# saugeye at Indian Lake ?



## Byg (Jun 6, 2006)

I have read alot of the info on here an have some consensus,but I have never fished for them. I am going to IL next week and thought I would try
Drifting and casting worm harness's(ones I use at erie). Maybe jig some vibe e's or flatline some cranks(no Experience at this). Does this program sound like it may give me a shot at a few.Any other advice appreciated
Thanks


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## BennyLovesSaugeyes (May 1, 2008)

most people from boats seem to be catching the eyes with crank baits. Either HJ's or bandits 100 series seems to be the killers. 

I usually have good luck with Night Crawler harness's during the summer by dream bridge. But I fish from shore. I guess anything close to the bottom might work. Get ready for a mixed bag of eyes/panfish/cat fish from Indian Lake

Good luck:B


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## pumper (Jan 20, 2007)

i troll this lake often, flatline rapala shad raps number 5s and 7s in both deep and shallow runners, my favorite colors are chartreuse, and crawdad. troll about 2.5 mph shallow baits 40-65 back, deep cranks 20-30 feet back. have caught lots of nice fish 3-5 pounds the last couple of weeks. need any more info pm me


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## saugmon (Jun 14, 2006)

We just got off the lake at 8 pm. 2"+ waves that were making me po'd. Had to pull the planerboards in after an hour with 4 saugeye,21" being the largest. Then down to 2 side rods for another 6 saugeye. Lots of good eaters in the 15"-16.5" and no dinks from last years record stocking.

This was the worst troll of the season so far. Lost 3 baits,tangled planerboards,spiderwire wrapped around main motor prop,trolled 2 rods most of the time and still nearly limited out for a 3 hr troll. I did get my limit,but my greenhorn buddy slacked off.

Using Mono line,try trolling mini rattletraps,stick baits,rapala shadraps .

Using superbraids: Bomber B02 firecraws and Bandit 100 series Mistake. Those mistakes are tearing the saugeye up this week. Troll 3 mph in 6'to7' water,and bump the bottom occasionally. 35' of actual line released is all you need.


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## Byg (Jun 6, 2006)

Thanks for the replies fellas,just the kind of info I was hoping for


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## Beave82 (Apr 6, 2006)

I am an experienced troller on Indian and have caught many nice saugeye and done well in a couple of tournaments. The last two times I have been out I have left the trolling rods in the rod box. I have been fishing with leeches and have not had any trouble finding a limit(sometimes to the point that I can't keep two poles in the water). This has been especially nice with some of the wind we have been having which can be a pain to troll in. Either drift or use the trolling motor to move you along slowly. I like between .5 and 1 mph. I like to find areas where I am close to but out of the wind. I have been catching alot of fish in 4' to 5' of water. Just make sure you keep your bait as close to the bottom as possible. If you don't want to burn the fuel trolling give this a try. It should be productive for the next couple of weeks until the lake turns into bath water. It was at 78 degrees today so it doesn't have far to go. Oh and if you want to vertical jig with vibees, wait until about mid november or early spring and pile up with all of the other boats under Dream Bridge or North fork. I have heard November is when alot of the hogs are caught but I am usally too busy hunting to try it. Happy fishing.


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## Byg (Jun 6, 2006)

Hey beave, how do ya rig the leeches? This sounds like it would be down my alley as I am not really set up for trolling but was going to wing it with what I got..Rather drift and just relax some. Sure appreciate the info


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## Knew2Fish (Apr 17, 2006)

I have yet to explore IL but Buckeye Lake is my back door and the same presentations are working there. Yesterday were the B02 in white. wouldn't touch the firecraw and just dinks or panfish on anything with any chartruese on it. The leeches have been great around dusk or dawn. I like to use 1/16 or 1/8 roadrunner jig heads and hook the leech just under it's sucker. 1/16 or 1/8 vibes in silver or white have done damage last week at times just casting and steady retrieving while bumping the bottom on occasion. lost several lures trolling yesterday as well with that wind. hope this helps and good luck. see ya'll on buckeye sunday! FISH ON!


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## Beave82 (Apr 6, 2006)

I have been using a drop shot type rig with my leeches. I tie a hook on the line and then a sinker below the hook about 6 inches. Use as little weight as possible to get the job done and don't go overboard on the hook size either. The weight below the hook will save you on alot of snags as it bounces over the bottom. Me and a buddy went out this morning and ended up with 10. We missed several other bites and I lost two nice fish at the boat. It was very hot and VERY windy.


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## Byg (Jun 6, 2006)

What is the basic trolling rig you guys use (rod and reel)? I imagine my medium rods w/spinning reels wouldnt be stout enough


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## saugmon (Jun 14, 2006)

Med/Heavy Salmon rods in the 8.5' to 9' length. I found out years ago how a sensitive salmon rod out produces the flimsier trolling/planerboard/downrigger rods. I have a Bass Pro extreme and a couple Cabelas Fish Eagle 2's.

Line: Spiderwire- in the 20#to 30# test.Combining the spiderwire and salmon rods, I can tell when trolling over sand,mud,and the slightest ball of cottonwood on the line.

Reels: Cabela's depthmaster line counters. Counters handy for getting out the correct amount of yardage. 10 yds on my main side rod,and 45' on the others. We use a portable line counter for planerboards-rapala line counter and release 26'. Just enough line to bump bottom occationally.

Planerboards: Flimsier rods work well on them. The rubberband takes away the flimsiness and adds more action on your bait. Also gets out a couple more rods so I can try different baits/colors. A major headache in stump infested waters.


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## Byg (Jun 6, 2006)

Does it matter what angle your rods are when there in the rod holders while trolling. Beave are you drifting the drop shot or casting and retrieving slowly..
Thanks guys for the info, I will be up there weds until sat camping. Oh ,what is the tri humps and achesons(sp?) ...


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## saugmon (Jun 14, 2006)

I try to keep my side rods perpendicular to the water. With my shallow water trolling technique,just raising the tip up and down a little will greatly affect how deep the shallow divers go. Tipping it up,will allow slightly a yd or so more yardage. When I run into 5' water,I'll tip it up higher,then back to normal with good ole 6'-7' water.

If running a rod behind the propwash,the cranks won't dive as deep,so you can get more yardage out.

Atcheson's is on the north/east side of the lake-around turkeyfoot.

Tri Humps: It's more like tri flats.3 areas that are 4' deep in the main lake,then gradually taper down to 6'. If you know where antonio's restaurant,lakeview harbor,and oldfield beach is: Then draw a triangle with those 3 points. Pretty darn near dead center,you'll find one of the humps. Usually quite a few boats around there,but snag city with my setup... It's effective late spring. 

3 fingers:These are more like humps. In case you hear of that area,there's 3 channels dug out in front of oldfield beach,running east-west. It's 6' deep then sharply dropping off to 10' or so. It's been effective this season. Not so for the last 2 years.


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## Byg (Jun 6, 2006)

well fellas, I went got me a couple of trolling rigs for my birthday,nothing
fancy Guide Series from gander, could'nt afford much more. Anyways, I be out there given it %$LL. When you guys say side rod I assume they are in holders correct? Not on planers or anything.Thats all I have are holders. If I run bandits and shad raps etc.. and experiment w/speed and line out I should be ok? Thanks for the info


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## saugmon (Jun 14, 2006)

I call the rods that I run down the sides of the boat,side rods. Very hard to find good rod holders for the Lowe seanymph-2 1/4" gunwale and hard to find the right size clamps. I got cabelas 360 rod holders and they suck. Fishon is what I'll get next.

Planerboard rods-They're in the center pedestal base and tips have to be higher than the side rods when running boards.Otherwise,they'll tangle if the tips are lower than side rods.

Running a rod behind the motor doesn't work very well,unless you have to.Bomber Flat A's worked every now and then,so that's a good option.


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## Byg (Jun 6, 2006)

I assume the spiderwire is braid,any particular one? Also do you tie directly to the crank or use a swivel or snap.. LoL I know total newby!! but hey I will be the first admit when I dont know something


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## BennyLovesSaugeyes (May 1, 2008)

Byg said:


> I assume the spiderwire is braid,any particular one? Also do you tie directly to the crank or use a swivel or snap.. LoL I know total newby!! but hey I will be the first admit when I dont know something


i tie directly to the crank. But I don't troll. Swivels tend to twist my line pretty quick. but like you, I don't really know......... and I hardly know anything for that matter!!!


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## saugmon (Jun 14, 2006)

Black swivels,ones that have a hook clasp to help keep them from straightening out. The older gray color works best,but now adays- mostly moss green is only color option.

8# diameter- 20#-30 # spiderwire stealth. It's braided and it does break on stumps. Most of the time,the snap swivels still straighten out.

I didn't make it out today. I ended up taking my daughter to children's hospital to have xrays taken of her broken arm from 3 weeks ago. Got lost in columbus,so I dread going back down there next month.

Cold front moved in,so that's bad news.


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## Byg (Jun 6, 2006)

Thanks,, wish a speedy recovery for your daughter...Know what ya mean about columbus,never liked driving around there...


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## walleyevision (Aug 4, 2005)

Youre right about the cold front saugmon. Water temp was 68 this morning, got up to 73 about noon. I managed 3 keepers out of 7 eyes, all came off of boards and various shad style baits, no bandits tho, majority on grappler shads. All hit short and did not even pull back my tattle flags.


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## saugmon (Jun 14, 2006)

I'll be out there tomorrow morning along with fellow OGF'r cjbrown.


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## Byg (Jun 6, 2006)

What kinda effect will the cold front have on the saugeye? Ill be there tomorrow evening thru sat. Ill be in a little green grizzly say hello if ya feel like it, Suagom, I read your post about a grizzly following ya one time but that was'nt me LOL . Thanks again for the info:B


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## saugmon (Jun 14, 2006)

Those grizzly's are fine boats. I would loved to have had one.

That's what killed me last year,cold front after cold front during my 2 week vacation. Cold front = Bad news.

A good steady week of warm weather turns the eyes on. I've never seen them turned on like they have the last 3 weeks. I'm getting ready to get my daughter up,drag her to her Ho-Mamma,and meet cjbrown at blackhawk. Hopefully the full moon will really get them going.


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## saugmon (Jun 14, 2006)

Another limit for the Red Dragon. CJbrown and I went out,but took til 12 pm to limit out. 2 were at 15" but the rest were 15.5"-18"Then another couple extra to cull out some small ones. All scattered,but pretty decent trolling after a coldfront.

Chrome/Black Bandit 100 took majority,and Mistake took the rest. They woudn't touch gold/black,firecraw,and tennessee shad.

Thanks CJ,anytime you want to go again,give me a holler. I'll try to make it to your realm after mid July. Good Luck to your wife.


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## Byg (Jun 6, 2006)

Just got back from IL, I didnt set any records. I got five all about 15-17" good eaters...Lot of work this trolling business, watching GPS,controlling throttle watching poles etc..But it was a good time, and not excatly knowing what i was doing it was a blast to hook one.Probably would have done better but the GF wouldnt get up till about 8:30am,fishing about 10:00AM.They were caught around black island and oldfield beach, did miss one over by dream bridge. Used the firetiger,mistake, and another chart/orng.They sure like that mistake 100. I was going about 2.6-2.8 maybe I should of tried 3mph alittle more,lack of experience I guess..Plus the old evinrude isnt to thrilled idleing at 2-3mph made it kinda tough to keep her going smoothly.
Thanks again for the info


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## saugmon (Jun 14, 2006)

Best bite has always been 6 am. It hasn't been so until yesterday morning. Get in the right spot at 6 am,and you're in for an early limit.In front of blackhawk was that spot yesterday morning. Miss it,then you gotta wait for the next bite and be at the right spot. Some of these Bites have lasted for 90 minutes. Usually they only last a half hour,then have to stray away from that spot and hit it again an hour later. These saugeye are pretty easy this year. Not so last year. I didn't make it out today. No babysitter and went garage sale'ing and dumpster diving!!!!!

Mistake was the hot bait for a couple weeks. Now not too many hits on it the last couple trips,especially in the early morning.They won't even touch my Firecraws. Tennessee Shad B02's also unproductive.

Chrome/black is the hot color. I gotta put another order for BPS,so I'll get half a dozen each of Black/Chrome, Tennessee shad-which is more of a black & Gold than a real tennessee shad,and Mad Cow.

I took some extra materials left over from my polebarn kit to Menard's and got $350 bucks debited onto my bass pro visa-BooYah!!! Took 2.5 hrs of BS,but some extra spending money on my credit card. I will never mess with buying anything at menard's that you have to go outside into their pole barn to have it loaded. It is a nightmare.


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