t took me a moment  to realize the slurping sounds comingfrom all around the boat was from risingtrout. It had been an unsatisfyingmorning of trolling flatfish and flies. I was anchored just off the sunken island, directly in front of Tunkwa Lake Resort, and had nearly given up catching a fish for supper.  But now I was onto something. Immediately after tying on a Tom Thumb and flipping it near the weed bed, a bright two-and-a-half pound rainbow cartwheeled into the air and came to the net. After another cast and another fish, I had plenty for dinner and one to bring home. I brought up the anchor and rowed as quickly as I could back to shore to load my two daughters, Samantha and Kaitlin, into the boat. They just had to see this. Any discernable hatch at Tunkwa was rare, so to see trout boiling all around the island and chasing emerging caddis was a sight worth seeing.

Unfortunately, in typical Tunkwa Lake fashion, the 20 minutes it took for me to get back to the weed bed was long enough for the hatch to end. No matter what I did, none of the trout were enticed to strike.  “Gee, Dad,” said Katie.  “I thought you said the fishing was hot. This is just like it was this morning.”That’s Tunkwa Lake for you: brief periods of intense and spectacular fishing, with hours and hours of hard work to raise a fish.

Tunkwa is one of the many lakes in the south Cariboo region that has become easily accessible with the opening of the Coquihalla Highway, just three and a half hours north of Vancouver, on all paved roads. That’s a real treat if you are used to bushwhacking your way into some of the more remote fishing camps of BC's Interior. The easy access does not mean this lake is over-fished or even easily fished. It is packed  with trophy-sized rainbows. 

Written by Roger M. Brunt