MarDon Fresh News – March 22, 2019 

The current water level on the Potholes reservoir is remaining fairly steady in the 1043.5-foot range. The Potholes Reservoir remains iced over and no launches are available yet. The Bureau did open the Potholes Canal several days ago – so water is flowing thru the system. With the warmer temperatures the ice should be off the Reservoir around April 1.

The Sandhill Crane festival begins today and runs thru the weekend in Othello. There are plenty of birds in the local fields and in the Columbia Basin Wildlife Refuge to watch as they make their annual stop-over on their way to Southern Alaska.

Along with the Sandhill Cranes, there are thousands of Snow Geese in the area as well. They are awesome to watch as they raft up on the Potholes Reservoir or set down in a field. The not so good side is that the Snow geese are  forcing the farmers in the area to replant fields as they eat differently than Canada geese. The Snow geese will grub thru the ground not only taking the above ground growth but the roots as well – thus clearing the ground of the crop. The Canada geese typically will graze on the above ground foliage leaving the roots intact allowing the crop to survive.

Call the MarDon Store for the latest and fishing info at 509-346-2651.

Thousands of Snow geese flying over an iced over Potholes Reservoir yesterday!