Odell in August

[rogerdodger]

anyone know how the koke and mac fishing is in Odell in mid to late August? cheers, roger

 

[ckkoch09]

I normally go there during the labor day weekend every year. I normally do well trolling for the kokanee but I am not sure on the mac's because I don't fish for them much.

 

[montym]

I will be there in the last weekend of August. Never fished for kokanee or mac yet, just caught trouts in my first fishing season so far. Reading up on Google on how to fish for these species, any tips would be much appreciated.

Cheers
M

 

[ckkoch09]

I like to troll orange ford fenders with red wedding rings and white corn. Make sure you use rubber snubbers on the wedding rings as the kokanee have a real soft mouth. I normally use my downriggers 40 to 80 ft deep depending on the depth that the fish are at. Last labor day we ended up catching more fish off the downriggers and just using 1.5 oz trolling weights. You will learn where they are catching fish by looking for the boats. I know some guys jig for them as well. I can't help with the mac's because I have not fished for them much. Watch out for the wind as the lake can get pretty rough in the afternoon.

 

[rogerdodger]

I will be there in the last weekend of August. Never fished for kokanee or mac yet, just caught trouts in my first fishing season so far. Reading up on Google on how to fish for these species, any tips would be much appreciated.

Cheers
M

my list of kokanee tips is:

1- find their depth, either by sonar or trolling at different depths until you start getting hits.
2- try different colors, chartreuse, pink, red, silver. we usually catch them on more than one color each day but there will be a hot color..
3- variety of small lures, wedding rings (especially with the new ones with smile blades and double hooks), hoochies, small spinners, kokanee killers..first trolling run, I would have one of these in the water for sure:
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Mack...wedding+ring&WTz_l=Header;Search-All+Products
4- shorter than normal (~2' leader behind a small dodger (SlingBlade) or flasher troll.
5- troll at different speeds but mostly slow, slow, slow. 1mph is not too slow.
6- tip lures with white shoepeg soaked in something- anise, garlic, we did great last year with the Mike's Kokanee lunker lotion.
7- snubber is good but not absolutely necessary if you have UL rods and are trolling slowly.
8- expect them to come up fast, break the surface and thrash/roll around. this is when it is easy to lose them, try to just get them over and net fast, kokanee is not flyfishing, it is 'harvesting' good eats. :thumb:
9- check moon rise and set, I have seen very hot bites from kokanees for an hour or so at these times...

cheers, roger

 

[rogerdodger]

I normally go there during the labor day weekend every year. I normally do well trolling for the kokanee but I am not sure on the mac's because I don't fish for them much.

thanks man, we have been hitting GP the last few years but want to try Odell this August. we normally run 2 downriggers and 2 long lines. If I am marking some Macs under the kokes, I will run one of the riggers under the koke schools with a larger mac lure to try and coax one of them big boys into playing with us...cheers, roger

 

[ckkoch09]

Have a good trip, catch lots of fish! I really like that lake and can't wait for the labor day trip again.

 

[rogerdodger]

Odell is a go for us, in search of Macs and also to load some Kokes into the freezer...hitting Odell the first and third week of August, probably take the Fish Retriever (kayak) and Crab Bandit (PB), I plan to post pictures and detailed reports after each trip...cheers, roger

 

[JeannaJigs]

Should be good in August. I just got back from there, camped and attempted fishing for 3 days. Temps never got above 50 and was low 30's at night, little too cold for small fish fishing for me lol. We had some serious motor issues and didn't get much fishing in, the white caps and waves were in the 3 foot range all 3 days, the lake never settled down, would have been okay in a large boat with a windscreen but in a little 12 footer nope.

 

[1 nut in the water]

Just returned from 4 nights of camping there- at $52/night for rv hookup and boat moorage - rather spendy and wont stay around the resort again. Weather sucked- few hours of calm in the morning and then hold on to your hats! On the water at 5 am for crazy bite at daylight and then it slows way down. 100+ boats on weekends- much less during the week.
Fishing has been great last few weeks- Not so much this trip. 200+ in the freezer, time for a break from Odell.
August sounds much better.. Never tried Odell then.................

 

[rogerdodger]

Just returned from 4 nights of camping there- at $52/night for rv hookup and boat moorage - rather spendy and wont stay around the resort again. Weather sucked- few hours of calm in the morning and then hold on to your hats! On the water at 5 am for crazy bite at daylight and then it slows way down. 100+ boats on weekends- much less during the week.
Fishing has been great last few weeks- Not so much this trip. 200+ in the freezer, time for a break from Odell.
August sounds much better.. Never tried Odell then.................

thanks Jon, we fortunately keep to mid-week fishing and are staying at Trapper Creek for $16/night (anyone have a favorite/best campsite recommendation?). hoping for smoother water in August for sure, I plan to spend plenty of time trolling the steep ledges for Macs, especially once the koke bite slows down...cheers, roger

 

[1 nut in the water]

Scouted Trapper as that is where we will stay next time. The spots between creek and west to the campground boat ramp are all nice with enough vegetation between spots for some privacy.

 

[montym]

We were there on 30th and 31st. Beautiful place, not much luck with fishing though. Spent many hours throwing everything at the trout from the bank near the lodge, could land only one 15 inch rainbow on power eggs. Had 2 others hooked, wife lost it before we could get it out of the water. I got my line tangled with the bell while reeling in the other and had fun pulling it in by hand. A mess of line all around me, fish swimming around under the dock, couple of chaps enjoying the show, seems on per with my recent experiences. Could finally get the mess sorted out, had just got the fish out of the water and somehow it threw the hook. Seemed bigger than the one I had, but the lost ones always do look bigger. Lesson, get a net.

Biggest fish I have got so far, so here is a pic of the beautiful fish and my ugly mug.

Cheers
M