Northwest Fishing Reports

My father fishes the Platte River weekly (catfish), and goes to Minnesota or Canada annually (walleye, pike, etc.). I live in the Tri-Cities. What are some good places he can fish within an hour's drive of the Tri-Cities? He's not really a salmon/steelhead guy. Resort ideas are great, guided tours not so much. Thanks!

There's good fishing within an hour almost any direction from the Tri-Cities. What does he want to fish for? Some options are: catfish, sturgeon, bass, walleye, or crappie. Knowing what he wants to fish for will help direct to location.

Between Yakima and Tri Cities along I-82 there are ponds galore. All those ponds got Perch,Crappie,Blugills and cats.My favorite ponds are between Buena and Toppenish.

BentRod wrote:There's good fishing within an hour almost any direction from the Tri-Cities. What does he want to fish for? Some options are: catfish, sturgeon, bass, walleye, or crappie. Knowing what he wants to fish for will help direct to location.

All of the above! He usually rents a cabin and a boat and trolls for hours. He's changing his fishing location to be near me, but I don't think he wants to change his entire fishing experience.

Well, he can fish for catfish about anywhere around there. Both the Columbia and the Snake Rivers are great for Channel Cats. The Yakima, Columbia, and Snake all have good to great bass fishing also. There are many small ponds and sloughs around the area that hold crappie, bluegill, pearch, and bullheads. If he is in need of a resort to stay at and also wants to rent a boat, then I'd suggest MarDon at the Potholes up north of the Tri-Cities. He can fish for all the species listed so far (except Sturgeon I think) right from there and they rent boats (not sure about motors though).
Oh, and if he wants to try for sturgeon and has no experience or gear then it's probably best to get a guide.

Cat fish- Mouth of the Walla Walla river, Palouse Falls State Park on the Snake river, and most anywhere on the Yakima river

Bass- without a boat the best thing to do is float the Yakima in a float tube. This is one of the best ways to spend a summer evening.

PM for more info or specifics

Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! This helps A LOT! And he's caught small sturgeon in the Platte, but he throws them back. Dunno if he's up to "big time" Columbia sturgeon fishing, but perhaps after a taste....

I agree that Mardon would be a good place for him to go if he wants to rent a room or cabin and a boat. The Potholes is a good multi species lake to go to and the people at Mardon are very good about helping new people know what to fish with each day even. There are lots of ponds ( the seep lakes) around there that he could fish in also and it is about an hour from the Tri-cities.