# Sauger



## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

Was at the GMR tonight, had one sauger hooked on a lipless crank, but it spit the lure. In the smaller rivers (as in tribs of the Ohio) they seem to just be caught along with everything else, but are difficult to specifically target. I thought I'd start a thread that would compile tricks for targeting sauger/saugeye/walleye in smaller rivers (LMR, GMR).
I'll start:
-Minnow/shad type baits (inline spinners, jigs with twisty grubs, etc), especially in the fall
-Late evening in to night, and during these times can be really shallow
-not topwater

And thats all I got! haha
For a common fish that gets caught while targeting anything else, they can be hard to target themselves. There just isn't much information.


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

Oh yeah, and though I catch them in the rivers, I don't seem to find them in the feeder creeks.


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## E_Lin (Jun 30, 2011)

I've caught two at the GMR dam, and both of those were on lipless cranks.
My son caught one Sat. evening with a shallow diving crank out of the GMR in Heritage.


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## zuelkek (Jun 8, 2011)

I've read (somewhere) that they get targeted from boats below dams on the Ohio, where they like to congregate, and they get big there. Otherwise, looks like you got it right: never topwater, mainly at dusk, lots of them out there but it's random chance to hook into one. They're aggressive predators when they're out feeding, and I've caught them on spinners, Wee Craws, tubes, minnow imitations. They hit hard, but they're lazy fighters. They are a fine-dining main course of a fish too, really good.


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## blindcop204 (Apr 25, 2012)

This is the main fish I go for. I Typically use two lures when fishing for them. Either 3" grub on a jig head 1/8 oz typically, or I use stick baits. The thunderstick jr or rapala huskky jerks. Sometimes if i'm bass fishing with a spinner i'll get one as well. I love saugeye!


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## Dandrews (Oct 10, 2010)

blindcop204 said:


> This is the main fish I go for. I Typically use two lures when fishing for them. Either 3" grub on a jig head 1/8 oz typically, or I use stick baits. The thunderstick jr or rapala huskky jerks. Sometimes if i'm bass fishing with a spinner i'll get one as well. I love saugeye!


X2; I use the same type of lures. 

Ive caught some nice ones this year on lipless crankbaits, fishing them deep. Ive also caught some in the past in shallow riffles on &#8539; oz. roostertails, near dawn and dusk. My personal best saugeye came on a roostertail on a misty overcast morning; I caught on just as long but not quite as heavy on a lipless crank on a somewhat sunny day. Overall 3 twistertails and stickbaits are the most productive for me.


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## gibson330usa (May 15, 2012)

I've got a few on tubes and Rebel Craws while smallie fishing on the LMR this year.


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

So by stick baits, you guys mean like jerk baits and shallow diving minnow cranks?


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

This is a bit of a strange idea but I wonder if a crawler harness would work in a river wading situation, maybe carried by the current through a riffle. They sure do tear up the walleye in lakes when trolled, so maybe they will work on their smaller cousins in some moving water.


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

That's a good theory, however I think the snags and tangles would get very frustrating


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## Matulemj (May 29, 2012)

That's how I got mine. I use a crawler harness a lot in the river, snags do get frustrating when you first start using them, but you will quickly learn how to adjust and pull the bait out of the snag without much effort.


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

I mean, the snags can't be worse than the snags from using just about anything else (tubes and jigs drifted in the current, spinners casted in to riffles, etc). I will have to give this a try. I'll probably just catch more catfish though


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

From everyone's experience, are the saug usually caught in/just before/just after rapids and riffles, or are they more of a slower water fish? The ones I have caught in the past were at the tail of a riffle.


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

ive caught most of mine in slower water, but have caught them at the head/tail of pools also. In my experience, the best luck ive ever had for saugeye is in the spring below dams, by spring, i mean mid march though all of april


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## inrll (Apr 6, 2012)

I usually catch them in slower water too. Most of mine come on Rapalas.


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

Also, in everyone's experience, do they tend to cling to structure like bass, or do they just roam where they want?


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

sand bottoms, rock bottoms, below dams, ive caught em lots of different situations and places, best i could tell you is below dams


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

In an effort to keep this going, here is some great information from oldstinkyguy. It was from his thread "lucked in to a great night on the lmr":

oldstinkyguy:
take a slightly heavier jig head than normal for the LMR, a 1/4 instead of a 1/8 and use a three inch curly tail grub. I like smoke metalflake during the day, red metalflake at night, tho I think they aren't overly picky most times. 
At night I use 20 lb braid and during the day 6lb Yo-Zuri floro/monu hybrid.
The braid at night saves you a bunch of lures, plus gives you the chance to land a big cat should one hit. I fish below complex riffles at night, where the river makes a big s curve or pours around both sides of an island in a riffle. The same places at dawn or dusk or in the rain during the day will work too.
Often the sauger are shallow out of the current right below the riffle. If you can find knee deep to thigh deep water right up against the riffle thats calm thats the spot at night. Also on rock and sand bars below the riffle with or without current. During the day I catch them in deeper slots or runs, the fast water below the riffle where the bottom is rock or gravel but is more like chest deep. Often a cast quartering across and letting the grub sweep down the current on a tight line works or just a slow retreive right along the bottom. At night they are shallow and spooky, it pays to try a spot you have fished alot during the day so your not crashing around spooking the fish, plus I turn away from the water before turning on the light to tie on. You still walk up on and scare a big buffalo or cat sometimes that sounds like some one threw a concrete block in the water getting out of there. That will wake you up! The rivers awesome at night though, I mostly fish the middle section say from Kings Mills to up around Spring Valley, which is mostly woods so it's quiet quiet at night just owls and frogs. Way more deer than people.

and then some more:

me:
Question though, what is the reason for the larger jigs? Do the sauger like bigger baits, or does it have to do with the heavier weight?

oldstinkyguy:
Years ago I was lucky enough to talk a bit to Dan Gapen about it. He has written some of the best books ever written on river fishing and might just be the best sauger/walleye fisherman in the world. He said sauger like the heavier weight when they bite, that even when bait fishing in a big river like the ohio use a heavier weight they like the resistance. When going after smallies I try to use the lightest practical jigheads for the conditions, for sauger the heaviest that still lets me fish it okay. Of course your still going to catch smallies sauger fishing and vice versa. Thats the cool part about a grub in the LMR you might catch bass, white bass, catfish, drum and sauger all in the same trip.


Thankyou oldstinkyguy!


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## oldstinkyguy (Mar 28, 2010)

There is some good sauger info here...

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Default.aspx?tabid=21876

and lake sauger info here...

http://home.hiwaay.net/~ksgrisse/wwwboard/articles/alex-sauger.htm


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

Hey Stink, what kind of 20 lb braid do you use? I've never used braid, but I'm considering spooling up a spare spool with some. I always use 6 or 8 lb mono; I do lose some lures, but sometimes you have to lose a lure if you are hung up bad on something. What do you do with braid when that happens?


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## Buzzy (Jul 2, 2011)

I started using the 8lb test 3lb diameter fireline and it is awesome. I smashed a huge smallie on it the other weekend mid current and pulled him in. You cannot cut this stuff very well and if you get it snagged you can snap your pool. The 8lb seems like 60! YOU CAN CAST FOREVER with this stuff and it is awesome for small spinners or wee-craw. I am going to get the 1LB diameter stuff because the 3lb diameter is too much and I want to cast even further.


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## Dandrews (Oct 10, 2010)

Buzzy said:


> I started using the 8lb test 3lb diameter fireline and it is awesome. I smashed a huge smallie on it the other weekend mid current and pulled him in. You cannot cut this stuff very well and if you get it snagged you can snap your pool. The 8lb seems like 60! YOU CAN CAST FOREVER with this stuff and it is awesome for small spinners or wee-craw. I am going to get the 1LB diameter stuff because the 3lb diameter is too much and I want to cast even further.


I sometimes use 10 lb Power Pro (.006 dia); sometimes I use a leader with it & sometimes I dont, that usually depends on how clear the water is. I can stand back from my casting target a fair distance and I can throw a light lure a pretty far.


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

I've got some 1/4 oz jigs, 3" grubs, and a new Strike King KVD shad squarebill crank. Ready to tear it up as soon as the water clears!


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

Also gonna spool up with some Stren 6 lb after work tonight... Been on the 8 lb Trilene train for a while but its time for a change.


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

Just read an In-Fisherman article that talked about how while small sauger hold in deep holes, the big ones like to be at the head of structural elements. Something to take in to consideration.

http://archives.in-fisherman.com/content/finding-sauger-during-fall-winter


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## Dandrews (Oct 10, 2010)

I read this a year or two ago and I came across it again, I thought that some of you may be interested in it. Ive occasionally wondered if some of the saugeye that Ive caught werent a result of saugeye back crossing with sauger.

http://www.walleyesinc.com/walleyeinc2/corey20021.html


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

That is interesting stuff. I just assumed that all saugeye were sterile, but this study makes sense.


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