# reservoir saugeyes



## ufaquaoiler

im very familiar with walleye fishing, but a few reservoirs in my area are stocked with saugeye and ill now have access to a boat to go after them this year to fix my never caught a saugeye problem. is trolling or casting the best way to get them and what kind of lures should i use? im assuming to work the wind blown side at lower light periods, but any help is appreciated.


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## thistubesforu

the reservoir i fish 2 minutes from my house is definately best in low light conditions. with the pm being slightly better. the best success ive had is on either walleye assasins on jigs or some other sort of twister. second would be crawler harnesses. to be honest with u the luck has been better drifting and casting both setups to the shore and bringing them back as opposed to trolling. i also have decent success from the bank. just want add that evey res is different though, so maybe these are something to start with.


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## ducky152000

Fishing for saugeye is way different than fishin for walleye, saugeye almost never suspend, they are usualy very close to the bottom unlike walleye. We fish all the south east reseviores and hold saugeye tourneys there. (SOUTHEREN OHIO WALLEYE CLUB) and most of our anglers drag lindy rigs and jigs on mud flats in the summer 8 ft is usualy the right depth and we also throw alot of spoons and vibees through out the year. Some times of the year bottom bouncers and spinners are the ticket. Hope this helps but my best advise is look up info on catchin saugeye and forget about walleye tatics.


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## st.slippy

I agree with close to the bottom, low light is not always the case though. From shore aim for lowlight, but most times of the year they are just deeper in high light periods, with a few exceptions. In the heat of the summer I catch many more in the heat of the day than the night. They just have very good vision in dark water and remain active, often feeding on flats at dark.


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## ufaquaoiler

so im guessing i otta find a nice flat section of bottom and keep my line right on the bottom then? should i keep it right next to the edge of the dropoff or go out more towards the middle?


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## ducky152000

Usualy when your dragin on a flat the agressive fish are on top crusin around for bait the semi active fish are on the edge and the non active fish are on the drop. but weve caught non active fish on the drop before just not a hole lot. Most of the fish come from on top of the flat. just grid drift or use the electric trolling motor to grid troll the whole flat. Start at one end and work your way across. use a lindy rig or 1/8 oz jig and grub tipped with crawler,leach,minnow.


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## Tiny Tim

Just about all my Saugeye fishing has to do with flats of some sort. I have never done all that well trying to troll them up because like Ducky said they dont suspend all that much. I think that comes from the Sauger side of them. You will never find a Sauger much more than 6in. off the bottom.The 2 lakes I fish most are Seneca and Salt Fork. I like flats where I am fishing in 8-10fow and I always use some type of jig. Sometimes its a jig and twister combo,sometimes its a jig and minnow or if the water is warmer, a jig and crawler combo. I like to start up on the flats and work my way down to deeper water because the more active fish will be up on the flats instead of on the drops. Colors and size will vary from day to day but I try to stay as light as possible ( 1/16oz if I can get by with it ) The weather is something else in its self. I have had days that were cloudy when I thought I would kill them and never catch a thing, then there have been days when it was hot out and I would get them in 4fow with a bright sun sunning. Finding the Saugeyes is the hard part, catching them is pretty easy because if you find them in water like I fish they are there for one reason to EAT!! About like me when I go to the Steak Buffet


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## st.slippy

Don't rule out trolling at all though. Guys all over especially the shallower lakes live by it. You just want to make sure you are in an area where the lure can make contact with the bottom at times. You want the lures you troll to be in the bottom 18 inches of the water column. People troll jigs bouncers stickbaits crankbaits and vibes all with great success. You just won't ever get them up high like you do the walleye


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## ducky152000

There is times for trolling thats for sure i dont like to troll but when im at a tourney and thats what it takes ill do it. Sometimes the saugeyes are in 18 -24 foot of water in spring summer and fall And when they are use lead core to get cranks down that deep. Its weird about saugeye fishin they can be in 4 foot of water one day and the next in 18 feet of water. THATS SPRING SUMMER AND FALL. Thats why its hard for alot of people to get used to fishin for saugeyes they catch em in 4 foot one week and go back the next and cant find em cause there in 18. Best advise do alot of reserch and ask around bait shops. Hope this helps.


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## Tiny Tim

I think a lot of that roaming comes the Sauger part of them being born and raised in a river system. You may catch them in a spot at your local lake then not find them there again for a week or better. Just depends if there is any forage for them there or not.


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## ufaquaoiler

should i try to mark baitfish schools and fish under em then? thats worked several times with smallmouth bass at findlay reservoir. fostoria reservoirs are where ill be doing my saugeye fishing at if that helps anyone.


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## ducky152000

thats a great tatic in late fall and winter. but yeah it works in summer to not as much because the lake is covered with shad and saugeyes cant be under every school of em. In late fall and winter the shad are grouped up and you can have a hay day on em.


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## ufaquaoiler

i have a cast net so if i can catch a few of those shad would it be good to put a live shad on the bottom for em then?


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## ducky152000

No i dont no why but i can never catch a saugeye on live shad. I know they eat em but it just dont work. there is a lot of other guys who has tried it and it didnt work for them. thats something me and other saugeye guys cant figure out.


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## ufaquaoiler

hmm wonder why that is? i demolish catfish at findlay reservoir on dead shad, the bass in a pond i like hardly let a shad touch the water before it gets smacked, and ive gotten several nice smallmouth bass from findlay reservoir by casting through shad schools with shad lures, but thats just plain wierd that saugeye are eating shad but wont hit one with a hook attached!


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## st.slippy

I think several months back smooth kip caught a nice big one on shad catfishing. I've also heard of a few guys using cut shad on a jig and grub with some success. I've never had any luck with them or on shad colored cranks. Of course I have caught a few on chicken livers. Bass minnows are much easier to keep alive and work well, sometimes creek chubs work really well too, if you are a live bait guy.


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## ufaquaoiler

i have no problem using live bait or artificials, which ever is catching fish. only bad thing about shad is that they are near impossible to keep alive in a bait bucket!


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## ccart58

i like using twister tails in glow with lead heads eyes like them at night and day time!


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## catchin_eyes

Caught many a saugeye on creek chubs, they are an excellent choice for bait! 3-4 inch chubs are ideal but I've caught them on chubs as big as 6 inch as well. Bass minnows are great too. I Rig bass minnows with a floating jig head rig. I like the challenge of catching them on artificial, but I won't hesitate to use live bait if it will catch me fish. I feel that at times live bait will even outperform artificial. Live bait is also good when bank fishing, when the fish are too far out from shore to catch on artificial. I usually don't use live bait when there is an overabundance of baitfish though. Always seemed to me that casting a minnow into a school of 10,000 minnows doesn't produce very well. At these times I like to use something big, loud, and aggressive, although sometimes a simple jig/twister is the ticket. Anything that looks different and stands out from the available baitfish. And when fish are aggressive and willing to hit artificial, it makes sense to use artificial to cover more water.


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## ufaquaoiler

i got tons of floating heads i use for maumee walleye, im assuming carolina rig a baitfish on there and drag it across the bottom?


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## catchin_eyes

I rig them with an egg sinker, and a split shot. I set the split shot about 16 inches above the jig. I just usually cast it and let it sit, with a tight line.


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## ducky152000

anything on a floatin jig is good half a crawler,leach,shiner,chub,bass minnow early in the year i tend to catch more on baitfish late summer the crawler and leach tends to be better but you never no some days they want crawlers and some days they want minnows.


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