Northwest Fishing Reports

Has anyone fished the Seep Lakes or Potholes Reservoir through the ice before? I'm really wanting to try the small lakes below Potholes this winter and would like to get some suggestions or tips from those who fish them through the ice. Crappie,Perch and Walleye would be my preference but I would be thankful for any info. Soda Lake, Goose Lake???? Potholes?

Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

no sorry Lefty i have not fished many lakes on the east side of the mountains i have fished fish lake on the east but that is about it, last year i fished lost lake and ketchless lake. i do know there is alot of really good fishing thru the ice that not alot of ppl take advantage of so good luck and if you get to this side let me know i will be hitting lost about every weekend going to try to get to mirror and cottonwood also. you need a snowmachine to get to most around here.

Hello Lefty,
I spend a lot of time on the seep lakes.
Soda, most of the ice fishing is down on the south end. 35 to 40 feet seems to be a good depth to start looking for the Perch. Not many Crappie in Soda but you can get Walleye from time to time.

Long, Again the South end gives up mostly Perch and we find more Walleye in the narrows at mid lake. The Crappie population in long is very low.

Potholes Res, seldom gets enough ice for me to get on but the Lind coulee down by the island puts out some Perch and eyes.
Some of the smaller lakes in the area that were hot last year won't be any good due to the WDFW.
It seems whenever a lake starts to produce some good fish, the WDFW has to kill it off.

Keep in mind that we seldom get safe ice and when we do, it doesn't last long.

YellowBear wrote:Hello Lefty,
I spend a lot of time on the seep lakes.
Soda, most of the ice fishing is down on the south end. 35 to 40 feet seems to be a good depth to start looking for the Perch. Not many Crappie in Soda but you can get Walleye from time to time.

Long, Again the South end gives up mostly Perch and we find more Walleye in the narrows at mid lake. The Crappie population in long is very low.

Potholes Res, seldom gets enough ice for me to get on but the Lind coulee down by the island puts out some Perch and eyes.
Some of the smaller lakes in the area that were hot last year won't be any good due to the WDFW.
It seems whenever a lake starts to produce some good fish, the WDFW has to kill it off.

Keep in mind that we seldom get safe ice and when we do, it doesn't last long.

Thanks for the help Yellow Bear. I thought you guys got more ice than that around there for some reason. I do the majority of my hardwater fishing here in N.E. Oregon (mostly just trout) but was looking to expand my opportunities.

Lefty wrote:I thought you guys got more ice than that around there for some reason. I do the majority of my hardwater fishing here in N.E. Oregon (mostly just trout) but was looking to expand my opportunities.

The rule of thumb around these parts is: Go North young man.
Here in the Wenatchee valley we have lots of area lakes that are great for ice fishing with many inches of ice come Jan & Feb.
Fish lake which has already been mentioned for Perch & Trout. Most of the small lakes around Manson...Roses lake for example has a very mixed bag of fish. Crappie, LM & SM Bass, Cat fish and Trout and all of them can be pulled through the ice and don't forget my personal favorite...Rat Lake North of Brewster for the Rainbows, Cuts & Browns.

Rat Lake goodies from Jan 08

Lefty,
I would be happy to keep you posted on the ice conditions here.
We have had some cold temps the past few days.
I have a pond in the back yard and as of this morning there is about 1 inch of ice on it.
I will take a drive over to the seep lakes this weekend and check them out.

That would be great Bear! Here are a few pics of what we get here in N.E. Oregon.

Nice brookie there Lefty.

I haven't seen a Brookie in some time, they sure are pretty fish.

Temps here are at 27 this morning with high winds. Suposed to have colder temps all this week.
I haven't had the time to get to the lakes yet but with this wind I don't think any ice is forming.
If you want to try another Trout lake, you may want to keep an eye on Sprague lk.
Head to Ritzville and then go east on I-90 to the town of Sprague.
It is a shallow lake and gets safe ice. Big Rainbows and Triploids is what I hear.

Dont Forget about Banks and Buffalo

Lefty, we have ice.
Went by Moses lk yesterday and it is froze.
Not sure how safe.
Heading over to Soda to check it out.

Right on Bear! Let me know what Soda looks like. I'm going icefishing tomorrow down here. Good ice on a few of the lakes.

Lefty.
Finally got over to Soda today, open water on 2/3rds of the lake.
The North end has ice but its going fast.