Fresh News from MarDon

Mild temperatures are returning to Central Washington and we are experiencing a reversal migration due to the warmer weather. The Moses Lake area, Potholes Recreation area and The Royal Slope are thawing out. As snow disappears, north flights of duck and geese return from the south to geese at farm grounds on the Columbia Basin Project. Near record waterfowl counts the last nine days of 2015-16 have arrived. Hunters may harvest geese each of the last nine days. Ducks are open every day, and the season is nearly finished.

With daytime highs in the 40-degree range many small moving waters are ice free and holding birds. The Frenchman and Winchester wasteways provide great jump shooting and small water decoy shooting.

The bad news is the Sand Dunes on Potholes Reservoir continue to be encroached by two to six inches of ice. The main part of Potholes Reservoir outside the sand dunes remain ice free. All boat launches on the south shore of Potholes Reservoir are open and being used by early season walleye fishers. The Lind Coulee is mainly iced over with unsafe ice. On Jan. 20 the Glen Williams boat launch on the east end of O’Sullivan Dam had four to six inches of ice from the shore for 15 feet.

Walleye fishers are using blade baits and rapala jigging raps or a jig and night crawler combination. This past week walleye fishers reported walleye to 26 inches. Walleye are being caught in water from 35 to 60 feet deep near Goose Island and also the terraces along Medicare Beach have shown some nice walleye.

With nine days left in the season it is not too late to book a duck or goose hunt with Meseberg Adventures. For more information, go to www.ducktaxi.com