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Day 1: We ventured out on our annual spring potholes trip for my two boys and I from the 2nd thru the 6th of June. Our trip was going to be a little different this year as the in-laws invited themselves along but we were okay with it because that meant we could sleep in the 5th wheel with a shower and A/C versus in a tent on the ground. We arrived on Thursday the 2nd from the Kitsap Peninsula on the west side at around 6:40 am to the state park. We quickly unloaded the boat and hit the water and headed for the mouth of Crab Creek. I dropped an orange and yellow wally-pop down in about 13 feet of water and immediately my phone rang, of course it was the in-laws and they weren't feeling well so they wanted to let us know they were sorry that they would not be able to make it!!! As I am on the phone thinking about what to do because all of our food/clothes/gear is in their 5th wheel that is 4 1/2 hours away my youngest is reeling in the first walleye of the trip on my rod. We are thinking that this is going to be amazing because we haven't even been fishing for 2 minutes. the catching for the morning came to a halt for me and my older son but the 11 year old continued on and caught 4 walleye in the 16 to 21 inch range. We headed back to the launch at around noon because we had to run in to Othello and buy a tent, sleeping bag, Food and pretty much everything else you need for camping. We hit the water again about 4 pm and again fished the mouth of crab creek where we ended up with 2 walleye in the 16-21 inch range. about 7 pm we headed back to the creek near the launch to do a little bass fishing. we slow trolled a bottom bouncer and threw top waters for 4 or 5 passes in and out of the channel. We ended up catching a 22 inch walleye, 4 pound smallmouth, a bluegill and a bunch of undersized largemouth. All in all it was a great day of fishing, not lights out but definitely worth it.

Day:2 Hit the water at 4:00 am, no other boats around. we hit the mouth of Crab Creek near the same dune we were catching them the day before. The show continued for my trash talking 11 year old who continuously reminded me of the fact that he had way more skill than I did when it came to fishing. Within 15 minutes he caught 2 17-20 inchers on a bottom bouncer and one more on a crank bait. the other two of us not a bite. About 8:15 we headed back to the pier for a bathroom call and as we headed back out we decided to go quite a ways back into the dunes and try for some walleye. We made a good choice and picked up 3 more of which 2 were in the 17-20 inch range and one was a 25incher with one eye. unfortunately I was having GPS issues and we spent hours upon hours trying to find the spot again with no luck. We ended the day with 6 walleye, 1 largemouth and 1 catfish.

Day:3 on the water again by 4:00 am with tons of boats on the water (bass tournament), lake feels like a washtub. We again started at the mouth of crab creek but the fishing was much different. Not a single bite for hours on end, we pulled up and headed back up the creek further and saw a bunch of boats fishing a consistent 11 foot section of water so we dropped our lines and fished for a couple hours for only one walleye 18 inches long. About 10 am we were tired of carving holes in crab creek so we decided to go hit the dam for some smallmouth and get away from the traffic jam of crab creek. We haven't ever fished for smallmouth so we weren't sure how to do it. we threw crankbaits the entire distance of the dam and did not catch a single smallmouth but I did end up with a 4.4 lb largemouth. later that afternoon after our midday nap we again headed back in the dunes and ended up picking up two walleyes and a undersize smallmouth.

Day: 4 the fishing turned off, we picked up one walleye in the morning in crab creek at the mouth and nothing else. around noon we headed in due to the heat and went to Othello for lunch and some air conditioning. we returned to the camp about 3:30 and decided to hit lind coulee since the bite was off at crab creek, so we hooked up the trailer and drove around to reduce our time to the fishing grounds. We hit the water about 4:30 and figured out we forgot the crawlers so we headed back to shore and had to run to Mardon for Crawlers. back on the water 30 minutes later fishing the dirt wall straight off the point of the launch. immediately the youngest boy picks up about a 17-18 incher and decided that he will launch it into the boat versus use the net and off course it came in one side and went back out the other. fished a couple more hours and caught one more 19 incher and had 4-5 more solid hits that took the bait but no more fish.

Day:5 boys wanted to fish for a couple hours before we had to get on the road home so we hit lind coulee from 4:30-7:00 am with not a single bite so we loaded up and jumped back on I-90 across the pass.

In Summary: the water was very high so there wasn't much for dunes around the mouth of crab creek. Was the fishing lights out? No but we did come home with 18 or so fish and father/sons memories that will never be forgotten. The baits that worked the best for us were Orange wally-pops with the fire tiger smile blade and the slow death hook with the orange smile blade and a small float. we did not catch a single walleye on any other color. The other strange event that we came across this year was not a single perch? where are they? We pushed our trip up 3 weeks earlier this year to beat the heat but it was still very very hot and fishing was a little slower so next year will again be the last week of July.

DavidA

6/8/2016 4:45:00 PM

Great report G. So far, my friends and I have made 3 trips to Potholes/Moses Lake this year, from Kitsap County. Boat motor troubles have plagued me each time, but I think I have them all fixed! We usually pass on fishing there during the summer but I expect to get in one or two group trips again in the fall. The last time the plan, had the motor cooperated, was to hit Crab Creek right around where you were, and hopefully head deep into the dunes as well. Maybe in the fall. You don't mention the bugs. When we did get to the mouth of Crab Creek last month it was almost impossible to avoid inhaling bugs, having them crawl up our noses, and all over my glasses, despite being deet-soaked. Any secrets!? P.S. Your report is very encouraging, though I'll admit to never having made it out quite as early in the morning as you managed.

Larry3215

6/8/2016 5:35:00 PM

Excellent report! Fun times with the kiddos :)

Gbergman

6/8/2016 5:37:00 PM

I can say the bugs were horrible in the evening and we had to wear sunglasses as we motored across the lake to keep them out of our eyes. You might want to try the summer. We have had our best luck for walleyes the last week of June 1st week of July. It's very hot but we always do best for walleyes between 4 and 8 in the morning and it's much cooler at that time.

Fish Dawg

6/9/2016 5:55:00 PM

Great stories about the adventure you enjoyed with your kiddos! Thanks for sharing.

Good luck and tight lines out there!

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