Saylorville Reservoir, Polk County, IA 8-7-04

Fishing was cut short Saturday morning by the wind. James (Ia James) was kind enough to put us on the white bass immediately via VHF channel 06. Thanks James!

We caught a couple south of Cherry Glen using shad pattern plugs and a silver Rat L Trap on ultralite equipment. I brought the 3 weight flyrod with a shad zonker but never got to use it. The wind was a bit much for the family and fishing became secondary. We boated over to the lee of the hills on the other side of the lake and caught a few more. If you were serious about it, you could catch dozens as Im certain James did. But when the family is along… well, you know how it goes…

Good luck,

Dave

Glad I could help put the kids on some fish. I lost count on the whites. Was out there Mon. and got 6 smallies 2 whites and 1 cat was out for about 3 hours. Fish were scatered all over the lake. If you are wondering I changed to IaJames because people were sending me pm.s instead of James Holst. Was not a problem but I could not help them out the way he could. Well better luck comming tomorrow I hope. Jim

Follow up to fishing Saylorville on Saturday:

I fished the East shore for a couple hours Monday night. The shad were going nuts back in the coves and some predator(it was dark)was feeding on them. Whatever it was, I couldnt get it to take what I was casting.

Curious note: Bats are always out at the Ville at night, but this is the first time I have seem them go nuts over Gulp. I had a 3″ white Gulp minnow about three feet from my face when I saw something buzzing around it. It really startled me. I had to make a point of keeping it low or in the water or this bat (or bats) would try to grab it. I have heard that mice will eat Gulp, so I suppose it is only natural….

Dave

I went out Saturday after rumors of White Bass being so good at Saylorville and at the end of the day, between four of us, got a small flathead, a white and snaged a big carp.

I was kinda hoping to give it another shot after work Thursday, but don’t know what to think of the weather. Winds will be light unlike Saturday, but will the cool weather keep the fun away?

I’m not very good at finding fish and have a small boat, so can’t get from one end to the other very quickly… Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Brad

Hi Brad,

Welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear you didn’t have much luck Saturday. The wind got pretty unpleasant. I try to plan the fishing days around calmer winds.

What I would do is plan your next trip out around a flat calm morning. If you dont want to go far, put your boat in at Sandpiper and work south or Cherry Glen and work north. Some guys troll small cranks and spoons; I prefer to fan cast small floating plugs and Kastmasters as I drift or move with the trolling motor along the eastern shore.

Keep your eyes out for A. diving gulls and B. other fishing boats. If you have a VHF radio, tune it to channel 06.

If you REALLY want to catch whites talk to the masters… Ia James and Zamer. Both nice guys, both generous with their fishing knowledge.

Have fun,
Dave

Tonight’s forcast doesn’t look as appealing as it did a couple days ago. Unfortunately, fishing in the mornings in not too likely for me… I am generally limited to after work or weekend afternoon/evenings.

I guess I’ll hold out for temps to warm up again.

Yeah, its weird that we are having to deal with cool windy days at Fair time.

My favorite white bass days are the dog days of July/August when it hot, muggy and not a breath of wind in the air. You can scan the lake with binos and see the shad activity clear on the other side of the lake. I promise you that August still has some of those days left in it

If you cant make it out in the mornings, early evening through dusk is fine as well. You usually have a better chance of flat water in the morning though.

If you see a guy in a Century salt water flats boat, wave…
Good luck,
Dave

Ha Dave thanks for the vote of confidence. The last two days it has been slow with the wind and the cool weather the fish have been hard to find. I’ve been doing better on smallies than on whites. Maybe I should try going out in the afternoon instead. Hope to get out today after 9:00 am. Will let you know how it goes. Going to try something new today . See you out there some nite maybe. Jim

How big are the smallies running in Saylorville? Are you getting them on cranks like the whites or something else? Thanks.

Well made it out there to the ville again today. Got on the water turned on the radio and got two bad reports. Bill and Ed had been there for about two hours and had not even had a hit. Sandpipper was dead and so was the mud flats and the center hump. Water temp was 72.5 just about everywhere. It did not take long until I decided to go south to Lakeview. Got one hit on the point and that was it headed to the dam and got one on the other hump down there then another and another . Got on the radio and let Bill,Ed ,Ted and Greg Lonimun the DNR officer and his partner know. Went to the east side at the dam and hit them. It was not fast but you could get one just about ever cast. Average 12 inches this lasted about 45 minites them just like you flipped a switch them were done. Then we all took off hunting again . As for the smallies they have been in the 12 inch range with one 14 . Did not get any of them today. Hope to go again Sat. am. Jim

Thanks Jim. Its good to here that the cool weather hasnt shut them down completely and you can still find them with some perseverance. Last week the water was 73.? deg so it hasnt cooled as much as I thought it would considering all the nights in the 50s we have had.

What new thing were you going to try today?

Dave