The day finally came. A limit for two at Odell. I think I mentioned the limit here on the last post, but in case you missed it we're looking for 25 fish per day per person. We got an early start at just after 5 and catching was pretty steady all day. We lost a bunch which prolonged the day a bit but that is the way kokanee fishing goes. We had our first limit…
Odell lake has to be one of the neatest lakes in Oregon. High atop Willamette Pass it is at the very top end of the Deschutes Watershed. Two hundred and fifty plus feet deep in places I have often wondered just how many kokanee could be in there. It has to be millions. But back to the koks in a minute.
We’ve made a few trips to Odell so far this summer. For developed camping it’s hard to beat Trapper Creek campground. Located right on the lake next to Trapper Creek where the kokanee spawn every fall there’s about 30 well spaced sites it a stand of tall spruce and huckleberries.
It’s a quick trip to the boat ramp which is right in the campground. And as much as I always think, maybe we’ll get to a hike or some other activities, lets face it, a trip to Odell is all about the fishing. You can keep 25 kokanee per day here, and if you get your timing right you can limit well before noon. Well, some people can. I’ve come close a few times but I’ve always fallen short of a limit. The bite is always good before the sun hits the water, sometimes it dies off shortly thereafter, sometimes it keeps going and it’s the wind that ends the day for you.
It had been way too many years since I was on the Grande Ronde (2013 was the last trip), so I was pretty excited to make the trek across the state to get on the river. The Grande Ronde may just be the prettiest float trip in the state, but that probably depends on what you are looking for. The long drive and short flow window have limited trips to an every few years kinda affair. But here we were, after a half day trek to Minam the day before, ready to launch. As is my usual experience at the launch, it’s the big scene playing out. People who must, from all appearances, only rarely do this kinda thing. You’ve seen them, they have gear spread hither and yon, taking up every available slot in the launch, no apparent direction, you could watch them and wonder if they are taking out or putting in they are making so little forward progress. And here I was thinking it was called a boat launch because, what, you launch your boat there….oh, no, that is the place to make meal decisions, load the cooler and decide what goes in which dry bag, and yes, take a break at the nearest table and eat your full breakfast! Yes, you wouldn’t expect us to eat breakfast before splaying our stuff out all over the ramp would you? How would we ever find something to eat until we unloaded everything? So we pushed the trailer and boat through the willows and…yep, launched and loaded the boat. OK, enough of the crowd, deep breath….
And we’re off, away from it all, just like that. (more…)