Potholes

[ridgefire]

Anybody been doing any good at the Potholes lately?  Im headed over this weekend with some family from out  of town to do a guided hunt with Pacific Wings on Friday and then we will be hunting DIY at the Potholes on Saturday and then possibly Sunday. Any suggestions on what side of the lake to concentrate on? Will probably be starting off on the NW side but curious if anybody has any other suggestions. Thanks.

[HikerHunter]

Had a buddy hunt that area last weekend, along with many others, without much action. I haven't watched the forecast closely but new birds could have moved in since then

[Chesterdog]

You could give Mardon a call and get a recent report.  I'm curious to hear how people have been doing out there lately.  I drove through Vantage last week and saw a steady stream of geese up by the gorge for what it's worth.

[Mfowl]

Couple hunters told us they did OK in the dunes last weekend. We were just pheasant hunting but I was disappointed at the amount of ducks and geese we were seeing. As stated though, new birds could be arriving right now. Always better to make your own report. By the time they hit the internet, that chance has already passed. Good luck! Have fun!

[boneaddict]

When chasing bucks there, I saw a fair amount of waterfowl, but very few pheasants.   

[greenhead_killer]

A friend of mine was there two days ago. Said it was a bust. Said the guides were barely scratching one bird per hunter out. Half the lake was froze up and not many around there. Good luck. I’d call the guide service ahead of the hunt and see how the conditions have been and what the expectation should roughly be

[hunterednate]

Let us know how your weekend goes. My guess is the back-to-back experience of hunting with Pacific Wings vs. public water will give you a good glimpse of the bird-holding power of flooded corn ponds.

[Mfowl]

Let us know how your weekend goes. My guess is the back-to-back experience of hunting with Pacific Wings vs. public water will give you a good glimpse of the bird-holding power of flooded corn ponds.

I passed by Rasor Farms last weekend and though the water was frozen in the fields it was devoid of life in general. Very few birds visible through that whole corridor.

[hunterednate]

Let us know how your weekend goes. My guess is the back-to-back experience of hunting with Pacific Wings vs. public water will give you a good glimpse of the bird-holding power of flooded corn ponds.

I passed by Rasor Farms last weekend and though the water was frozen in the fields it was devoid of life in general. Very few birds visible through that whole corridor.

Interesting. Could just be a tough weekend in the Basin, period. It happens.

[EWUeagles]

Let us know how your weekend goes. My guess is the back-to-back experience of hunting with Pacific Wings vs. public water will give you a good glimpse of the bird-holding power of flooded corn ponds.

I passed by Rasor Farms last weekend and though the water was frozen in the fields it was devoid of life in general. Very few birds visible through that whole corridor.

Did Rasor farms get sold? I know they tried last year but because the water was frozen is probably why there wasn't a lot of birds. Eagle Lakes has no problem holding birds year round.

[ridgefire]

Hunted with Pacific Wings this morning and had a 6 man limit in about a hour and that was only shooting at the small flocks. All mallards besides two pintails. First time on a guided hunt and was a really fun experience. Gonna go do some scouting and try finding a spot for tomorrow morning.

[ridgefire]

Here is a picture of the greenheads.

[hunterednate]

Hunted with Pacific Wings this morning and had a 6 man limit in about a hour and that was only shooting at the small flocks. All mallards besides two pintails. First time on a guided hunt and was a really fun experience. Gonna go do some scouting and try finding a spot for tomorrow morning.

Wild! Corn + water is an irresistible combination ducks. Glad you guys had fun. Best of luck tomorrow.

[ridgefire]

Did not end up hunting the potholes this morning so no report on how it was this morning. Went out last night to do some scouting but not many birds flying at all. Drove out to Scootney Reservoir to look at it but water was really low and loved like alot of it was frozen over. Did hear shooting though so someone was getting some action.

[Guzman]

I don’t duck hunt a lot but spend a lot of time driving around the N Basin looking for and hunting geese. I haven’t seen much for ducks. And the water is starting to freeze so I don’t foresee much more coming from up north. If anything I think we will see less as it continues to freeze.

I also haven’t seen a lot of pictures from Eagle Lakes, Paul’s Pond. Last year eagle lakes seemed to be holding a ton of ducks.  It sure they are holding as many thins year.

[boneaddict]

Did not end up hunting the potholes this morning so no report on how it was this morning. Went out last night to do some scouting but not many birds flying at all. Drove out to Scootney Reservoir to look at it but water was really low and loved like alot of it was frozen over. Did hear shooting though so someone was getting some action.

Thanks for following up.   I wish there more of that on here.

[hhack]

I tried to hunt windmill lake this weekend but she is frozen.

[Chesterdog]

Any recent updates?  We plan on hunting potholes this weekend.

[C-Money]

I gotta say...its pretty slim pickin's right now, at least for my family. We have killed more geese than ducks this year...ducks are just not in the traditional areas we hunt. Moses Lake is very waterfowl empty for this time of the year. Hunted all day Sunday and had one group of 10 mallard high flyers zip over with no interest in us. Saw 3 or 4 groups of geese with no interest in us as well. Nephew and I agreed it was absolutely the slowest day we could remember. We called in a flock of 6 geese Friday evening, and my boy got one, I failed to knock any down  , and that saved our afternoon hunt that day. Keep hoping to see some birds move in. Frustrating!

[spadebit]

I dont believe the biologist duck counts at all. 

[Chesterdog]

We had a great hunt on Saturday.  Boating out from Mardon in the morning, it was some of the worst conditions I've ever been in and I hunt or fish every weekend according to my wife.  The whitecaps blowing spray in the wind were pretty incredible.  Shelby confirmed it was "up there", with the worst conditions he's run the taxi at Pot Holes. The hunting was worth it.  Seeing birds hover in the wind over the decoys as they struggled to land and find cover was something I've heard about, but never experienced before on the west side.  We pounded em Saturday, but Sunday was calm and almost a complete skunk aside from one solo goose and a solo drake pintail.  We were hoping the wind would bring new birds in, but it seemed to kick em all out instead.  Go figure!

[C-Money]

We scouted the area hard Thursday. Found a new spot and hunted it Friday morning. Had a single duck land in the decoys before shooting hours. Worked 3 different groups of 4-6 mallards the first 30 min and then nothing. Picked up at 10am. Was good to work a few birds, probably should have blazed the one group, they just wouldn't lite. Was thinking they would sit, not to be.

[shorthair-on-point]

Frozen now.

[C-Money]

We hunted the snow storm Saturday morning. Saw a ton of ducks, none of them wanted to sit in our spread. Was a chore keeping the snow off the decoys. Lots of shooting all around, but not for us. That was the last outing of the season for my son and I, hope the nephew can get on some next weekend.

[Mfowl]

We did pretty well in a corn field during the snow on Saturday morning out in Potholes. We managed 7 mallards and 5 geese for two of us. We had enough chances to shoot limits. Mostly the birds were passing right by and not giving a look but the ones that did show some interest worked really well. I am likely done for this season, it has been feast or famine this year. My hunts were either great or a total skunk. I don't feel like I ever really experienced a big migration of birds either. Good luck to those grinding it out for the last week!

[Guzman]

I talked to friend who lives in Moses Lake and hunts with another friend who lives at Mar Don. Sounds like overall it was a terrible year. I am guessing you didn’t miss out on much this year.

[Guzman]

Really cool picture. Love the snow coming down. Are you sure that is potholes? Looks like maybe seep lakes? I can’t think of anywhere on the reservoir that looks like that.

We hunted the snow storm Saturday morning. Saw a ton of ducks, none of them wanted to sit in our spread. Was a chore keeping the snow off the decoys. Lots of shooting all around, but not for us. That was the last outing of the season for my son and I, hope the nephew can get on some next weekend.

[C-Money]

Correct, this was not actually on the Potholes. We hunted a little different area after scouting and finding a few birds. Thanks for the complement on the picture! Nephew got two ducks on a solo hunt Saturday in the same spot. My son had a hockey tourney so didn't make it out for the final weekend.