10_2025_REELLIFE_digital - Flipbook - Page 32
A DOCK FULL OF FUN
BY JOHN KRUSE
I grew up fishing off docks
at Lake Sammamish in
Western Washington for
everything from bass to
bluegills to perch to trout,
pumpkinseed sunfish, and
more. Little did I know that
much later in life, I would
be fishing off a dock again
for multiple species of fish,
but this time, for a potential
monetary payout!
MarDon Resort is a multigenerational family-owned
resort located on the south
shore of Potholes Reservoir
in Eastern Washington.
For years, they have been
putting on an annual dock
tournament the second
weekend of September.
This is a popular event, with
anywhere from 125 to 160
participants, many of them
coming back every year.
The tournament is very
affordable ($60 per entrant
in 2025), and there is an
80-percent payout to the
winning anglers. It is a
vastly different tournament
than most. Instead of
catching a limit of five or
six fish and weighing in
the bass or walleye, you are
fishing for the two biggest
fish of eleven distinct
species of fish.
The species you can
catch off the dock are
numerous. There are
categories for largemouth
bass, smallmouth bass,
walleye, rainbow trout,
perch, crappie, bluegill,
pumpkinseed, carp,
channel catfish, and yellow
bullhead. This year, the firstplace fish in each category
netted the winner $375,
and the second-place fish
was worth $125.
The groups participating
in this event are very
diverse. There are families
and extended families,
couples, fishing buddies,
senior citizens, women, and
children all fishing off the
dock day and night, and all
trying to get a big fish. The
tournament kicks off with
a potluck on Friday at 5 PM.
MarDon Resort provides
fried chicken tenders,
water, and cookies while
participants bring side
dishes and more for a nice
dinner. At 6 PM, anglers
hit the docks and you fish
as much or as little as you
want from Friday night until
10 AM on Sunday. There is
a weigh-in station at the
marina staffed 24 hours a
day, this year by Russ and
Kim Anderson, who took
turns sleeping during the
night. Some of the winning
fish were caught right off
the bat! Georgia Goss was
using a crappie jig when
she hooked into a monster
walleye at sunset on Friday.
The 5.56-pound fish netted
her first place by a long
shot. The only other walleye
caught was by her niece,
Madison Shopbaugh, and
that was only six inches
long but still worth $125. It
was nice to see kids reel in
winning fish! On Saturday
morning, 12-year-old Levi
Garza caught a gigantic
channel catfish that
weighed 25.4 pounds, easily
beating out a 16-pound
catfish that took second
place.
