# Hoover Saugeyes!



## papadaze (Jul 11, 2014)

Had another fine Saturday at Hoover with Saugeyes biting good. Started out slow and only brought in a 2ft Gar the first hour, but changing lure colors brought different results. caught 23 total with 16 being Saugeye. Kept 8 from 16.5 to 14 inch. Caught a few Crappie and a White Bass to add to the cooler also.


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## Morrowtucky Mike (May 2, 2018)

papadaze said:


> Had another fine Saturday at Hoover with Saugeyes biting good. Started out slow and only brought in a 2ft Gar the first hour, but changing lure colors brought different results. caught 23 total with 16 being Saugeye. Kept 8 from 16.5 to 14 inch. Caught a few Crappie and a White Bass to add to the cooler also.


What were the saugeye biting on at Hoover? I don’t fish there just curious cuz I fish Alum and Indian Lake for them.


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## crittergitter (Jun 9, 2005)

Best hat on OGF!!!! Love it!! Nice fish too!


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## papadaze (Jul 11, 2014)

crittergitter said:


> Best hat on OGF!!!! Love it!! Nice fish too!


Thanks brother! Keeps me cool & brings me luck


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## papadaze (Jul 11, 2014)

Morrowtucky Mike said:


> What were the saugeye biting on at Hoover? I don’t fish there just curious cuz I fish Alum and Indian Lake for them.


No problem, I never mind sharing info. Flicker Shad 5cm trolling at idle. I usually use Red Tiger but the bite was slow so i put a Purple Growler on my wife's line and and it was on. I did well with Pearl White also.


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## lacdown (Apr 25, 2007)

So, I was going to chime in that I thought the saugeye had a minimum limit of 15 inches at Hoover but apparently that's no longer the case. Odd that they would remove a size limit when fishing/survey results have been low and they are stocking walleye now too. 

http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/portals/wildlife/pdfs/fishing/2019-20 Ohio Fishing Regs_WEB.pdf

Regardless, great job and glad they are showing up this year!


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

lacdown said:


> So, I was going to chime in that I thought the saugeye had a minimum limit of 15 inches at Hoover but apparently that's no longer the case. Odd that they would remove a size limit when fishing/survey results have been low and they are stocking walleye now too.
> 
> http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/portals/wildlife/pdfs/fishing/2019-20 Ohio Fishing Regs_WEB.pdf
> 
> Regardless, great job and glad they are showing up this year!


I dont think it was removed,more like never existed. Same with griggs,an osheay. Columbus reservoirs... it's not a state wide limit.


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## OrangeMilk (Oct 13, 2012)

Maybe they are trying to clear them out before the Walleye stocking. I've only ever caught shorts on Hoover that would not be worth cleaning regardless of no size limit.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

OrangeMilk said:


> Maybe they are trying to clear them out before the Walleye stocking. I've only ever caught shorts on Hoover that would not be worth cleaning regardless of no size limit.


Nope. There stocking both walleye and saugeye.


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## lacdown (Apr 25, 2007)

Huh, for some reason I always thought that Hoover and Alum were called out on the site specific limits for both crappie and saugeye. My bad.


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## gumbygold (Apr 9, 2013)

Just alum.


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## Buckeye_Sam (Jun 6, 2005)

It's only a matter of time before they give up on saugeye at Hoover. The blue cats are doing very well there, and I'm sure they're having an affect on the saugeye population. Maybe they think the walleye will grow faster so they're not on the menu for the blues.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Buckeye_Sam said:


> It's only a matter of time before they give up on saugeye at Hoover. The blue cats are doing very well there, and I'm sure they're having an affect on the saugeye population. Maybe they think the walleye will grow faster so they're not on the menu for the blues.


If you search back thru the postings there was a write up posted on the Hoover saugeye concern,an why there going to try walleye,again. Good read,an if I get time later I'll look for it and post. I cant for the life of me remember who posted it,maybe acklac or fishslim. Not sure....


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## Morrowtucky Mike (May 2, 2018)

Saugeyefisher said:


> If you search back thru the postings there was a write up posted on the Hoover saugeye concern,an why there going to try walleye,again. Good read,an if I get time later I'll look for it and post. I cant for the life of me remember who posted it,maybe acklac or fishslim. Not sure....


I read that post also, very informative. Yet it seems to me if a reservoir is having troubles I would think they would have a size limit. There’s lots of people out there that’ll keep every fish of whatever species they are fishing for as long as it’s legal. Maybe a 15” limit would help Hoover. I don’t fish it and just found out it didn’t have a 15” limit from this thread.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Morrowtucky Mike said:


> I read that post also, very informative. Yet it seems to me if a reservoir is having troubles I would think they would have a size limit. There’s lots of people out there that’ll keep every fish of whatever species they are fishing for as long as it’s legal. Maybe a 15” limit would help Hoover. I don’t fish it and just found out it didn’t have a 15” limit from this thread.


I'm confident they will get it worked out. A size limit might help a little. IF a year class survives the first year or so, I dint think rod &reel fishing has much of an impact on the over-all #'s on a lake the size ofHoover. . Just this year I'm already hearing of better saugeye catches then the last 2. It was only 3-4 years ago we where catching fish this time of year on Hoover. The shallow lakes get POUNDED daily and still continue to put out great #'s of fish. Maybe it's the size limit,and a size limit might help initially. But they grow fast an it only takes a couple good year classes to make for some great fishing,trust me I've experienced this first hand on buckeye the last year. 
But on the other hand it only takes a couple bad year classes for things to go down hill. I think if we give it some time will see Hoover bounce back to what it was a few years ago. Imo hoovers always been a on/off lake... 
Fingers crossed!!


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## Brahmabull71 (Jul 30, 2014)

Hoover was always my go to Saugeye lake this time of year (mid-May - mid-June) because we used to catch so many and great quality. Last 6-7 years I’m lucky to make it 1-2 trips a year due to the decline. They will get it figured out. The fingerling / fry swap coupled with some bad circumstances for survival rates have been detrimental on Hoover the last 4-5 years. Has nothing or very little to do with the blue cat population biologically (I’ll try and find the article I read citing this).

ODNR has done a great job overall with Saugeye management on inland lakes. I know I haven’t become a better fisherman, so more must be getting stocked because I’ve had one of my better seasons Looking forward to fishing there again for them real soon!


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## papadaze (Jul 11, 2014)

Lots of great info on this post, thanks for the replies! As an update I fished the same area with the same lures Monday and only caught 2 12" eyes. The Crappie bite was on and and caught 2 really fat Channel Cats. Caught 21 and kept 13. My filet board is 12" wide for scale.


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