Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: halcyonguitars on June 13, 2016, 10:16:02 PM
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I'm going to visit Tunkwa lake sometime soon.
What kind of setup do I need? I have an A&N 'Catch more fish' 40$ combo which has been great for rice lake and such with 2lb line, but I wonder if that is strong enough for some of the potentially bigger fish there?
I also have a 4wt flyrod with floating line. What strength tippet is good enough?
Thanks in advance...
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The 4wt should be a nice setup for Tunkwa. 3-6lb tippet would be a good start. According to the resort reports they are getting them on all sorts of things. Chironomid, leeches, damsels etc.
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2lb line is quite underweight for Tunkwa. I would steer clear of using that combo.
As DanL says, the 4wt is adequate and with a floating line will be versatile. I'd stick with 5lb+ tippet if it were me.
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You will be in for some battles with those set ups for sure. Potentially with broken gear and overly played out fish. I was just there and as always, 3lb trout in and around the weedbeds can be a handful even with a 5 weight and/or a medium-light spinning outfit with 6lb line. Your 4 weight fly and light weight spin outfits will be stressed (particularly as I gather they are not high quality to begin with).
I'm sure you'll be fine with what you have, but it would make for a better situation with SLIGHTLY more robust gear.
My .02$
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Thanks,
The trouble is I have no intermediary steps between my toy trout rods and the salmon outfits, and I can't justify buying more new stuff for a one off.
Does it make a difference that the 4wt has 5wt line? It's a Pieroway, so a decent rod that was a gift I'd rather not break. Next step up I have is a 7wt switch and an 8wt switch rod with a Rio switchchucker. Pretty sure it's meant for rivers, not lakes.
Next step up in spin casters is the 8'6" 10-20 salmon/steelhead rods with 20lb test, which seems entirely overkill. Not sure, is it harmful to the fish to overpower them by that much?
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Mainline and leader/tippet are two different things.
The mainline will put up with more abuse.
Your leader/tippet will be (should be) the breaking point and determine how hard you play the fish.
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Halcyon, it's not whether the fly line is heavy enough, but rather whether the rod can handle the larger trout in that lake and not overtire them before releasing.
A 5 wt. line has virtually no effect on the breaking point (your tippet would break first), but rather it would be like adding more weight to your spinning outfit. The 5 wt. line might help you cast farther, but it will be less delicate and possibly overpower the rod if it is too heavy. If you can cast with the 4 wt. line, there would be no need to go heavier. (I happen to have my lines 1 line weight heavier to compensate for my poor casting form. Sort of a permanent Band-Aid solution).
As for leader tippet, might I suggest some 6 lb. fluorocarbon; it's less visible underwater so you can go heavier. If you go much heavier, you might not be able to thread it through the eye of some of your smaller flies.
Have a great trip!
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and I can't justify buying more new stuff for a one off.
I couldn't fathom not having a medium/light decent spinning 7 or 8 foot outfit at the ready. I can't see this as being a one off living in BC.
I have a bucket load of them for tossing spoons and spinners at pinks and coho as well as using them for trout, kokanee, bass and whatever else is around. Any fish in the 2-8lb fighting weight class, this is my go-to rig.
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Damien, what is the line rating of what you consider a medium/light rod? Cause I have a few that I use for coho/pink, maybe I already have what I need...
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What pieroway rod is it? If It is the 10' 4wt Tactical (or any tactical) you shouldn't have a problem.
People will be surprised, but you can bring an extraordinary size of fish in with light rods. However you have to be able to put the wood to the fish and if they want to run, let them! Otherwise you will break off/break your rod. if you are using 4x or 5x tippet the tippet will break first. I would advise against 3x and definitely avoid anything 2x or larger.
For example, here are some fish I have landed with 3#'s.
5x tippet (7'6" Echo Carbon)
(http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/ag110/djt41020/P1010511_zpszupsmutr.jpg) (http://s1301.photobucket.com/user/djt41020/media/P1010511_zpszupsmutr.jpg.html)
(http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/ag110/djt41020/P1010501_zpsosamgqhn.jpg) (http://s1301.photobucket.com/user/djt41020/media/P1010501_zpsosamgqhn.jpg.html)
4x tippet (this rod is about a 2# tip with a 4/5# butt section*)
(http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/ag110/djt41020/20150915_151237_zpsuryvqted.jpg) (http://s1301.photobucket.com/user/djt41020/media/20150915_151237_zpsuryvqted.jpg.html)
(http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/ag110/djt41020/20150915_161508_zpsgcnnkxqn.jpg) (http://s1301.photobucket.com/user/djt41020/media/20150915_161508_zpsgcnnkxqn.jpg.html)
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I got a spool of 8lb leader for the spin caster (8-14lb rating I think) which will have to suffice even if it's overkill, and some 4x tippet for the fly rod which says its 6.4lb test. If this trip is like most of my trips, it won't matter anyway, for a fish that bites not, breaks no leader...;)
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I'd get your butt up there it's prime time right now. Good luck!
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That'll work well.
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Just updated a report for Tunkwa on the website.
http://www.fishingwithrod.com/fishing_report/tunkwa_lake.html
For spinning, I go as light as I can at Tunkwa. This year I have been using a Gloomis IMX spinning rod, 5' long and rated 1 to 4lb, it's the lightest ultralight spinning rod I've had so far. Just casting and retrieving a 1/16oz Croc got us into some very nice fish, and you can still put lots of pressure on it and get the fish in quickly if necessary. It's a fairly pricey rod, another alternative I like is Daiwa's Spinmatic-C, 6', rated 1-4lb.
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Are waders of any use up there for shore fishing?
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If you have full access to a boat there is no point. But if that is limited then I guess you could wade out a bit from the provincial camping area. Even better, wade out around the day use launch. Some fishy water around that little point.
PM if you want some other tidbits. I posted a few pics in the Tunkwa report from BB.
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We are contemplating renting a boat or canoe there, but no firm decision yet. We'll see what the money is like...
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No waders needed, unless you want to keep warm on a windy rainy day. The shoreline along Tunkwa Lake Resort is fishable. You have direct access to water up to 15ft within casting range, and catching fish is very possible throughout the day. You can also stand on the floating dock and cast out. We caught plenty of them by casting and retrieving a 1/16oz Croc in April and May in front of the cabins.
At the Provincial campground, there is a newly installed dock by GoFishBC which you can fish from too.
The shoreline along the day use area is also good.
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Thanks everyone!
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Well, that was a blast!
Flyfished near our campsite Friday night but only caught a few teeny tiny baitfish, like sardine sized things that swam away again.
Saturday, slept in, then went to the resort and rented a boat. I got some worms for the GF to fish with and set her up. Hand her the rod, she casts, I go to put the flyrod together and before I got the rod wraps off, her bobber was gone and she pulled in a lunker just under 3lb. It was the biggest rainbow I'd ever seen. So I put the flyrod down and switched to worms as well, and in under five minutes, I caught a big rainbow too, 19.5", pretty fun! We caught a couple smaller ones too, then looked at the amount of fish we had and called it a day in around 2 hrs...
It's nice to actually catch something from time to time!
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;)
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How did your gear work for you?
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Well, technically, quite well. The overkill 8-14 Salmon rods made child's play of the 1-3 lb fishies.i wold go,agaiaionlll
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No love for my PM tip?
Glad you got into some. It can be a TOUGH lake at times.
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Well, that was a blast!
Flyfished near our campsite Friday night but only caught a few teeny tiny baitfish, like sardine sized things that swam away again.
Saturday, slept in, then went to the resort and rented a boat. I got some worms for the GF to fish with and set her up. Hand her the rod, she casts, I go to put the flyrod together and before I got the rod wraps off, her bobber was gone and she pulled in a lunker just under 3lb. It was the biggest rainbow I'd ever seen. So I put the flyrod down and switched to worms as well, and in under five minutes, I caught a big rainbow too, 19.5", pretty fun! We caught a couple smaller ones too, then looked at the amount of fish we had and called it a day in around 2 hrs...
It's nice to actually catch something from time to time!
Two coho in one afternoon. A 19.5' trout. Slow down and leave some fish for the rest of us! :)
Seriously, nice to see you getting into fish. You've put in a lot of effort, asked a lot of questions, and had a lot of fishless outings to get there. Congrats.
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Damien,
Definitely! I thought that was taken for granted with the bobber and worm mention:)
Clarki,
I have definitely been fishing at long odds just for practice and fun. It is nice to be able to say 'yes' upon returning home instead of 'it was still fun...'.
And for the coho, it's was certainly illuminating to see the rain/River level/high tide aspects work just like a textbook scenario.
Thanks everyone for all the tips!