Saylorville Walleyes and White Bass - 8/9/2014

My buddy Jay and I fished Saylorville Lake from shore on Saturday morning...from @ 8:45am-11:45am.  The weather was cloudy, 7mph wind from the South, 71 degrees F, and the lake level was 842....6' above normal pool.

Jay and I were hoping for White Bass / Wipers.  I took a fly rod for carp, but didn't see any.  Jay ended with 2 White Bass, 4 Walleyes.  I ended with 12 White Bass, 2 Walleyes, and 1 Channel Catfish.

A couple of boats fished near us most of the time...for the most part they were respectful about keeping distance....Or at least they tried....but I was casting MUCH further than would normally be expected, what with a spinning reel full of fresh Fireline and a slab spoon tied on the end.  I was fine with them, though...I spoke with both boats, and we got along well enough.  There were a few good busts during the time we were there.  Mainly they were too far for me to reach from shore.  The boat guys chased them down as quick as they could, but the fish were nearly always gone by the time they got there.

Early on, Jay and I each caught a walleye on slab spoons.

Then we caught our White Bass.  It was really slow action...long dry spells between each fish.

Jay checked out some other spots down the shoreline a ways.  When he returned @ 11:15am, he started casting an inline spinner, and caught a couple of walleyes, including a nice 21-incher:

I snagged up and lost my (3rd of the day) slab spoon, so I put on a spinner as well.  I cast into shallow water, and caught a catfish:

On the very next cast, I had another, better hit.  I thought it was going to be a much better catfish, but it turned out to be a nice walleye of @ 19"...and Jay hooked and landed its twin at the same time.  A DOUBLE on walleyes...at Saylorville???  A sure sign of the "Alpaca-Lips"!! :)

After the double, Jay caught one more white bass, and then it just died.  I had to be home around noon anyway, so we left.
There was a colorful Regatta going on, too:

Saylorville Lake, Evening Fishing 9-4-2013

I fished Saylorville Lake last night from around 6:20pm-8:10pm.

There were many boaters up on the flats...in water less than 3' deep, and within 30' of shore.  This is extremely unusual...but it was a good sign that the fish weren't out in deeper water.  I avoided the stretch of shoreline the boaters were working.  I walked around "the long way", checking the shoreline for signs of carp in the shallows.  I didn't really see any until I got to the point, but they were spooking before I could get near.

So, I tossed a surface plug with my spinning gear.  It was slow going, but within a few casts I caught a decent white bass, and then a couple more.  The biggest was this 15-incher:

I moved around the point a little further.  Saw some more carp, and decided to try flyfishing for them.  Once again, I couldn't get near the fish that were visible in the shallows near shore, but there was some swirling going on just beyond them, so I tried blind casting for awhile with a beadhead mylar chenille bugger.  Jackpot!

I could have kept fishing for carp, and probably caught a few more, but it would have been slow and tedious since I couldn't really sight-fish for them.
So, I resumed chucking a topwater plug for White Bass with a spinning rod.  I found 'em, and caught one on nearly every cast for the next hour or so.  I also caught a largemouth bass.  As the sky started to get dark, the action slowed, but I was still catching them when I decided to leave.