Jacko sits low in the open range south-west of Kamloops, among sage and bunchgrass, so it loses its ice before the high lakes do and fishes well almost as soon as it opens. In the shallow bays the chironomids come off nearly every day in spring, and the trout come up onto the tule edges to meet them. It has been a fishing lake since at least the 1950s, and it can still grow a rainbow past ten pounds, though most run far smaller.
The lake is a basin with several bays off it, and the bays are where you fish. A dark, soft bottom slopes gently out from the reeds and then drops away fairly close to shore into water deep enough that the lake doesn’t winterkill. Three parts are worth knowing: the shallow north end, the drop-offs along the shore, and two bays with names of their own.
Start in the north bay in spring. It is shallow and warms early, and it is where the hatch shows first. Hang a chironomid pupa under an indicator just off the reeds.
The drop-offs are the evening water. When the light goes off the grass, trout move up to the edge where the shelf falls away, and a leech or a nymph cast in toward the shore and brought back over the lip has long done well here. Low elevation and hot summers make this a spring and autumn lake: on a July afternoon the fish go deep and stay there.
Of the named bays, one is called Mine Bay, a long-standing spot for local anglers. The other, Outlet Bay, holds the small dam built in the early 1950s for irrigation. Fish it as the guest you are.
When Jacko goes flat at noon, the same road keeps climbing toward Lac Le Jeune and the cooler lakes above it, and a short drive south-east across the hills is Edith, higher up and with a campground on its shore.
Fish in this water
Each fish is rated by its strongest evidence. A rating says how sure we are a fish is here, not how many there are, whether it is worth fishing for or whether you may keep it.
Likely
Older records here, recent stocking, a local guide or fly shop, a guide listing, or recent records on connected water nearby.
How to fish it
Anchor on the edge of the shelf with a floating line, an indicator and one chironomid pupa, size 16 to 12, in black, brown or green. Set it just off the bottom and lift it a little at a time until you find the fish. If the indicator stays still for twenty minutes, change to a black and red micro leech under the same rig, or to a caddis larva in pale yellow or brown. In the evening, swap the indicator for a slow-sinking line and a leech, cast toward the reeds and retrieve slowly back over the drop. Remember that BC allows one fly on the line: change the fly, not the number.
The lake sits in open country and the wind can shut it down entirely. On a blowing day, fish the bay that is sheltered and give up the rest.
Access and safety
From Kamloops, head west on Highway 1 and turn south onto Lac Le Jeune Road. About ten minutes on, a signed junction leads east on a dirt road of a kilometre or two to the lake. It is bumpy and rutted; a high-clearance or four-wheel-drive vehicle is the easier choice. There is a day-use site with a gravel boat launch and no camping, and every other service is back in town. The bays are shallow and soft-bottomed, so a small boat, pontoon or float tube is the way to reach the drop-offs. Wind comes up hard across the open grass, so keep a tube or small boat close to shore when it builds.