Saugeye

[eyegetit]

Are there any US states (or Canadian prov's) stocking saugeye OTHER than Ohio? If so, how is the overall success rate in your waters? I find it extremely hard to find any reading material on this exciting and highly successful sauger/walleye hybrid.

[BD]

I wonder what they would do in our little lake. Maybe decrease the stunted perch and gills? Is there a site detailing the Ohio stocking program? What results?

[Neal/CO]

The Colorado DOW tried for years to build up walleye population in our southeast resevoirs but they all ended up as fertilizer in farmers fields because they were going thru the dam outlets during the spring runoff season. They switched to Saugeye's and have been stocking millions in Nee Grande, Nee Noshe, Meredith and John Martin. I think the state record is now 11 lbs plus. I haven't made the trip down there yet, but I guess the fishing is pretty good? They have started stocking Saugeyes in about a half dozen other lakes recently.
I think Oklahoma also stocks Saugeye now?

[tskib]

We stock a lot of saugeyes in our reservoirs in Iowa. Quite a few of them go through the dams too, and we have good fishing for them in some rivers also.

Todd

[eyegetit]

Ohio DNR saugeye stocking program. http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/wildlife/news/archive/2000/oh2700.html

Ohio state record saugeye 12.83 lbs. http://216.40.215.214/forum/showthread.php?s=32d870d0e0bee6802d9a08b8b0e74bdf&threadid=16779

[ILLEYE]

The Illinois dnr has been stocking them in some reservoirs with good success. One in particular that I fish is really starting to come into its own. The state record was broken twice this year in that particular reservoir. Anyone willing to share any tips on Saugeyes? I have noticed they behave somewhat different than walleyes. In this reservoir anyway.

[Eyez]

South Dakota has used them successfully several times that I know of, and probably quite a few others.


Eyez

[Andy K]

Neal, let me tell you from experience, the fishing for saugeye is more than "good". We have had a blast at NeeNoshi and NeeGronda catching saugeye. It is well worth the trip. Spring time seems to be the best. You should see the Crappie that come out of there too!! Some of the largest crappie I've ever seen. You can even catch a state record wiper too, ( 23lb wiper came out of NeeNoshi). I can't wait to get out there this spring!

[Scott Richardson]

As a previous post said, we are having a ball at a 900-acre reservoir just north of Bloomington, Il., called Evergreen lake. It began receiving saugeye stockings in the early 1990s when the Walleye Committee began experimenting with saugeye in several Midwestern statwes based on the success Ohio had. Evergreen produced a state record mid-2001 and we are waiting for confirmation on another caught this fall _ 9 pounds, 10.5 ounces.

The following story appearred in a magazine last year. It features Mark Brumbaugh, who has fished for saugeye for years. Hope it helps.

Scott

Saugeye – The New Kid
By Ted Takasaki and Scott Richardson


There’s new name on the fishing scene making friends wherever it goes. It’s the saugeye, a hybrid cross between walleye and sauger.

Saugeye have always occurred in small numbers in nature anywhere sauger and walleye share the same water. But, the saugeye’s range has spread across the Midwestern United States and into the West thanks to intensive stocking efforts during the past decade.

The surge in saugeye came after ground-breaking research in Ohio that indicated saugeye, unlike walleye, thrive in turbid water typical in lowland reservoirs in the Central United States.

Gary Isbell, fisheries chief for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said Ohio began experiments with saugeye in the late 1970s. Scientists soon discovered saugeye did very well everywhere they were stocked compared to mixed results from similar stockings of walleye. Biologists theorize saugeye inherited the sauger’s ability to survive in dingy water. At the same time, saugeye have a capacity to capitalize on a variety of forage early in life. As a result, growth rates are rapid. Ohio’s saugeye record is 12.4 pounds.

Another advantage - unlike walleye, saugeye tend to stay put in reservoirs that experience high-water episodes during floods, said Tom Mosher, fisheries research coordinator for the Kansas Department of Natural Resources. Mosher coordinated a just-completed multi-state saugeye study and is currently writing the final report.

Recent radio-tracking in Ohio indicates that the saugeyes who escape over the dams will tend to stay put in the tailraces. This creates fishing opportunities for shore and boat anglers.

With those qualities in its favor, saugeye soon replaced walleye stocking in 50 inland reservoirs in Ohio. These reservoirs will receive 6- to 8-million small saugeye each year. Once the dominant species, walleyes are only stocked in a handful of lakes today to maintain brood stocks or in spots where scientists do not want saugeye to cross with native walleye or sauger populations in large numbers. Over time, that kind of hybridization upon hybridization could diminish the genetic makeup of the offspring.

Encouraged by the Ohio experience, the Walleye Technical Committee of the North Central Division of the American Fisheries Society undertook a multi-state study of saugeye in the early 1990s. Twenty lakes were chosen in Illinois, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma to receive annual saugeye stockings.

The results have been nothing short of spectacular in many cases. For example, last October at a 900-acre reservoir in Central Illinois just north of Bloomington known as Evergreen Lake, Illinois Department of Natural Resources biologists Mike Garthaus and Gary Lutterbie led a crew that electro-shocked two saugeyes heavier than the current state record of 8 pounds, 7 ounces. One was over 9 pounds. That same 100-yard stretch of shoreline also produced several 6- and 7 pounders plus many smaller fish. Incredible as that seems, it should not have been a surprise. During the 2000 fishing season, two anglers caught fish nudging the state record at Evergreen. Evergreen produced an incredible 68 saugeye per hour from electro-shocking that night in autumn.

(THE STATE RECORDS OCCURRED AFTER THIS STORY WAS WRITTEN)

Mosher said other lakes in the study reached 150 to 160 per hour. "That’s a lot of fish," he said.

Kansas did "real well" in three reservoirs where "we couldn’t get walleye to stay in the lake," Mosher added. Kansas’ state record saugeye is 9.81 pounds. Marion and Chase lakes in Kansas continue to receive saugeye fry each year. Lake Guthrie in Oklahoma also saw big numbers of the hybrids.

Saugeye can spawn. However, most of the lakes in the study offer no suitable spawning habitat. Their success in developing a following of avid pursuers has convinced several states, including Illinois, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Kansas, to continue stockings. Iowa discontinued saugeye stockings because experts there thought the results did not justify the added expense of producing the hybrids over walleyes.

Saugeye have been around long enough for anglers to figure out how to catch them. They’ve discovered that saugeye behave differently than walleyes in important ways. For one, saugeye tend to be structure oriented year-round rather than sometimes roaming open water in search of baitfish. Another important difference - anglers are finding them in shallow water all day long throughout the year. Shorefishermen have no trouble finding places to
land them throughout the open-water season. (BOTH RECORDS, THE CONFIRMED ONE AND THE PENDING ONE, WERE FROM SHORE, ONE IN THE TAILRACE AND THE OTHER ON THE MAIN LAKE.)

During the recent winter, Isbell said ice anglers reported catching them in 3 feet of water. "The saugeyes were so shallow they would bang their head on the underside of the ice when they set the hook," he said.

Big pigs (REFERRING TO ONES BEFORE THE RECORDS) caught last year at Evergreen Lake came during summer at midday in bright sunlight while casting crankbaits on shallow points, a favorite saugeye attractor. The presence of gravel rip rap, wood or weeds improves the likelihood that saugeye will be there.

Ohio walleye pro, Mark Brumbaugh, said most of the lakes he fishes are shallow to start with. These lakes average depths of 8 feet or less. His best success comes from working shallow breaklines or small humps by vertical jigging small 1/16th or 1/8th ounce Fuzz-E-Grub jigs and minnows or ‘crawlers. Brumbaugh also works breaklines with a three-way rig consisting of a jig and a Rattlin’ Hooker by Lindy Little Joe. Mosher said Kansas anglers like to suspend small jigs under floats and cast them over the tops of points. The technique takes saugeye plus many bonus species ranging from bass to catfish. Saugeye also like blade baits jigged in fallen or standing timber.

Drifting with jigs or NO-SNAGG rigs work well on points or flats on the windy side of the reservoirs. When the breeze blows, Brumbaugh likes to work the small openings of bridges where the wind creates saugeye-attracting
current.

Try trolling crankbaits or bottom bouncers and spinners on flats in warm water. Use trolling boards to move them to the shallows and away from boat noise.

Don’t be afraid to try big baits. One day when Brumbaugh’s usual tactics didn’t work, he happened upon an old man boating fish after fish. The trick? He was using 1 ounce jigs and 4 inch twister tails. Brumbaugh followed suit and won a Team Walleye tournament the next day. Isbell said muskie fishermen tell him saugeyes will often take 12-inch crankbaits.

Saugeyes are the new kid on the block. Join the Welcome Wagon

[eyegetit]

Scott, thanks a ton for the excellent post! Hearing it from the pro's perspective is exactly the kind of information I was craving.

I am an avid Central Ohio saugeye angler with my home lake being Alum Creek Reservoir. Unlike many other saugeye-stocked lakes in Ohio, Alum is deep and clear (up to 60') with a wide variety of structural elements -- a challenge for the local angler and professional alike. Right now, we are coming off of what I would rate as our most successful saugeye season ever -- capping off with a fall period that saw numerous saugeye caught in the 7 to 10 lb class. My personal best went 7.2 lbs and was caught on a jig & minnow in the main lake on 12/2/01. I also landed numerous saugeyes in the 4 to 6 lb class.

As far as any tips I can offer the first time saugeye angler...Think bottom huggers! This is definitely the dominant trait inherited from the sauger. I have found little in the way of evidence that saugeye will suspend while feeding. With that thought in mind, use all of the traditional lures & methods you would use for inland walleye, just keep it near the bottom and near structure -- Rock humps, points and drop offs are my favorites. I agree 100% with the pro's -- saugeye are structure-oriented year 'round.

[Greg w]

Scott,
Thanks for the great info. I have fished Pleasant Hill Lake(in Ohio) with little success except for the spillway and the river fishing above the lake. It seems like the info about saugeyes is pretty limited.
Greg W

[Scott Richardson]

I think that there is a good start here in the post;

They are;

-structure oriented

-bottom oriented

-tend to be shallower than you expect

-and in spring and fall, they seem to move toward current.

Whatever anyone learns about them, please post and we will all lean more.

Thanks
Scott Richardson

[Neal/CO]

Thanks for the article on Saugeye's Scott. It was very informative!