Odell Lake Reports 1999

August 15, 1999

My father-in-law and I fished Odell Lake from late Saturday morning 8-14-99 through Sunday 8-15-99. We have similar info to John's report for the same period. I too would categorize the fishing as "fair". We fished in the 35 to 45 foot range with downriggers, a bolo troll rig and a homemade orange bead spinner and white corn. We talked to a three-some in another boat that were fishing at 28 feet and had similar success to us. We caught 14 fish on Sunday and just a couple on Saturday. The fish seemed very scattered in the lake, and not real anxious to bite. We trolled through some pretty large schools and had no takers.

Even if the fishing is slow, I'm not sure there is any place more beautiful than Odell. The campground at Princess Creek was probably 1/3 full, and mosquitoes were not a problem.
This report submitted by Dan Meyers

August 14, 1999

I fished Odell on 8-12, 13, and 14. The weather was more like April. Fishing only fair, about 3 to 4 per hr per rod at best. Size was good for Odell, most at 12 to 13 in. and a few 14's. The decline from the excellent fishing seems to be the result of heavy barometric fluctuations plus there was a heavy alge bloom that was just receding when I got there. Fish were fat and very red meated. Fishing should get better when (if?) we get back to August weather. Best depth was 40 to 50 ft. I had best results w dodger and glo hook/bead combo 12 in. behind dodger.
This report submitted by John Ward

July 31, 1999

Drove over to Odell Lake 7/31, arriving about 11 am in blazing sun. Lake has algea bloom and is a weird yellow/orange color. Wind came up about noon and blew me off. Other boats seemed to be running around looking for schools of K. I talked to one fisherman, who had one K. Saw another person lose one. My fishfinder showed a lot of fish between 40 and 140 feet, but nothing I would say was a school, unless 5 hits on one screen is a school. Surface was 65 degrees.
This report submitted by Bill Davis

July 24, 1999

Inspired by all the fabulous reports coming out of Odell this Summer, my cousin Pete and I headed up for a couple days of downriggerless trolling. Thanks to advice from Robert Nolan I think I might finally be ready to give up my notions that downriggers are too much of an advantage over the fish. The fish were fairly shallow (30 ft) until the sun actually hit the water over the mountains, then down to at least 70 ft and well past the range of my 5 oz weight and lead core line. I've always had a rough time fishing Odell in July and August.

The fish I caught (not many) were about 12" and caught a few smaller 3 year fish as well. The lake was a little green from algae, so we used green wedding rings tipped with corn. I was using a five blade Jack of Diamonds with the large front blade taken off for less resistance and deeper fishing. I'll be doing another trip on the 8th and 9th of August (new moon) and will give another, more prompt, report.
This report submitted by Matt Delay

Matt Delay (Portland)

July 18, 1999

Fished Odell with a friend this weekend. We ended up with 38 Kokes ranging from 8 to 12 inches. We fished in the west end of the lake and caught all but one fish trolling. Most of the fish were caught on a dodger and spoon setup with the hooks baited with a piece of nightcrawler and shoepeg corn. Fishing early and late provided the best action.

If you go, wear many layers of clothing. Odell can be extremely cold with the wind and then get unbearably hot in the afternoon.
This report submitted by Chuck Metge

July 12, 1999

We decided to brave the mosquitos and try Odell for a one night stay.   We stayed at Princess Creek and started fishing from there down to the lodge at the East end of the lake.  We marked a few fish and caught a couple in 3 and 1/2 hours of fishing.  The wind picked up pretty good around 3 or 4 so we came in early for some great hot dogs and gorgeous scenery.  After a mosquito free supper we went to my favorite place on the face of the earth, Gold Lake which is  just down the road. I wanted  to see if anything was happening.  The mosquitos were definately out there!  The lake looked great and the Trout were rising.  We returned back to camp for our traditional evening card game.  The evening fishing seemed to focus at the West end of the lake so I decided that the morning would see us at that end of the lake. 

After listening to a hundred trucks and a dozen trains the sunlight was too inviting to wait longer.  We arrived across from the marina at the West end of the lake at 6:00 AM. and started trolling the usual at 65 feet and 55 feet.  The fishfinder was ALIVE with fish!!!  At times it couldn't find the bottom through the fish.  The action was fast and furious as Kokanee after Kokanee bit, was lost or caught.  Sometimes there were doubles, though seldom were both fish landed.   Then at 7:00 the Sun hit the water and the furious pace of the bite ceased abruptly.  We continued to catch fish at a very nice pace though.  Trolling one rig at 4 feet off the bottom and another at 60 feet and fishing between 112 feet and 80 feet deep we went back and forth from the West end of the lake to approximately the marina catching and losing fish.  We ended up keeping 31 for the morning, 6 to 11 am. and releasing approximately 6 to 10 small lightly hooked ones.  I can't even guess how many we lost but the number would be embarrasing.  At one time it seemed like they would only hit the pole with the small hand crank downrigger.  It seemed like the all silver dodger was the ticket.  Cranking it up and down 58 turns for seven in a row lost fish was a little frustrating and tiring.  It was a wonderful morning of fishing.  The biggest fish was 13 inches and most were 12".  My wife suffered the only mosquito bite.......a large Quasimoto lump on her forehead during our early morning bite:-)
PS.  We used "Mikes" Kokanee Special on our corn.  It works great, give it a try.
This report submitted by Robert

July 9, 1999

We arrived at Trapper Creek campground at Odell Lake at noon on July 2nd. I began fishing without the necessary "fish finder" soon after our arrival. I chose my favorite area between the rock slide and the marina in about 100 feet of water. I have basically given up trolling because of the noise and exhaust of the motor. I began jigging with a green and white #40 Nordic lure with a piece of corn on each prong of the treble hook. This is the time of day when the fishing is not very good, but I was rewarded with six nice fish in a couple hours. I fished parts of eight days and caught 97 kokanee and 1 sublegal mackinaw. I tried several other lures and methods of jigging, but every fish was caught with the green and white lure, which by the way is getting pretty battered up by now. Also every fish I caught was within 500 yards of the area described above. The size of fish when jigging I believe are quite larger than when trolling. They averaged 10 to 12 inches with a few over 13 inches.

Thursday I saw two fellows carefully scoping out an area near me when they finally chose a spot about 50 yards away. I watched as they limited out with 50 fish in less than 3 hours. I asked them what they were using and they showed me their setup. They use 1/2 oz. banana weight with 18 inches of leader and a bare hook. Their bait is a piece of corn, a tiny piece of night crawler and some "Power Bait." They don't jig the setup, they just find the school of fish and drop their bait in the middle of them and wait for a few seconds. I have not seen this method before, but it worked great for them. I tried this for a while, but without a fish finder, I was not successful.

The weather was nasty and cold for the first couple of days then was warm and typical of Odell for the rest of the week. There is still some little piles of snow in the campground.

This report submitted by Ron Wise

July 4, 1999

We fished Odell Lake July 3, 4 and 5. It was very cold on Saturday the 3rd. The snow level came down on to the ski slopes of Willamette Pass, less than a 1,000 feet above the lake. Even with full winter gear on, it was just about all the cold you could take with the wind blowing out on the lake. Ironically, we had overheating problems our boat motor the second day, so had to resort to a 4 1/2 hp spare outboard to push our 16 foot fiberglass boat around. Despite all of this the three of us did manage to catch 107 kokanee ranging in size up to about 12 inches. We started out jigging and I did catch 3 on an orange buzz bomb with corn, but then we switched over to trolling and did that the rest of the trip. We were able to catch the fish right on the surface trolling "Bolo" flashers with the standard homemade silver blade, orange bead spinner with a size 6 Gamakatsu hook and white corn. We also fished a downrigger at 50 feet and caught about an equal number of fish as on the surface rods. We talked to camp neighbors who were jigging and caught nothing. There were some fish caught jigging but by Monday most people were trolling.

We saw many fish on the fishfinder. There were schools so large that our fish finder would lock on to it and think that was the bottom. Odell is such a great fishery.
This report submitted by Dan Meyers

June 15, 1999

I fished dependable Odell for 2 days, 6-14 and 6-15. First day nice weather, got 18 in 2.5 hrs on one rod...using dodgers and hoochies, got 5 more that evening in about 45 min jigging. Second day colder and lots of wind. Lucky I was fishing west end. got 12 in 2 hrs same trolling, then had to leave. There were 2 size classes being caught, 8 to 9 in. and 11 to 13 in. Fishing was good enough to throw back the small ones, however this is no place for C&R if you don't want stunted fish. Most people who had a clue were doing pretty well, trolling slightly better than jigging.

This report submitted by John Ward

June 5, 1999

First trip of year to Odell. Weather was the usual for Odell, windy and rainy. Limited the boat by 4 pm Saturday. 75 fish which 12 were on the 8 inch size. The rest averaged about 10- 11 inches. We woke up Sunday am. to a layer of snow in my Arima. A chilly 30 * morning with the wind as usual. We fished till 11.30 am. We boated 22 nice Kokes and one 20lb Mac. All fish were caught jigging. Then it was back to the rat race until next time.
This report submitted by D. McCoy

June 5, 1999

June 3 thru June 5, got to Odell Lake about 8 am, set up camp at Princess Creek CG. (not all sites available yet due to snow) got the boat in the water and went fishing, strong west wind, white caps everywhere and some ice pellets mixed in for good measure. Headed to Burly Bluff, still real rough water conditions there, tried to troll but to hard to control the boat, tried jigging there same thing rough water conditions. Tried wind drifting, drifted to fast. Did manage to get 7 fish, not a real good day to fish. Went out the next morning, white caps and wind again, headed to the other side, what a ride! Started fishing, trolled for a while to Kelly Bay, nothing, went to Gull Point and marked a lot of fish. Buy this time the wind settled down a bit and anchored in 90' of water and started jigging. Got 17 fish in 3 hours, got hungry went back to camp for lunch. After lunch fished off Princess Creek boat ramp in 85' of water and got 6 more fish. Saturday morning went back to Kelly Bay where a couple of friends caught some fish on Friday. Jigged for about 4 hours and got 7 fish. The weather turn showery and the wind was on and off. Decided to leave on Saturday, had enough of the weather, all though it was as bad as Thursday. The fish are running from 9" to 13". Jigging is working well when you find the fish and the trollers are starting to pick up some fish also.
This report submitted by Gary

May 23, 1999

The sun finally came out for more than one day and I headed to Odell Lake for the weekend. Crescent Lake Ranger Station said that Princess Creek Campground was open, well some time in late June maybe. Went to Sunset Cove and it was open but not all camp sites where available. Went fishing on Friday, caught 9, mostly jigging, casting to shore and retrieving in a jigging motion. Trolling was real slow. On Saturday I did better, managed 24, again jigging was the way to go. On Sunday it slowed way down, the fish where not very aggressive, did manage to get 4. Some people where limiting out every day, I'll just have to perfect the jigging. The fish ranged from 9 1/2 to 12 1/2 inches, an average of 11 inches. In a couple of weeks I'll have to try again.
This report submitted by Gary

May 16, 1999

I fished O'dell for the first time May 15 & 16 and it was about like your other reporters stated, except we hit them all at the east end of the lake within a stones throw of the Lodge. We fished Nordics with corn about 3-5" off bottm and drifted with the wind. I was actually "mooching" the jig like you would for salmon and it worked well. I've caught Kokes through the ice in Alaska but this was my first try here and I'm hooked. I'm going back to O'dell after Memorial day and will be sure to check your page before I go.

This report submitted by Rob Halman

May 16, 1999

I was at Odell Lake 5/15 and 5/16 for our annual kokanee trip, and as usual this time of year, Odell didn't disappoint us. Three friends and I drove over Saturday and didn't get on the water until 9:30. Nearly all of the boats on the West end were in West Bay, and as soon as we got there we started getting fish.

We were wind drifting and casting jigs on the surface, a technique that we've used for years up there. (And which is a lot more fun than anchoring and vertical jigging.) The weather was cold but not too nasty, with a manageable West wind. When we stopped for lunch at noon we had 32 fish, the best part being that the fish were larger on average than I've seen in several years. 90% of them were thick-sided and at least 11," with many 12" fish.

We tried West Bay for awhile in the afternoon, but it really slowed down. So we went off of Burly Bluff, a spot that for some reason is a traveling zone for kokanee schools. The fish were there too, and though it was tough to keep the boat from moving too fast we managed to pick up good numbers casting pink and orange buzz bombs and Nordic jigs.

That spot slowed down so we motored up to Princess Creek and caught some there, but it was pretty windy. On the way back up to Shelter Cove we fished around Burly Bluff again and stayed there until about 6:00. We wound up limiting out the four of us in the boat.

The next day we took it easy and fished from about 7:30 to 10:00 in the morning. The weather was balmy compared to Saturday, and we ended up catching another 25 or so in West Bay and off of Burly Bluff.

All in all it was a great trip. That is, until the guy at the BP station in Oakridge put $15 worth of DIESEL into my pickup. But that's another story...

This report submitted by Lane Tobiassen

May 15, 1999

This last thursday we took our annual trip to Diamond lake. The fishing is terrible because of the Tai chub problem, but we have been going there for such a long time that we just can not stop going to the lake. This year it would not of been good even if the fishery was good. There is still about 3 feet of ice on the lake and it is not expected to become ice free until mid-June.

So, I took the opportunity to fish Odell lake for Kokanee. I had never been there before so I was not sure just what to expect. I called the resort and talked to them about how and where. I ended up on the very west end of the lake in a small cove. The first day we started jigging like I have read about and as I watched the other boats in this same area. We caught 12 kokanee and had a lot hits but no hook ups. There were two boats that were drifting in the wind and casting their jigs out and jigging them back to the boat. We over heard them as they were getting ready to go, saying that they had limited. We fished until about 12:30 and then went back to Diamond. It snowed the whole time we were at Odell.

The next day we went back to Odell and started fishing in the same manner we had watched the two boats the previous day. We were into fish immediately. We finished the day with 52 kokanee. It was breezy and chilly, but the sun was out most of the day. It was a great day to be fishing and catching kokanee. We left Odell 1:30 pm.

We were using buzz bombs tipped with corn. We would cast out as far as we could cast and as the jig fell we made the lifting motion as you would do jigging vertically. The kokanee would hit the jig anywhere from entery into the water to 40 feet down. The hits were on the fall of the jig after the lift and as you reeled down to keep a tight line as the jig fell. There were a lot of surfacing kokanee. We would cast into the surfacing kokes if they were near to our boat. The action was at times very fast and several times during the second day we would hook fish on as many as 5 or 6 casts in a row. Lots of fun especially on lite gear. The fish were in great shape, with many of them 11 to 12 inches. Should be some real lunkers later on this summer. I'm looking forward to returning later in the summer. As we were driving home Sunday, we drove by Odell at about 12:30. The lake was almost still. No big waves and strong wind. I almost had to back the boat in again, but I didn't want to push my luck with the family.

This report submitted by Guy

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