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[halcyonguitars]

Apparently Tunkwa just got hit by lightning, so everything is up in the air about that.

Can anyone suggest some alternatives in the area? GF needs to be in Kamloops every day so it needs to be close.

Hopefully somewhere with good shore access...

[Damien]

How about Roche and the lakes immediately surrounding it?

They have boat rentals on Roche as well.

[Rieber]

Apparently Tunkwa just got hit by lightning, so everything is up in the air about that.

Can anyone suggest some alternatives in the area? GF needs to be in Kamloops every day so it needs to be close.

Hopefully somewhere with good shore access...

What do you mean "everything is up in the air about that" - did all the fish die? Did someone get killed? Did the resort close? Is the lake closed? If there are thunder storms do you still go fishing?

Is the storm over and can you go back to fishing? If lightning hits one lake then surely it can hit other bodies of water.

Is this an emergency? I'm missing something - why can't you fish Tunkwa after a lightning strike? If there is a lightning storm you sit the storm out and resume fishing once the threat is gone?

[GordJ]

Halcyon remember not to become a grumpy old man when you get old. I spoke to people who had a really good day fishing Tunkwa yesterday, the fire is out or under control and all is well there. Call up and have them confirm but I wouldn’t worry about it.

[bobby b]

Tunkwa should be fine...weather permitting . Roche is an option but still subject to weather.

I fished Tunkwa yesterday. The day started out super calm, fishing was pretty good between 8-10am ...small tan/brown chronies worked for me.
 The sky started to darken fast and the winds picked up, time to head in... As we were heading off the lake back to the dock, lightning struck in the woods, across the lake from the resort (just northwest of the day use area).

 Back on land, smoke could now be seen rising from the spot.
Resort staff immediately reported the strike to authorities.
By the time aircraft started to drop retardant on it the fire was raging. By the time I left at 9pm the fire was still flaring up in spots.

Fished from shore for a while too.. had great results floating a balanced leech. Caught more fish from shore than I did from the boat!

Lots of fish jumping ....they did not all die... 



 

[Al P.]

All’s good up there. Have a look on the Resort webcam, it’s pointed rightclose to where the lightning strike hit.

[Rieber]

I knew there must have been more to the story. The problem wasn't that lightning hit the water - it was because lightning struck near the lake and caused a fire. Okay then, a close proximity fire could be cause for concern but it appears to be under control at least until winds pick up.

Definitely good to be cautious with fires, dry conditions and recent windy afternoons - especially with the kids in tow.

I understood that lightning hit the water and you were concerned about that being that you're floating around in an aluminum frying pan. I'm not interested in finding out the consequences of sitting in a metal boat while on a lake that gets hit by lightening. The thought of that doen't appeal to me.

[Wiseguy]

I fished Tunkwa once about 15 yrs ago. No interest to go there again. I'm guessing it's a lot more crowded now?

[bobby b]

Crowded?!

Not at all crowded on Wednesday.....only saw about 6 -7 other boats on the lake while I was fishing.

[Quin]

Well, there's Leighton 
If you have questions about Tunkwa, just contact the resort - https://www.tunkwalakeresort.com/
They usually have lots of info on other local lakes as well. Great Web Cam, too!

[Old Blue]

I've fished a lot of small lakes where if you see one to 3 other people you get annoyed and if there's one of them in a tinny you're pissed because they/ve spent the time to get it in there and you have to listen to the slap slap slap. 

Tunkwa is such a fun lake that I haven't cared that there was 60-70 boats because of the size and contour you can get away from people.  There's so many fish you can find your little paradise and get into excellent action for extremely hard fighting fish.  No there's not hogs except once in a while but very aggressive drag pulling fish that think they are bigger than they are.

If they're off the chronies just troll a damsel or black/blue or green flash leach size 12 on different contour lines and you'll still get action.  Go get em and enjoy Tunkwa

[halcyonguitars]

Thanks Folks,

Yes, my concern was indeed the wildfire there, which is what I meant about everything being up in the air as I was not sure if the lake would be offside/off limits while it was dealt with.

Fortunately, it was business as usual as the fire was under control quite quickly.

Went up Thursday night and it was a beautiful night.

Friday was supposed to be rain, but it was a beautiful day as well, until suddenly it wasn't. We were on the rental boat watching everybody head in as we went back to camp for dinner when the skies opened up and we had horizontal rain. Scrambled to find a dry spot for our clothes and such as the 'shelter' we bought was woefully inadequate and kept collapsing in the wind, so I gave up on it, put on my waders and putted the boat back to the resort where I had a fun time docking it in the wind rain and waves, this being the second time I've driven a boat since I was a kid. But I got it done.

Fled back to camp and loaded up the jeep with everything that needed to be dry, cranked the heater, had crackers cheese and wine while warming up in the leather armchairs. After some time the deluge settled down to tolerable drizzle, so we got the fire going and had a good laugh about being financially prudent with our 'shelter'. Some things are probably worth the extra 50$, lol!

Saturday, the nieces and nephews came out to fish with the rest of the fandam. Took them out on the boat for a few hours where basically no fishing occurred, but I  got absolutely schooled on the Creation of Impossible Knots and Tangles, their skill set being unparalleled in that endeavour. But a lot of laughs regardless. I have to give props to the tourism rod loan program, two thumbs up!

Sunday morning I had the boat to myself and had a quiet, relaxing session which was very enjoyable.

Overall, I got one off the dock with worms on Friday, two on chironimids and one off a black gnat dry fly on Saturday, and two more off the boat with chironimids on Sunday, which for me was pretty good fishing.

Will be back next year with better wet weather gear!

[sbc hris]

Sounds like a great adventure, thanks for the report!