MARDON RESORT - As the days of summer roll on, the fishing only gets better out here at the Potholes Recreation Area. As the great Garth Brooks song, "The Thunder Rolls," plays in the background, the fishing is heating up just like the sound of the thunder. As the water drops and this great summer weather settles in, the elevation of Potholes Reservoir is currently at 1,037.5 feet above sea level. In layman terms it is roughly 8-9 feet below full pool.

The Walleye fishing has been phenomenal with fish up to 12 pounds being caught, and families coming into the MarDon dock with full limits. The best way to approach the Walleye is to troll a Rapala Shad Rap in depths from 7-15 feet of water along any of the major channels in the sand dunes, at speeds ranging from 1-3 mph. Anglers have still been catching them with bottom bouncing worm spinner rigs in slightly deeper water, and have been getting greeted by some big Walleye and slammed by jumbo Rainbow Trout up to 8 pounds, with the occasional big Smallmouth Bass. The king of walleye areas on the lake is still Crab Creek, but the Winchester arm, Frenchman's Wasteway, and Goose Island are not far behind with the action starting to heat up.

The dawn and dusk bass fishing has been amazing, with topwater fishing providing explosive strikes for anglers of all skill levels. Whether you would like to target Smallmouth or Largemouth, both can be caught using topwater lures such as the Spro Popper Frog or Rebel Pop-R. Big Largemouth are being caught in all arms of the sand dunes. Just find the bait and you will find the Largemouth. Smallmouth out in front of Frenchmans Wasteway and Goose Island can provide action from ferocious smallmouth all evening long. The water temperature of 70-75 degrees has been driving these bass to feed more often, along with the abundance of food being pushed out of the shallow water by the dropping of the lake.

Off the MarDon Resort dock young anglers have been fairly successful catching Crappie, Bluegill, and Bass. Bass up to 5 pounds have been taken off the dock area as of this week.

In tournament news, Jeff Mcbroom won the Columbia Basin Bass Club tournament this past weekend with 36.17 pounds of Largemouth Bass. Logan Merideth won the youth division of the tournament with 15 pounds.

MarDon Resort is proud to announce our first ever "Share With Your Friends" Contest on our Facebook page! Share MarDon Resort with all of your Facebook friends and tell them to "Like" our page. The person who refers the most friends by the Aug. 15 end date wins two free nights in one of our great cottages, a fully guided fishing trip with Bass Guide Nick Barr (www.NickBarrFishing.com) and a great tackle pack from Rapala Lures. It's easy, and you can win over $1,000 in prizes!

Our next event is the annual Beach Party Poker Run Aug. 27 on Potholes Reservoir. Take your boat or jet-ski out to each of the dune islands to play challenging games and win the best hands to win cash and some great prizes! If you don't have a boat, you can even play on land at the resort. This is an all day party event with a special beach party closing with music, food, dancing, and more! Come join us for one of the best MarDon parties of the year! Please call us at 509-346-2651 or check us out on the web at www.MarDonResort.com, even "Like" us on Facebook!

Lastly, our storekeeper Rob has some great lab pups for sale. These dogs are from an amazing line of smart, intelligent hunting labs. This is your chance to find that next hunting companion. Call Steve or Debbie at 360-710-4749. The pups will be ready Aug. 22.