Fresh news from MarDon Resort
Tom Pollack and his family had an epic fishing weekend at Potholes.
The seep lakes below O'Sullivan Dam are showing nice trout. All the seep lakes are open except the lakes on the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, Warden Lake and South Warden Lake. Warden and South Warden Lake open the last Saturday in April and the lakes on the National Wildlife Refuge open April 1, 2015.
The best bet for bank fishers in the Potholes Recreation Area is to use Powerbait, Pautzkees salmon eggs or just a big night crawler. These tried and true baits may be used alone or in combination with each other. Blythe Lake has had very little pressure with rainbow trout being reported around 20 inches. Both Lower and Upper Goose Lake are good boat fishing options for trout, bass, crappie and walleye. Lower Goose has good bank fishing by the boat launch and has a healthy population of Channel Catfish. As the Potholes Recreation Area warms with spring weather the seep lakes provide not only good trout action but also some early season bass opportunities. Most fish are caught this time of year in the shallow warm water in the part of the seep lake that looks like a swamp and has numerous cattails. Bait on the bottom or under a bobber produces some action as well. Casting a Roostertail, Mepps Spinner or a Vibrax Spinner can produce good early season fish near the flow of water that appears to look like a swamp.
Walleye action has been fair this last week. Blade Baits used on the humps in 22'-45' of water continue to be your best bet. Surface water temperatures have been reported at 54 degrees from the west arm of the sand dunes near the Job Corps Dyke. But the main reservoir is still much colder than that.
Potholes report
From Tom Pollack, a new resident of the Potholes area: Last week I reported that the seep lakes around the Potholes area are totally free of ice. Both Saturday and Sunday my family visited us at our new home. Fishing both days was epic as seen by the family picture. With five lines in the water there was continual action in baiting, netting or retying gear, The five limits took about two hours on Saturday. Sunday we fished another lake and caught larger fish and kept but 10 nice fish. When we cleaned them, their stomachs were full. With all the lakes in the area take your pick and enjoy great shore fishing, especially with for the kids and young at heart. Most every day all boat launches have been full, fishing for walleye, perch and bass. With the restrictions on salmon fishing this is a very good option. Check in at Mardon for camping, cabins and gear.