles. In January, I will be able to say that I am officially a published writer in a recognized North American fishing magazine. I have been investing a lot of my time and money into the future of this blog and my general website joelduncanadventures.com (currently under development). In the new year you will see much more exciting and dynamic content as I take you along on fishing adventures through video, photography, sound recordings and written content. You can also expect to see more interviews with the industry's elite stars and rising hot shots.
My next trip will be to the Mayan Riviera, Mexico(on Dec 27th) where I will try my hand at fishing the flats for some salt-water monsters. Before that, I will visit Home Depot to purchase materials for a customized rod carrying travel case - Something I read in a 'how to' fishing book that is sitting on my desk. Be sure to check back for a picture of the final product. I also invested in a GoPro camera that I will use to capture all of the action on the water, so look forward to some lively footage. If you have done flats fishing, leave a comment with your advice and recommendations.
My recent journey to Lake Arenal, Costa Rica proved to be very successful on many fronts. Although I hoped to land a record sized Guapote/Rainbow Bass (8 plus lbs), I was quite content when I hooked into a four and a half pounder. We arrived in Arenal expecting to fish weed beds with spinner baits and top-water lures but Captain Marc quickly assured us that catching a Guapote on those lures would be nothing short of a miracle at this time of the year (late August). Spinner baits work best in May when the fish are closer to shore in shallower water.
Marc made it crystal clear that the best way to catch a Guapote would be to troll the deeper waters with crank baits. He has fished Lake Arenal for over 20 years and has been taking people out on his boat for about 7 years. Disappointed by the captain’s warning, I decided to use his services for a half day instead of a full day as trolling for 8 hours didn’t quite appeal to my adventurous nature.
As they say, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. At 6 a.m. we still decided to try our luck closer to shore with spinners and shallow running crank baits. But, as Marc predicted we did not have much luck. We only caught one small fish that resembled a sunfish on steroids.
With the clock ticking and the number of fish netted unchanged, we decided to give up on the casting and take the captain’s advice. On went the tail dancers and out we went into about 20 feet of water. Within the first 3 minutes of trolling my rod tip stuttered and I stood up and shouted “I think I’ve got one”. I would repeat this chant every ten minutes for the next two hours. Every time I saw my rod dip my heart skipped a beat as I envisioned it bending to its breaking point with a 15 lb Guapote on the other end. The rod never did bend that far but it did get its fair share of action as we caught one Guapote after another. Marc suggested that we keep the fish since they were all a perfect eating size. He furthered to say “don’t worry you can give them away, no one around here will turn down Guapote”.
2 female Guapote from Lake Arenal
Since I am trying to get this story published in the upcoming months, I will not divulge all of the details or post many pictures. If you are really interested in the adventure to Arenal, you will have to keep posted to see which magazine takes the story. In the mean time, if you are going to Costa Rica and you would like to fish for some Rainbow Bass contact me for more information. You can also check out Captain Marc Delvaux’s website http://www.fishinglakearenal.com/. If you contact him by email he may take a day or two to respond since he is always on the water. For a faster response, just give him a call. He speaks English fluently.
Last June I made my maiden voyage to Costa Rica with my longtime amigo Denver. We landed in San Jose, rented an SUV and headed out on a 10-day road trip across the country. As usual, I walked with my fishing roads and a tackle box full of my favourite crank baits and spinner baits just in case the opportunity to cast a line presented itself. Before leaving Canada I had done some quick internet research about where I could fish in Costa Rica. Of course I was bombarded with countless deep-sea fishing charter websites that boasted the best Wahoo, Sail Fish, Marlin or Dorado fishing in the country. Coincidently I came across a site that offered Rainbow Bass fishing on Costa Rica’s largest lake, LakeArenal. The lake was located right at the foot of one of the world’s most active volcanoes, Volcano Arenal.
The colourful Rainbow Bass (locally known as Guapote, meaning ‘the most handsome’) are renowned for their fierce strikes and the fact that they fight like it were a title heavyweight bout in the UFC. Rumor has it that a Rainbow hits twice as hard as Largemouth and makes a Smallmouth look like a geek in an arm wrestling competition with the high school jock.
Let’s just say that I ended up going on zip line tours through the jungle, hiking to the largest waterfall in the area, relaxing at the hot springs and drinking one too many Imperial cervezas, then ran out of time to get in a day of fishing. Well…not quite.
On the drive out of Arenal going to Monteverde, we decided to pull over on the highway to take one last look at the lake and the smoking volcano in the horizon. We shook our heads in disbelief that we were about to leave without having the opportunity to fish such a picture perfect lake. The sun was high in the sky and it had to have been one of the hottest days of our trip. Standing there drenched in sweat, we decided that it was probably not the best use of our money to rent a boat at the hottest hour of the day. Just when we decided to go back to the car we were approached by a guy who asked us if we were interested in fishing or going for a tour of the volcano from the lake. To feed our curiosities we asked him how much he would charge for 2 hours and he quoted us $150. We knew it was literally highway robbery (since we were standing on the highway) but decided that we would go if he lowered his price to $120 (that’s $60 per person). Minutes later we were on a little fishing boat heading towards the volcano.
The calm before the storm - Lake Arenal, Costa Rica
We were out for just about 45 minutes when a severe storm came out of nowhere. It was unbelievable how a perfectly blue sky could suddenly change to a deep depressing grey. Within minutes a torrential downpour started and bolts of lightening were firing across the sky. Naturally we Canadian boys were not afraid of the rain but it seemed like the lightening was getting closer to our little boat by the minute. We could sense that our guide didn’t want to be the bearer of bad tidings but the weather was worsening by the millisecond. A loud explosion rang out from above and bright blot of lightening seemed to have hit the ground on shore about 400 meters from where we were. At this point we were officially shocked and scared knowing that we were like sitting ducks with our fishing rods pointed at the skies.
We knew that once we finished reeling in our lines it would be time to sprint for the shoreline. Denver got his lure to the boat first and I could see his purple Rapala Husky Jerk breaking the surface of the water. I reeled even faster since I didn’t want to be the one responsible for our electrocution in the middle of the lake. Before I could get my line in, I heard a loud splash near the boat. At first I thought that the lightening had finally found our boat but when I looked around I saw Denver standing there like a deer in headlights with a fish furiously flopping about on the end of his line. I don’t think that Denver knows how and when the fish hit his lure but the fact is that he had just caught his first LakeArenalMachaca.
On the long drive up north to fish lake Temiskaming (somewhere between Muskoka and North Bay) the clouds rolled in and took over the clear sky. Within minutes the rain came down and it came down hard. Justin was driving and I was sitting looking ahead of us at the heavy drops pounding against the windshield. I was so focused on the sky and the rain in front of us that I forgot to fully close my window. The rain started to come in and Justin said "You better put the window up".
The clouds roll in - view from the front seat
I snapped out of the spell that I was under, looked to my right and froze once again. This time what I saw was absolutely unbelievable. It was almost like someone had hand painted the brightest rainbow we had ever seen right into the clouds. As a matter of fact if there were ever a bucket of gold coins at the end of a rainbow, this would have been that rainbow.
The Brightest Rainbow - Or should I say rainbows (a second one above)
With the rain pelting into the window, I took out my camera to try to capture this thing of beauty. Unfortunately, even out in the middle of nowhere people need electricity so lamp posts and wires were hard to avoid when taking pictures out of the speeding car. If you ever have the opportunity to make the drive up north, keep your eyes peeled on the road and the sky because you never can predict what's around the next turn.
n. A steep headland, promontory, riverbank, or cliff.
Word origin - 1680s, from Dutch blaf “flat, broad," apparently a North Sea nautical term for ships with flat vertical bows, later extended to landscape features (taken from dictionary.com)
When doing internet research for places to fish close to Toronto, you may read about a place called ‘The Bluffs’. The Bluffs is actually the short name used by locals when referring to The Scarborough Bluffs, located on the shores of LakeOntario. The landscape was said to resemble the limestone cliffs of Britain’s first seaside resort town (Scarborough, North Yorkshire) and consequently inspired the name given to the city in 1796.
Bluffers Park Marina at about 8am
Bluffer’s Park is located at the southern end of Brimley Road where it twists, turns and descends steeply to meet LakeOntario (drive with caution). The park first opened in 1975 to answer residents’ call for more public open spaces and improved access to the lake. Among other things, the park offers scenic lookout points, a supervised beach (July and August only), public restrooms, and a public boat launch facility for recreational boaters and sailors. Families, young couples and outdoor enthusiasts flock to the park on summer afternoons to escape the hustle and bustle of Scarborough’s city streets. Paid parking is usually enforced from June to September so walk with some extra coins or a credit card to avoid being ticketed.
The Fishing:
Fall: The marina receives most of its fishing pressure from September to November when trout and salmon come into the marina for a short stay before making their way to nearby rivers to begin spawning. Anglers use many techniques but float fishing roe bags and pitching spoons like Wilson Wobblers are most commonly used. I have had a lot of success using inline spinners like the Vibrax Blue Fox (#3 or #4) and the Mepps Aguila.
Winter: The water in the marina freezes over so shore fishing is just about impossible unless we experience an unusually warm winter that extends the fishing season.
Spring: Right after the ice thaws in the spring many massive Northern Pike make their way into the marina to spawn and feed. If you already fish for pike you know that they eat just about anything in sight and are less picky eaters than other species of fish. They also tend to feed during sunny periods when bass and other fish run for cover under the shade of heavily weeded areas. Your chance of catching bigger pike is best in the spring before they return into the deeper waters when temperatures rise. They will hit your lure quite close to the shoreline where they troll up and down scooping up smaller less fortunate fish.
Northern Pike - Caught in July on a Lucky Strike soft-plastic frog
Safely released after his picture was taken
Summer: In July and August smallmouth and largemouth bass make their way into the marina. Remember these are LakeOntario bass so there is always a chance to catch your personal record when you least expect it. The bass tend to be more finicky and will often chase your lure to shore without taking it. Don’t lose hope. As an angler it is your job to figure out what they are really feeding on.
The results are in!LakeTemiskaming (New Liskeard, Ontario) is a must-fish lake if you want to catch trophy Small mouth Bass, monster Pike or over sized Walleye (Pickerel). The lake is about six hours drive north of Toronto but what’s in store is worth every minute you spend behind the wheel. If you think that Muskoka is northern Ontario, think again. Drive past Muskoka and the ‘deer crossing’ signs are replaced by moose crossing signs. Once you past North Bay all that’s left is you, Highway 11 and a few small towns that you probably have never heard of.
The stretch of highway from North Bay to New Liskeard would be exactly what every fisherman would hope heaven to be like (nothing but trees, open skies and countless lakes). Before you can jot down the name of the lake you are passing another one appears in the horizon to distract you from the last. It is almost impossible to resist pulling over at least once to try your luck in on of the picture-perfect pools that practically run onto the roadside. Unless you have the patience and restraint of Buddha your six-hour drive can easily turn into a 12-hour fishing expedition into the north. Don’t worry, the lakes aren’t going anywhere. Even if you had as many lives as a cat, you still wouldn’t have enough time to cover all of the lakes in this region.
More on fishing Temiskaming to follow…..
Classic Lake Temiskaming Small Mouth
Tube jiggin - A 13 ft hump in the middle of Temiskaming
Oxymoron - A really big smallie
Double Header - Caught on spinner baits (late afternoon)
Bass Angler Justin with another smallie - Average size on Temiskaming
Evening Walleye (Pickerel)
On the troll - patiently waiting for the rod to whip forward
The Niagara Whirlpool fishing expedition was very eventful for several reasons but the highlight of the day’s fishing has to be when Justin hooked into an elusive muskie (only three feet from shore). He was using dark green tube jigs to target Small Mouth Bass when unexpectedly a muskie followed the jig all the way to the shore. After about two minutes of fighting, the fish of 10,000 casts won the bout and escaped into the rapids only a few feet away. Naturally Justin was very disappointed since this is the second time that a muskie has managed to escape him down in the whirlpool.
Does this mean that he now has to cast out his line 10,000 more time before hooking into another muskie?
Niagara Falls Trout - Caught on a Vibrax Blue Fox #3
This weekend’s adventure takes us to the Niagara Whirlpool on the Canadian side of the majestic Niagara Falls. The Whirlpool is a section of the Niagara River where it makes a sharp right-angled turn and water circulates in a counterclockwise direction (most dramatically from November to April). The whirlpool reaches depths of up to 120 ft (38 m) and water rushes through its rapids at about 30 miles per hour. If this doesn’t spell danger, what does? The reward of being a true gladiator of the outdoors and facing the obvious trenchers of the whirlpool is a chance to catch really big fish. Depending on the time of year, you can catch everything from Smallmouth Bass, Trout, Carp and even the fish of 10,000 casts Muskie!
View of the Whirlpool in June
Just two years ago if you wanted to fish the shores of the Niagara Falls Whirlpool you had to prepare yourself for a treacherous hike down a narrow unpaved trail and a proper pair of hiking boots would have been strongly recommended. Today there is a wooden staircase that you can take halfway down the trail (the rest of the journey is a pretty easy hike to the shoreline). Anyone in average shape (whatever that means these days) can make it down to the bottom of the gorge in about ten minutes. Climbing back uphill is a bit more challenging and will surely put the burn on your quads. With that being said, the scenery is absolutely beautiful so put on a pair of shoes with reliable grip, do a quick warm-up stretch and start hiking. Just remember that although the installation of stairs may have made the hike down less dangerous, the whirlpool is just as furious as it was before the stairs.
New stairway installed to make whirlpool more accessable
Although Niagara is famed for being one of the top honeymoon destinations in the world, this trip will be no romantic escapade (unless of course you count our love for fishing and the outdoors). We will trade in our hotel room for a tent which we will setup on a small ridge about 60 feet from the water. Our bathroom will be the safari toilets located a few feet from our four star lodging. Camping out in the gorge will give us the opportunity to take our first cast right when the sun is rising. This is also the best time to catch the monster Muskie that come closer to shore for an easy breakfast meal. Naturally, there is a myriad of hotels, motels and inns close by if you prefer a bit more comfort.
Fishing the whirlpool in the heart of winter
Check back for pictures, videos and sound bites of this adventure. In our upcoming posts we will provide some lure recommendations and potential hotspots around the whirlpool where you can go for the big one. Be sure to visit www.twitter.com/fishtalker for an up to the minute update of our spills and thrills.
Real Fishing Magazine (Winter 2011) - Explosions from Arenal Article
