Northwest Fishing Reports

i am going to the potholes reservoir in a couple of weeks and need some help on catching some fish.:bounce:
i will be fishing for large and smallmouth bass and for walleye.
i got a ton of gear but need some info from people who have fished the lake before or know about it.o:)
i will either have a small 11' boat with a electric moter or borrow a 17' boat with a 70hp moter so any informantion is great.

Hi Kingcatcher, you'll probably get a lot of replies to this from people who live closer to the area, but I'll give you some "bass tips" that hopefully will help! First off, for smallies, you can't beat the riprap of O'Sullivan Dam, throw jerkbaits, topwaters, or jigs on football/darter heads, I like the yamamoto 176 and 221 spider grubs best for the jigs. you can also usually pick up a few smallies around Goose island throwing the same things, but i've also done well throwing chatterbaits around the isolated weed mats around the island and the isolated rock piles for largies.. Be really careful running the area between goose island and the dam, there are some BIG rock piles that are just under the surface and they can ruin your day in a hurry if you don't see them! You can try for largies up the crab creek arm with spinnerbaits, jig & pigs, t-rigged worms etc., all standard fare up there, target the wood stickups if you can, and if you find a beaver hut, spend alot of time fishing in front of and around it. You can also target both largies and smallies up the Lind coulee arm along the little cuts that run adjacent to the arm itself. If you are adventurous, you can head straight up into the dunes, but again be careful, that water can fluctuate, and I'm not sure how deep it's running right now, but you can definitely get stuck in the dunes or worse....get lost and not know how to get back out, so have a good GPS with you, and some rope for towing! Good luck! -Dave

Hey KC...I will be there the 19th, what dates are you going?
PH's have been a favorite of mine for quite a few years. I’ve been able to spend some time on the water and get to know some folks over there fairly well. Dave handed out some great information for the bass. I primarily will target wallys. At this time of year we will use cranks and worm harnesses in the dunes. So far…it’s been hit and miss…but mostly ‘hit’! This is a great time of year to get over there. The other suggestion I would have is to try to get the 17 footer if possible…it can get nasty out there real quick. Plus it will open up a lot more fishing opportunities for you. :geek:

mav 186 gave you the best advise when he said get the 17 footer.
Potholes is big and can get a bit nasty when the wind is out of the west.
If the wind does come up you can save your trip by heading into the seep lakes.
Soda and Long have some Walleye and Smallmouth but few largemouth.
Canal has been giving up some Largemouth but no Walleye or Smallmouth there.

Don't want to mess this thread as well but come early fall the potholes:-$ can be smoking hot for Waterfowl bird hunting:cheers: as well :chef:

Hunt and fish on!

swedefish4life1 wrote:Don't want to mess this thread as well but come early fall the potholes:-$ can be smoking hot for Waterfowl bird hunting:cheers: as well :chef:

Hunt and fish on!

SSSHHHHHH!

swedefish4life1 wrote:Don't want to mess this thread as well but come early fall the potholes:-$ can be smoking hot for Waterfowl bird hunting:cheers: as well :chef:

Hunt and fish on!

I can't wait! I've always been a western WA bird hunter but this year i broke the trend and spent a few days chasing Snows in MIssouri, no limit during conservation season!

hoping to get to mardon this weekend possibly if we don't fish JH- judging by the weather.com forecast, potholes is a better place to be than puget sound this weekend.

thanks for the advice. i will not be able to take the 17' boat because we will be bringing our dirtbikes and quads to go to the dunes but might go hunting also. i should be able to get to shore quick though if the wind picks up because my small baot goes fast on a 40lb of thrust electric motor. thanks again for the info. will be going in about a couple of weeks but dont know what days.

I fish there a couple times a year with a 12ft alum vhull. I can get around ok with my 30lb thrust elec moto but there are definitely times you want some gas power.

I agree with fishing between the dam and birdshi---goose island but it is NASTY like David said, be careful if you do. Use the launch east of the damn, there is a nice cove right there with plenty of small mouth and perch (watch out, in the middle directly under the power lines the water was 2 feet a week ago. In a few months it will be about negative 10 feet - an island). Also look out about 100 yards from the launch it gets real shallow between the point and the small rock island.

Also from the same launch venture up along the south side of lind coulee for plenty of good fishing. The north side of lind coulee just before the lind coulee launch is good as well.

Find giant Carp along the way between the damn and the launch, if your into that sort of thing!

Haven't fished out there in years but jigging a green wedding ring deep with a worm always yielded walleye for me.