The first weeks after the ice sets on Red Lake are the ones people drive up out of the Tranquille valley for. That is when the lake gives up its fat
brook trout through the ice, the fish it is famous for. Come back in May and the same water is a chironomid lake, with rainbows nosing up onto a shallow point at the far end.
The lake sits on the plateau north of Kamloops Lake, in ranch country, and a narrows pinches it in two. The south end holds the launch, the campsite road and a pair of log cabins. The north end is quieter, with a shallow point running out between the narrows and the far shore.
Start in the south bay by the launch. It has a name as the brook trout bay, and in spring the brookies there take a chironomid pupa lightly but steadily. The bay in front of the cabins, a little way along the shore, fishes much the same.
The point beyond the narrows is for rainbows, and for patience. Chironomids hatch off that shallow ground in spring and the rainbows come up onto it to feed, but they can be scattered, and a good session there can still mean hours between takes. It is the part of the lake worth learning slowly.
Away from the bays, brook trout spread right through the lake, and when the shallows go quiet a fly trolled slowly behind a canoe or small boat will find them. This is the water to cover in the fall, when the lake wakes up again after a slow summer, and it is the same water you will stand over in winter with an auger.
When the plateau has had its turn, Pass and Isobel lakes wait on the far side of the Tranquille, up the Lac du Bois Road at the top of the grasslands.
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 in the bays or off the point and hang one chironomid pupa near the bottom, either on a long leader under an indicator or straight down on a sinking line. Work the fly up through the water in steps until you find the depth the fish are feeding at. If you keep a fish, look at what it has been eating and match the colour and size of your pupa to it.
If the pupa goes untouched, change to the Zucchini, then to the chromie. When nothing is rising and you can’t find fish at anchor, troll a fly slowly until you get a take, then anchor there. The province allows one fly on a line, so change flies rather than adding one.
Through the ice the rules allow one line with one lure or one artificial fly. Jig a single small fly and keep moving it until the brook trout show you their depth.
Access and safety
From the north side of Kamloops, follow Tranquille Road past the airport and onto the gravel through the Tranquille valley, past ranches and through the ecological reserve, where fishing is prohibited. The road then climbs steeply toward the plateau. From the junction with the Copper Creek Road the lake is about ten minutes farther on a backroad, roughly 40 minutes from town in all; carry a backroad map. Ranch land lines the way, and you may not enter posted or private land without permission.
The recreation site has campsites and a public boat launch near the south end of the lake, but its access road is very rough, so bring a vehicle with clearance. The two log cabins near the south end are rented to anglers. Most fishing is done from a boat; without one, cabin guests fish from the floating dock. Dogs stay on leash.