Odell report 5/9/2016

plumbertom
plumbertom
This was my first try for these fish here.
I was accompanied by a local friend with prior experience.
We arrived early and got my boat on the water.
It was a cold but clear morning of mid 30s to low 40s (a best guess) with water surface as indicated by my new Hummingbird DI sonar of 41 degrees.
The water appeared to be clear with good visibility to at least 8' and likely more but I quit watching for the bottom.
We headed for the west end of the lake where a good number of other boats were spread out,
Upon being advised from others there that the fish were right on the bottom, 100+ foot down, we started dropping our jigs selected by my friend, pink for me and green for him.
Right away I got a good strong strike and was hooked up.
Once the fish was up at the surface, my friend identified it as a Mackinaw, another first for me, a bit short of legal but quite fun anyway.
After making further attempts we did catch a few of those Kokanees, however the wind was blowing us too fast across the water to hold the bottom and my anchor rode was too short to serve us.
I put out my trolling motor and used it to slow our drift and that seemed to work also but it was a pain to have to keep controlling the boat even between catches.
What we resorted to was using a trolling rig consisting of a flasher of about 6'' trailing 18'' leader on a homemade wedding ring type jig.
These we drifted off the boat from 40 to 60 feet and just trolled them at the drift speed of the boat in the wind.
This was quite productive for such lazy type fishing.
We finished the day with 20 fish between us. I was not interested in Keeping more than 10 fish so it worked out fine that we didn't limit.
Oh, while using the jigs deep, I also hooked another what I believe to be Mackinaw by the way it behaved while hooked, but it relieved itself of the hook before it got near the surface.
Was a good day on the water and after cleaning the fish. I was correct in keeping more than 10 would have been too many.
Gonna try them in my smoker later today.
 
rogerdodger
rogerdodger
excellent, glad you got a nice batch of kokes and touched a couple macs, little kokes are also great if you just bake them whole like a trout and peel OFF the fillets, all the bones will stay on the backbone...
 
jamisonace
jamisonace
Nice. We got 45 this morning. Fish were scattered from 15' to 100'. Time to start canning.

It really helps to have 150' of rope so you can anchor on schools.
 
plumbertom
plumbertom
I get it about the longer anchor rode.
But this was my first boating trip to any of the lakes in Oregon, other than a brief trip to Fern Ridge.
I've only used my boat on SoCal impounds and the Colorado river. SoCal lakes are warm water fisheries and most of the target fish are found in shallow waters.
If you've ever fished the lower Colorado, you know there are few places that are actually over your head in depth.
So my 50' of rope has always served me just fine.
Now that I know the required length, I'll be making an adjustment to how I'm equipped.
 
G
Gulfstream
Can anyone post some pics of the jigs to use up there? Thanks
 
jamisonace
jamisonace
Don't feel too bad. My longest rope is 100' so I have to add an extra chunk to hit bottom.
 
jamisonace
jamisonace
Gulfstream said:
Can anyone post some pics of the jigs to use up there? Thanks

Google p line kokanee jigs. The pink and white is what I use.
 
T
The Lucky Duck
The bigger the better right now, here are the ones we are using, 1 oz to 1.3 oz.
 
  • 4eyes.jpg
G
Gulfstream
Thanks!
 
jamisonace
jamisonace
Scott,

Where can I get some of those? I'm going to see if there is an evening surface bite tomorrow and I'd love to try those.

Thanks,

The Lucky Duck said:
The bigger the better right now, here are the ones we are using, 1 oz to 1.3 oz.
 
T
The Lucky Duck
jamisonace said:
Scott,

Where can I get some of those? I'm going to see if there is an evening surface bite tomorrow and I'd love to try those.

Thanks,

Shelter Cove Resort has a few, also Danz outdoors in Spfld and Oregon Rod reel and tackle in Coburg. If they are sold out ping me.
 

Similar threads

F
Replies
3
Views
857
MartinH523
M
jamisonace
Replies
3
Views
3K
4labs
4labs
troutdude
Replies
3
Views
581
bass
bass
F
Replies
1
Views
1K
Diehard
Diehard
F
Replies
1
Views
1K
scched
scched
Top Bottom