I just returned from Odell Lake, where I fished with some OCA Members for Kokanee. I arrived at Odell Lake, Shelter Cove Marina and Resort Monday afternoon, and was accompanied by Bob Free, who trailered his boat. We had a great time, fishing was fun, weather was great, and no bugs (mosquitos). Catching was slower than years before, but we did catch some Kokanee. I had been pre-warned by Dave Jones, Odell Lake Charter Captain and others, not to expect to catch limits of fish.

I brought an extra fishing rod and gear for guests. Greg Flick, OCA Member from Elkton fished with me on Tuesday. We fished from before dawn until the wind made it too difficult to continue, around 2:00 PM. We fished with rods on downriggers and flat lines with four ounces of weight. Catching was slow and we ended up with fourteen Kokanee. There were a few fish that self-released, and a couple that we returned to the water.

Mark Teeter, past OCA Treasurer, fished with me Wednesday and Thursday. We concentrated primarily on the western end of Odell. We scored twenty fish on both days and ended the days early due to the wind. I concentrated on keeping the boat fishing while Mark took care of the fish and baited hooks, as did Greg the day before, great teamwork.

I had one of those unforgettable moments on this trip. While fishing with Mark, I had a Kokanee hooked and thrashing on the surface. Out of the sky came an Osprey which was determined to take my Kokanee. I pulled hard on the rod and the Osprey missed the fish, however with a minor adjustment had it. So there I am fish and Osprey on the end of my line. I’m pulling hard to get the fish away from the Osprey. The Osprey is trying to take off with my fish, but can’t because I’m pulling it backward. My fear is that the Osprey is hooked. I don’t want the Osprey to fly off with my hooks embedded in him or her. So, I try to work the Osprey to the boat to deal with the situation. Believe me I don’t want to have to remove hooks from this Osprey. Finally and with great relief, I watch the Osprey release the fish and fly off. There were some pretty good sized talon wounds in that Kokanee. Mark took some pictures, which are attached.

The trip to Odell Lake was fun and I have thirty plus Kokanee to smoke. I cooked chicken, steak and pork ribs on my Traeger Pellet Grill for some delicious camp meals. We all worked together to help our OCA members catch fish and many thanks to those who helped me.