non Kayak: Odell Lake fishing

Tldr; pretty lake, caught a mac and 7 kokes

Our friends have a piece of property in Fort Klamath Oregon, sits right on a nice spring fed creek.  Two sheds on the property that serve as cabins, off grid, poor cell phone service…very peaceful.  We love going there.  Typically we will fly fish some of the local streams and rivers, but on this trip, his wife had arranged a guide trip on Odell Lake.  The reservation was for the morning trip (typically the calm part of the day), we woke at 2, on the road at 3, at the lake about 4:45am for the 5am launch.  We meet the guide, Bob, in the resort.  When we left Fort Klamath…it was calm, cold, etc.  As we started to climb a little higher, we got some wind, some rain, some snow.  When we looked at the lake, there were white caps everywhere.  The guide point blank told us, he wouldn't suggest going out in this weather…he'd take us…but wouldn't suggest it.  He offered us a Monday morning trip in place.

Monday was a completely different day, he had the full day, so we woke and arrived later - for a 7am launch.  Blue sky, no breeze, lovely morning.  We being going after the kokes.  He's got all the gear setup on the boat, and his Shoepoeg Corn with bloody tuna sauce - we're ready.  We get the lines in the water, two on each side, and my deeper line hits in about 15 minutes, nice 12" koke - pretty thick, pretty fish.  Then boom, again, and again…by now, the birthday boy is looking pretty depressed, so, when my side gets hit the 4th time, I say 'Dean, you get it'…'NO' he replies… I sense a proper funk is brewing.  I land #4 and #5…then would be #6 tangles my lines.  So the guide takes my setup, and moves it to Deans side - now he's got all my gear, and I have new gear.  Then both our lines hit, and we end up with 10 kokanee ( the limit is 25…more on that later, and one lake trout).  The guide asks us if we'd like to start fishing four Lake Trout, as the conditions are about right - and we agree.  Just as we're about the change out the gear, Dean's rod hits…and it's a big fish, the guide yells 'Laker' and we hall up all the gear and downriggers to avoid a tangle.  Dean fights the fish for about 15 minutes and gets it up to and in the boat, wow, a monster lake trout, 9# - nice looking fish.  He bleeds it in the live well.  We properly store the koke gear, and get setup with the Mackinaw gear, one rod on each side of the boat, down to about 160', 5 minutes later 'bam' we get a nice take down.  I start reeling it in, feels smaller to me - htough I later remembered that Dean was fishing lighter weight Koke gear for his fish, and I was using heavier duty Mac gear. After about 15' I get color - oh my, another good sized fish, this fish weighed in at 13#...and that's a limit folks.  Wait, what? Only one Mack?  We go for a quick tour of the lake, the guide chats up a few buddies - sure enough, today was a tough day for fishing both the kokes and the Macks, we didn't see many nets going.

After the guide cleaned the fish, I put some salt and brown sugar on some of the filets so we could smoke them when we got back to the cabins.  I texted Elena when to start the fire in the smoker at 2:50p so it would be ready when we got back.  The filets from the 9# fish were much nicer in color - more of that salmon look, and the guide recommended we save those for cooking in the pan vs. the smoker.  We had some of the smoke kokanee that night and also some of the smoke Mack, very nice.

https://www.odelllakeresort.com/fishing/guided-fishing/
Our guide was Bob.

So, with a limit of 25 kokes each, turns out that camping on this lake for a week, and bringing your pressure canner is a really big thing…that's what most of the boats are doing.  The catch Kokanee all day, then can them at night, and repeat.

I'm really curious to try canned Kokanee?  The flesh is so soft, I'd think maybe it would not can well…but so many people were doing it, it must be good.  I think I'll can a sample after my next koke run - just to see what its' like.

Thanks for the trip report and pictures bbt95762.

Great write up and awesome trip. Thanks for sharing.

I have fished with Bob before,  he is a class act. He fishes hard, and never quits.

Awesome fish, writeup, and pictures.

I have fished with Bob before,  he is a class act. He fishes hard, and never quits.

good to hear that.  I would have to agree.  I'd definitely look him up again.

Looks like an awesome time Brian!

Scotty

I’ve tried a few canned. No need to remove pinbones and small rib bones: they dissolve. Curiously, I find canned Kokanee to be a bit dry. I’ve canned in olive oil usually. Usually ends up the opposite of mushy.

Great report, Brian.

Thanks for all the pics. What a great outcome, especially with a reliable guide that is working to ensure you are having a good time.

Awesome report.
25 fish limit 👀

Sounds like fun.  Is there a possession limit for the kokanee?

Thanks for sharing, good report! That made me drool

Sounds like a great trip. Thanks for sharing.