Odell Lake

Overview

Odell Lake sits just below Willamette Pass on Highway 58, about 3,593 acres at 4,788 feet with an average depth of 134 feet and 282 feet at the deepest point, by ODFW's figures. It rarely freezes and seldom passes 68 degrees in summer, and the wind that keeps it open builds a chop by late morning most days. ODFW has managed it for wild trout since 1986, and nothing has been stocked here for decades: hatchery kokanee were dropped in the mid-1980s because they contributed poorly to the catch, lake trout plants ended in 1965 and rainbow releases stopped in 1962, so every fish you catch was born in the lake or its tributaries. Kokanee are the main event, spawning in Trapper Creek and the shoreline gravels; their size cycles with abundance, from 10 to 12 inches in crowded years to much larger when numbers are down. Lake trout, first released between 1902 and 1917, produced the Oregon record of 40.5 pounds and 45.5 inches in 1984, and unlike most lake trout waters the best catch rates here come in late spring and summer, jigging or trolling deep in 40 to 100 feet of water. Rainbows are a small wild population, and bull trout, rare in Oregon, live here under full protection. The season is the constraint: the lake opens April 22 and closes October 31, so the windows are the opener in the shallow bays, kokanee schools in the West Bay in May and June, and fall fish gathering off Trapper Creek and the Odell Creek outlet, both of which have closed zones. Odell Lake Lodge and Shelter Cove are the resorts with ramps and rentals.