Our next adventure takes us to Tunkwa Lake Resort for four days of blistering heat, classic campfire meals and some Chironomid action. We also get to test out the new Gazelle Tent, smoke a few nice cigars and meet up with a good friend on the water.
Tunkwa Lake is located just west of Kamloops, British Columbia. The resort itself holds 18 small rustic cabins and two larger luxury cabins. There are 24 campsites (10 of which are lakefront), plus some other spots which seem to be rented out annually. We were lucky enough to get one of the lakefront campsites without any neighbours camped beside us, which made those tight camping spots seem a little more spacious.
Our journey to Tunkwa begins the same way as most fly fishing trips. As per tradition, we make a pitstop just off the highway to the Triple O’s and slam down a quick burger – hell ya! The drive is around 4 hours from Vancouver, which flies by pretty quick when you're hopped up on AC/DC. We arrived at Tunkwa Lake Resort late in the evening and set up the tent with a head lamp.
In the morning, we unpack the rest of our gear and get the boat ready to launch. With the sun already beating down on us, we get a better view of the resort grounds. It really is a beautiful spot, well maintained, water hook-ups with showers and toilets. Yeah that’s right, no outhouses or having to do your business in the woods. This is complete and utter luxury compared to our normal fly fishing trips in the bush. I’ll admit, it’s a nice break from time to time.
The lake is bordered by an overwhelming amount of small bays and long stretches of bulrushes -- real “fishy-looking” areas. It’s a shallow lake and there weren't too many large drop off points. For the most part the water depth was marked at 10-14 ft deep and seemed only to slowly taper off from there. The lake is famous for its Chironomid hatches, especially the large Chironomid pupa better known as the bomber hatch. During the bomber hatch Chironomid pupa can reach the same size as a #10-12 hook, crazy I know. This tends to happen a little later in the year and we missed it by a few weeks. Regardless, we had a great time and got into some nice fish.
Tunkwa Lake did not disappoint, it’s such an incredibly beautiful spot. To the folks at Tunkwa Lake, we thank you for having us and we can’t wait to come back soon.
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Until next time, FISH ON!
