Jurassic Lake Rainbows - Jurassic Lake Lodge
Giant Argentina Rainbows
Trip Recap by Guy Schoenborn
Trip Date: December 4-11, 2021
Twelve anglers, including myself, had another fabulous week at Jurassic Lake Lodge this past December, where most of our anglers caught their largest rainbow trout ever.
Ed Frink landed a 22-pounder, Dave Holecek landed a 20.5-pounder and a 22-pounder, and Herb Fritch landed a 21-pounder. (Herb also landed one over 22 pounds the prior week.) The group landed many other rainbows between 15 and 19 pounds. Some of our anglers landed between 50 and 100 rainbows each day, averaging 8-10 pounds.
Flies: The best flies proved to be black or olive balanced leeches, white mop flies, scuds, assorted nymphs, and 8mm orange beads. We had a few days with little or no wind where we were successful with foam-style dry flies. We even landed some on skated mouse patterns. On some of the windier days, Ed Frink and Carl Huhnke did well in the Bay of Pigs using Spey rods, stripping balanced leeches and mop flies.
Successful Method: Most of our bows were caught while stripping very slowly with longer leaders on a floating line or while using a fly under an indicator.
It's a great trip when everyone goes home happy, and our anglers did. If they didn't break their personal best, it was because they'd landed a larger rainbow on a previous trip to Jurassic Lake.
Join our 2025 Hosted Week.
7-nights and 6-days guided fishing $8,000.00 per person
December 4-13, 2025 with Host Guy Schoenborn
We may also be able to find you space in non-hosted weeks, but don't wait too long to make a decision.
If you want to set a fishing date with the best rainbow of your life, contact Guy Schoenborn or Brad Staples.
Call 1-800-205-3474
Hosted Trip Report for 2018
by Guy Schoenborn
Trip Date: December 8-15, 2018
All photos by Meng Syn.Wow, what a trip! It’s hard to imagine landing 50 or more rainbows over 10 pounds in one week, anywhere on this planet. Without a doubt, Jurassic Lake Lodge is the best fishery in the world for monster rainbows. I landed four bows that were 15-16 pounds and even landed a 10-pounder on a 3-weight. Steve Sakamaki, who is 86-years-young, landed a bow over 20 pounds.
Travel Days to the Lodge
We flew to Buenos Aires on the evening of December 6th and arrived in Buenos Aires on the morning of the 7th. We took a taxi to the domestic airport (Jorge Newberry Aeroparque) for our afternoon flight to Comodoro Rivadavia (now El Calafate 2021), where we overnighted. Give yourself three to four hours for the transfer from the international airport to the domestic airport in Buenos Aires. Traffic can be horrible.
From the domestic airport, we took a 2-hour and 15-minute connecting flight to Comodoro Rivadavia, where we were met by Jurassic Lake Lodge staff and transferred to our hotel for the night. The next morning, they drove us to the airport for
our charter flight to the Lodge’s new airstrip. The flight is 75-90 minutes, depending on the plane and weather. The guides met us at the airstrip and drove us to the Lodge, a 15-minute drive.
Day of Arrival
We had a nice breakfast, unpacked our gear, rigged rods, and went fishing after lunch. Most of the first day is unguided. The guides did come down late in the day to show us some of their secrets. On the first day, we were free to fish wherever we wanted. The rest of the week, we fished assigned beats with our guides. We fished two or three anglers per guide and rotated guides and beats every morning and afternoon.
Four Different Beats
During the week, we fished four different beats; River Mouth Right (the right side of the Barrancoso River looking downstream and 100 yards of the lake), River Mouth Left, Bay of Pigs, and the River Pool. Both River Mouth Left and Right were excellent using beadhead pheasant tails, beadhead prince nymphs, rubber-legged Copper Johns in red, copper, or green, wooly buggers in olive or black with or without rubber legs. We stripped these very slowly with a floating line and 9 to 12-foot leaders with a 12 to 20-pound fluorocarbon tippet. We did well with an indicator using the flies listed above and using 8mm plastic beads in orange or red colorations. At the Bay of Pigs, the methods listed above worked well except for the beads. We were not allowed to fish beads in the river - this is a Lodge rule as they are too effective. But all the other techniques worked well in the river, with or without an indicator.
River Mouth Right
River Mouth Right and Left were very consistent every day. We caught lots of bows in these two beats ranging from a pound up to 20-pounds. The area right at the mouth had the largest numbers and a variety of sizes. If you moved away from the mouth, you caught fewer but bigger fish on average. Photo below: Meng Syn playing a rainbow.
Sample Itinerary and Meals
At 8:00 a.m., a breakfast of bacon and eggs cooked-to-order, plus pastries, cereal, juice, coffee, and tea. We fished from 9:00 until 12:30 and had a hot lunch at 1:00 p.m. You could fish unguided after lunch in your assigned afternoon beat, and then at 4:00 p.m., the guides would join you.
You can fish as late as 8:30 p.m., return to the Lodge, and freshen up before dinner at 9:00 p.m. Over the course of the week, we had prime rib, chicken, barbequed steak, lamb, and pasta. The barbequed flank steak was the best piece of beef I've ever eaten. Overall, the meals were very good.
Lodge Readerboard
Steve and Meng - Jurassic Lake double
Bay of Pigs is totally weather-dependent. If there is too much wind, it is almost impossible to fish. If that’s the case, you can fish the river between the mouth and the river pool. If the Bay of Pigs is fishable, there is usually a large school of rainbows visible within casting distance. Some of them are huge. One afternoon, Meng Syn and I caught about 25 rainbows, most were between 10 and 15-pounds. We saw one giant that was easily over 20-pounds.
The River Pool in the right water flows has bows almost stacked on top of each other. Most of the fish are under 10-pounds, but some can reach 15-pounds.
Dry Flies, nymphs, and streamers are all effective. The River Pool puts out great numbers of rainbows.
Guide and Steve Sakamaki (86-years-young)
Doctor Meng Syn with Jurassic Lake rainbow.
Check out Dr. Meng Syn’s videos of our hosted trip. They capture how incredible Jurassic Lake Lodge’s fishery truly is.
5:48 Vimeo Video
- Jurassic Lake.
A 7:22 Vimeo Video of Steve Sakamaki's trip here by Meng Syn.
Join us for the best giant rainbow fishing in the world. Don't wait; these spots won't last long.
2024 and 2025 Hosted Weeks:
7-nights and 6-days guided fishing
$8,000.00 per person
• Dec. 5-14, 2024: Guy hosts - SOLD-OUT
• Dec. 4-13, 2025: Guy Schoenborn hosts
Click here for Jurassic Lake Lodge's main page.
You are not limited to our hosted weeks. Provided there are openings, we can book the Lodge for a time that works best for you. Please contact us with any questions you may have.
Guy Schoenborn
1 (800) 205-3474 ext. 1
Email: guy@fishingwithlarry.com
Brad Staples 1 (800) 205-3474 ext. 3
Cell (503) 250-0558
Email: brad@fishingwithlarry.com