The rainbow runner, known to some Bonaire anglers as the macarela, is the neon torpedo of the leeward blue. Electric blue and gold down its flanks, built like a stretched arrow, this is a fish that turns a quiet drift into a screaming reel in a heartbeat. It is not the biggest fish you will hook off Kralendijk, but pound for pound few pull harder and on light tackle it gives you everything it has.
What the rainbow runner is
Elagatis bipinnulata is a slender, surface-loving member of the jack family that roams warm offshore water worldwide. The look is unmistakable: a metallic blue back, a vivid lateral stripe of blue and gold and a forked tail made for speed. Most we boat run 5 to 15 lb, with the occasional bruiser pushing toward 20 lb. They travel in fast, hungry packs and when a school finds the boat the action comes thick and quick.
Where you find them on Bonaire
Off Bonaire the deep blue lies astonishingly close. The west reef wall drops away within nine or ten metres of shore and true blue water sits inside a mile of the dock, so we are over fish minutes after leaving the marina. Rainbow runners hold around the FADs a few miles out, along offshore structure and over the deep reef edges where bait stacks up. Find the bait, find the runners. They follow it and so do we.
Best season for rainbow runner
Sea temperatures here sit at a steady 26 to 28°C all year, so rainbow runners are present every month of the calendar. There is no closed season and no dead spell, only shifting peaks as bait moves through. Expect strong runs whenever the FADs are holding life, which is most of the year. Turn up any month and there is a real chance of a school lighting up the spread.
How we fish it
We work rainbow runners two ways. Trolling small skirts and feathers near the surface at around seven knots along the dropoff covers ground and tempts the roaming packs. When a school shows, we switch to casting, throwing lures and stickbaits right into the boil and ripping them across the top. Both methods stay near the surface, where these fish hunt. Tackle, bait and drinks are all included, so you step aboard at Kralendijk and just fish.
The fight
This is where the rainbow runner earns its keep. Hook one on light tackle and the first run is electric, long, fast and stubborn, with that torpedo body using every bit of current. They dig and circle near the surface, testing your drag and your knots the whole way. On a school day you can be hooked up again and again, six anglers laughing and winding, the cockpit alive. It is some of the most fun light-tackle fishing Bonaire offers.
On the plate
The rainbow runner is fine light-tackle eating, clean, firm white meat that takes well to the grill or a fresh ceviche. Keep one for the table if you fancy it and release the rest to keep the schools strong. For anglers chasing bigger meat fish, it also makes superb live or cut bait for the predators prowling the same water, like wahoo and the hard-charging amberjack.
Book your Bonaire rainbow runner trip
Want fast, light-tackle action minutes from the dock? Rainbow runners are on the cards all year and a school day is pure fun for everyone aboard. Trips carry up to six anglers from Kralendijk, with all tackle, bait and drinks included. Book your fishing trip and feel that neon torpedo light up your reel.
