Start Of The 2018 Season…. Odell Lake
With fishing reports not being very positive this year at Odell Lake, and with June being inconsistent at times the wife and I decided to pre-fish the lake before our first guided trip of the year. We started our morning on the east end of the lake and headed west. I wasn’t marking very many fish until we hit Gull Point where we got our first fish of the morning. By the time we had made it to Breezy point we were really questioning what was going on, as we were only 1 for 5 at 9:00am. I decided to keep going west even though I hate fishing in the crowds but it didn’t take very long and we were marking a ton of fish. My Garmin unit was solid fish but nothing was biting and the wind was starting to pick up. I had heard reports that the jig bite was slow but all the fish were coming right off the bottom of the lake so I decided to “GO DEEP” and fish right off the bottom. As soon as I dropped my gear to 110 feet we got a double and soon after a triple and with-in an hour we caught another 12. I felt confident that if we started our day in the west bay I could catch enough fish and with reports coming in that evening of very few fish being caught and that the bite really shut off at 9:00am I was feeling good.
We started our day at 5:00am in the west bay and we had a hard time even getting our gear in the water. The West bay was alive with fish jumping all over the place. I will warn you most of the fish we caught on the surface were next year’s fish and the ones jumping looked small. So we stuck to fishing deep 80 to 110 feet. We had a great time with Betsy and Joe on our boat and ended our day at 9:30am with 30 kokanee and released about another 10. Pink and Orange Super Mysis bugs with Gold and Silver Arrow Flash dodgers got it done for us. Troll speed was 1.2mph with Pro-Cure Garlic Sand Shrimp and Ocean Mess being our top corn scents. The fish are running smaller than last year but It looks like there is more feed in the lake than last year because of the warm spring we are having. So they should be nice sized by July.
After cleaning the fish we caught I talked Debbie into going Mackinaw fishing in the East Bay. With the fantastic weather and no wind I was expecting a relaxing boat ride with the wife and our dogs. I went out to the 120-foot line and started marking Mack’s right off the bottom. I had picked up some smaller Mag Lips in Gold and Black that I thought they looked like a white fish. Odell Lake has native Mountain White Fish that is the favorite food source for Mack’s. We just got the rods in the water and we were ON! We fished for one hour had hooked five Mack’s three smaller ones and two really nice ones before the wind really picked up. We went 4 for 5 using my Lamiglas XCC 762 UL-GH kokanee rods showing everyone they are soft enough to catch kokanee but you still have enough control to land a “Monster”. We released the four Mack’s we caught because it takes them forever to get to that size and they keep my kokanee population healthy.
We had trips planned for Saturday and Sunday but a cold front was supposed to come in Friday night so we rescheduled our trips and got home before the snow and cold rain came in. It’s crazy but remember this lake is at 4700 feet and the snow can fall in July so make sure you keep an eye on the wind and weather. I always check it out daily so I don’t get caught in a situation I don’t want to be in. Also the cabins and campsites are booking out fast at Odell Lake Resort so if you planning a trip this year book ASAP. “(541) 433-2540” Fishing should be fantastic July thru September and with the amount of fish I was marking there are plenty for everyone to fill a freezer or two.
See you guys on the Lake
Fish On Kokaneekid..