# Cowan lake sauger?



## Kennyjames (May 13, 2012)

Have a question for the guys that fish Cowan. Saw on the ODNR site for fish ohios that Cowan lake is number 4 in the state for fish Ohio pins given out for sauger. I always thought they were saugeye I ways catching. Am I wrong?


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

Sauger are definitely in Cowan but I don't catch many, I catch mainly saugeye but sauger are in there.
Good luck and Good Fishing !


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## Kennyjames (May 13, 2012)

Cool. I haven't applied for a fish Ohio pin. I am on a mission this year to see how many species I can get pins on this year from Cowan. Goal is 4 different species


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## Saugeye Tom (Oct 6, 2010)

I didn,t think sauger could live in cowan huh learn somthing new every day....


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## Saugeye Tom (Oct 6, 2010)

garhtr said:


> Sauger are definitely in Cowan but I don't catch many, I catch mainly saugeye but sauger are in there.
> Good luck and Good Fishing !


fur real?? Did they stock them???


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## Kennyjames (May 13, 2012)

Yeah I thought they were pretty much a river fish. That was weird seeing that on the odnr site


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

Saugeye Tom said:


> fur real?? Did they stock them???


 I've caught a couple from Cowan and a couple in East fork also, unless you're really paying attention most people just assume they've caught a saugeye. I catch a few white perch in East fork also, how those fish get there ? ?
Good luck and Good Fishing !


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

Cowan used to be stocked pretty with sauger back in the 80's and maybe the 90's. It had such a good population back then that the DNR would set their nets each spring to catch brood stock to take back to the hatcheries for making more little sauger.
There used to be a pretty loyal group who would fished for them but they said they quit stocking them because of the expense and lack of people fishing for them.
They discontinued any saug-fish stocking for quite a few years before they started stocking saugeyes. The saugeyes were supposedly cheaper to raise.
I never really understood Ohio's fascination with stocking mutants, either the saugeyes or hybrid stripers but I guess there a lot of other stuff I don't understand too so I guess it's just the way it is.
I always thought EF would be a great lake for saugeyes.


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

Crappiedude have you caught any recently ?? It's been awhile since I've caught one at Cowan but Several years ago we caught them fairly often while bass fishing, I don't fish Cowan nearly as much as I did in passed years.
Good luck and Good Fishing !


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

garhtr...it's been a long, long time since I've caught a true sauger out of Cowan but my last one was a true pig being that it was probably somewhere close to 5#. Unfortunately it was long before the times of cell phone cameras so I don't have any pics but it was so big it looked freakish. I started to take it to the marina and see if Tommy would weight it but decided to just release it. It was several years after the stocking program ended.
I do catch a few saugeye out of Cowan now and then, some on purpose and some while crappie fishing.
What amazes me is we've caught a few ring perch the last few years. I think where did these come from? We went to Rocky last year one day and we caught a decent amount of ring perch from there too. I never knew either lake to be stocked with them .
I've fished Cowan since 1975. I used to mostly fish for bass back in the day then added the musky and sauger to the mix. My best musky day I caught 7 and lost 4 more.
Somewhere in there we started catching white bass. The state said they didn't stock them but we were catching them like crazy so I have to wonder how could that many fish just magically appear overnight.
My only other odd catch was a smallie. It wasn't huge, maybe 12" or 13". Probably 20-25 years ago. I've often wondered where did he come from and why no more than just him.
I got to say Cowan is one of my favorite lakes to fish.


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

I'm seeing a few ringperch in Cowan also and have been catching them at RF for many years but I haven't caught any large ones.
I caught a hybrid out of Cowan recently , figured somebody tossed in a few or it came downstream from a farm pond, who knows, but kinda strange.
Good luck and Good Fishing


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## BMagill (May 5, 2004)

The one time I thought I had a musky at Cowan it turned out to be a flathead that hit my trolled crankbait.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Good post guys. I like hearing of "odd ball" catches. But I don't think there to "odd" most all of are lakes are made bye daming a river. I just always assume anything could be swimming aroundare lakes. Then add that the millions of stocked fish these lakes see. Who's to say there's not some lil odd ball white bass with The wipers or Muskie with the saugeyes. Etc. Etc. You also always here the rumors,"Oh I herd the hatchery had extra ------ and they decided to toss them into lake x. Don't know if that stuff happens but imagine it can.
Then you have the bucket biologist . One area I fish from My kayak I always run into this same guy. He works for the dnr/state and has complained up and down to me about people ruining his lake an what not . Lol then turns around tells me he's been stocking his cove with bass he catches from other creeks and lakes!? Lollolol..... 
Before the state started dumping wipers in osheay an Griggs here in c-bus you would see the occasional big wiper caught in various spots along the river some north of greenlawn (last dam until it empties into ohio) more then likely flooded in from privately stocked ponds.
Haha the state record saugeye- taken from a popular trout pond never stocked with saugeye on trout power bait.....
Crappiedude a 5 lb sauger is a BEAST!!!
anyways fun thread!


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

yes ... Sauger are definitely in Cowan... i've been catching them in that lake since the 80's. they do Stock it with Saugeye now... but there are definitely still sauger in there .


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## Kennyjames (May 13, 2012)

I have actually started targeting some perch in the last couple years. I was catching them pretty often last year. Caught one about 13". Park ranger told me when they stocked the saugeye they get mixed in there. They may start doing a lot better with them not stocking the musky anymore. I was also told that Cowan now gets the most saugeye than any other lake in the state. I guess where Caesars creek gets all the musky we get a portion of their saugeye plus what we were already getting. That's just what I heard though.


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## Saugeye Tom (Oct 6, 2010)

Kennyjames said:


> I have actually started targeting some perch in the last couple years. I was catching them pretty often last year. Caught one about 13". Park ranger told me when they stocked the saugeye they get mixed in there. They may start doing a lot better with them not stocking the musky anymore. I was also told that Cowan now gets the most saugeye than any other lake in the state. I guess where Caesars creek gets all the musky we get a portion of their saugeye plus what we were already getting. That's just what I heard though.


well maybe by surface acre but indian gets 300 to 500k every year


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Saugeye Tom said:


> well maybe by surface acre but indian gets 300 to 500k every year


With Buckeye only getting 1/3 of what it normally gets right now lol lots to go around


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## Kennyjames (May 13, 2012)

Yeah probably


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## Kennyjames (May 13, 2012)

Also did see that on shore 2 days ago. Wasn't there 4 days before when me and my son was there. There are still some musky left.


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## Saugeye Tom (Oct 6, 2010)

Saugeyefisher said:


> With Buckeye only getting 1/3 of what it normally gets right now lol lots to go around


Because of water levels?


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

kenny...didn't you and I fisha saugeye tournament on Cowan lake a few years ago?


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

Saugeyefisher said:


> Crappiedude a 5 lb sauger is a BEAST!!!


It was truly huge and besides it length it had a huge belly. We used to get them on a regular basis mostly up to maybe a pound or 2 plus a ton of little ones so this one definitely made an impression. I always hoped it survived and made a few more babies that somehow made it. I know the odds of a successful spawn are really slim but weird things do seem to happen.


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## Kennyjames (May 13, 2012)

Yeah we sure did. That was a bad day for everyone lol. I have been off of here for a couple years when I got a new phone. Finally logged back in


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Tom,yes the low levels


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

The lake is hardly a shell of itself as far as saugeye fishing goes. Panfish,bass ,an cats doing great,with no pressure.


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## Saugeye Tom (Oct 6, 2010)

Saugeyefisher said:


> Tom,yes the low levels


I remember when buckeye was hot to trot


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## Kennyjames (May 13, 2012)

Judging by the reports in the central fishing reports it looks like buckeye and Indian are still doing good


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## Mean Morone (Apr 12, 2004)

I've fished Cowan for 50 some years. I remember when it was stocked back in the 70's with either sauger or saugeye. I assumed they were saugeye because they were so big. I've seen many dead ones on the bank that were easily in the 4 to 6 lb. That would be monster sauger. I used to see big musky dead on the bank too. I kept the jaw of a very large musky and it sits on my sons dresser to this day. A few years ago I saw a school of fish come to the surface and blow up on shad. Now I've fished for white bass, hybrid stripers and stripers for many years in other lakes and I'm telling you these were big fish. Of course they were just out of casting range. Have no idea what they were. I've caught exactly one smallmouth out of Cowan. I still remember the exact spot where I caught it. He was no bigger than 10 inches but I was thrilled. Probably the last of his kind out of there. Back in the 80's I got in to a bunch of spotted bass. Only caught them one year and haven't been able to catch one since. I'm glad they are putting saugeye in there now. If the state is going to take away one fish, might as well replace it with something else.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Kennyjames said:


> Judging by the reports in the central fishing reports it looks like buckeye and Indian are still doing good


I wish that was the case with buckeye! An even Indian can be tough at times to. 
A few of us got really spoiled to ole buckeye the last few years. I fish it about weekly. It's crazy how few fish are being caught bye some damn good anglers putting in boocoo time....


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

2,3,4 years back it was nothing to go out any givennight and catch 20 fish in a short 4/5 hour fish. An then the "slow" nights we never got skunked always could find 3/4 I'm the right spots. 
An the really good days nites catch 40/50/60 fish even reaching 100 fish trips bye some willing to put in the hours. An not just piss aunt fish. Good solid fa5 saugeye with fish ranging from 16- 25/26 " with a couple mixed in bigger for others.
An it's not angling pressure that caused it,an the fish might even still be in there maybe running the main lake hardly no one's fishing? 
But now it's to the point I'm driving 2 hours past it to fish or an hour West to Indian.


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

hmmm....The first saugey ever stocked in Ohio was deer Creek in 1978. Cowan always had, and still has a healthy population of Sauger.


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## Mean Morone (Apr 12, 2004)

It's a good thing I didn't say 78 then. LOL. You are correct about Deer Creek. I've fished below Deer Creek many times since I first read about the original stocking many years ago. I had a good friend who fished for them hard(obviously it was after 78, I moved to Texas in 84 so it must have been 79 to 83) and was catching huge "sauger" from Cowan. I'm not arguing with anyone about what they are, or were. I'm always open to learning something new. All I know is they used to be huge in there back in the late 70's-early 80's because I saw them personally. Now the biggest sauger/saugeye I've seen recently out of Cowan was a 7 lber a few years ago. If that thing was a sauger, it's a wall hanger. The guy ate it. I do know that the state started stocking saugeye in 2000 or 2001. I'm old so I don't remember the exact year it was. I might mention that I've had relatives work at the marina for many, many years and they are still there to this day. Maybe Tom will know, he's been there since he was a teenager. Also, I've always been under the impression that sauger and walleye just don't reproduce well in our Ohio lakes(except for Erie and maybe a few other lakes). If sauger are doing well in Cowan, then we are very lucky.


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