# LMR, 25" SaugER???



## oldstinkyguy (Mar 28, 2010)

Here's what ODNR says: Sauger do not have large white edges to the lower part of their tail and anal fin like a walleye, at best they have a very thin lighter colored edge that is often more yellow in color. 
Saugeye also have white tips on the lower part of the tail and anal fins. 
Here's the fish









Here's the tail:










No white on the anal fin, no dark blotch on the dorsal either

The state records 24 and a half inches long but it weighed 7.31 pounds. I don't think this fish weighed that much. But it was longer...


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## Murky&deep (Aug 28, 2013)

Where's the rest of the beast?


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## Murky&deep (Aug 28, 2013)

Now I see it. Wow! An amazing sauger. Sauger also have spots on a translucent dorsal fin.


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## Dandrews (Oct 10, 2010)

Holy crap!! That's a nice one!!


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## GarrettMyers (May 16, 2011)

That is an absolute beast! You know more about these than I do, but my first instinct says saugeye because I feel like I can see the walleye in it. The color seems to have those little tiny gold/greenish spots that walleye have. Calling them spots isn't really a good description, more like the individual pixels in a digital screen. I could be completely wrong. Just going with my gut. Congrats my friend!


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## GMR_Guy (Apr 10, 2004)

Wow!!! That is a gigantic sauger. I would send that picture to the ODNR. Some states, such as West Virginia, have a length record as well as a weight record. That fish is surprisingly thick for this time of year, I can only imagine what it might have weighed had it been winter or pre-spawn. Awesome catch.


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## zuelkek (Jun 8, 2011)

Isn't that a sauger all the way? It would help to see the dorsal fin, but it looks totally like a sauger to me. And wow, what a nice one! That is a major-league catch. I wonder if it came up from the Ohio? I've never fished it, but I do hear of lots of big saugers there, especially just below the dams.


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## Mr. Map (Apr 3, 2012)

Whatever they are, Sauger, Suageye, or Walleye - I have a spot on the GMR near my home where I catch that size with regularity. I kid you not, I caught one this year that I estimated to be my first ever ten-plus pound fish of ANY species other than carp. I haven't taken pics or measured because they are never the fish I was looking for. Every time I've caught one, I've been fishing for smallies, and have been bummed that the monster smallmouth that I initially thought I'd hooked is actually some other species that I can't even identify. 
If OSG isn't certain, I feel much better about that ignorance. But perhaps I need to start taking pictures.....


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## acklac7 (May 31, 2004)

Not every hybrid is going to exhibit 100% "by the book" traits. IMO the banding on that fish is way to faint be be a pure Sauger, also a little to much green/yellow (as has been previously stated.). IMO, that is a Saugeye (and a nice one at that). This relatively cool/rainy summer has treated them eye-balls well, all the ones we've been catching lately have been exceptionally healthy and "plump'.

Congrats OSG:B


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## co-angler (Jan 3, 2010)

Only one word comes to mind the instant I saw that and that was, " whoa"!

Your frickin resume is an impressive one OSG.
Well done!


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

Much respect osg! Hell of a nice catch!


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

co-angler said:


> only one word comes to mind the instant i saw that and that was, " whoa"!
> 
> Your frickin resume is an impressive one osg.
> Well done!
> ...


+1 co..........


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## senger (May 24, 2013)

At least you didn't catch another 20 lb goldfish...

If it weighed 1.5 pounds we would have all said it was a sauger. Maybe a guy who fishes every minute and is good at it caught a really big one. Besides turning loose a fish longer than the state record makes for a swell story. No matter either way it was a great fish.


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## Matulemj (May 29, 2012)

Well done, sir.


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## gibson330usa (May 15, 2012)

Beauty of a fish OSG.

I was under the assumption that most the Mid-LMR saugfish were saugers, I've ran into another fisherman down there once who thought they were saugeyes. I mostly catch them on craw baits which ODNR says is a primary food source for sauger while saugeye eat primarily small fish.


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## Xim2coolx (May 12, 2013)

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## Cat Mangler (Mar 25, 2012)

Couldn't tell ya what it is, as I'm still just trying to get a saug myself and have only seen pics. But its definitely a good healthy looking fish either way. 

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## BornWithGills (Feb 26, 2006)

Wow tough call....what's not difficult to see is that you caught a dandy saugfish nice work osg!


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## imalt (Apr 17, 2008)

A big fish is big fish no matter what it is. Nice job.


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## yakfish (Mar 13, 2005)

Fantastic fish sauger or otherwise! I have to think it is a sauger though. Even though I am far from an authority on the subject.


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## kingofamberley (Jul 11, 2012)

That saug is a pig! Nice record breaker OSG!


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## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

Man are there any pictures of the dorsal membrane? That's a great fish

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## deltaoscar (Apr 4, 2009)

Sheesh, and that's not even your biggest saugfish of the year. 

Not sure on the ID, unless it's blatently obvious I still struggle with that. But I like the idea that you released a state record, so I'm saying sauger.


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## Roscoe (Jul 22, 2007)

Nice fishing!Has to be a Sauger cause those Saugeyes get a lot bigger.Hope it's a State Record for Saugers.Pretty fish as well.



Roscoe


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## FishDoctor (Aug 9, 2012)

I don't know OSG. Its a tough call. I lean more on the saugeye side I think. The coloration just screams "one of my parents was a walleye" to me. Either way, that is a freaking spectacular catch for any body of water. And a just plain ol' incredible catch from the LMR. Congrats sir!


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## oldstinkyguy (Mar 28, 2010)

Heres a saugeye about the same size, maybe a bit bigger, from this spring. All the right markings on the tail, anal fin, dorsal fin. This fish had none of those.










IF it is a sauger, come winter when it's as fat with eggs as this fish, there is a state record swimming round the LMR










notice the coloration on these two fish, both of them saugeyes, I think the body coloration is no indicator at all, look at smallmouth bass, do they had to have stripes to be a smallmouth? But the ODNR says saugeyes have white on the tail and anal fin and a spot on the base of the dorsal, this fish for sure, 100 percent certain didn't have those.


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## Mushijobah (May 4, 2004)

I think it's a sauger. You're right, coloration is not a good judge, especially through a photo. Was the dorsal membrane spotted/dotted?


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## BigFishHunter (Dec 14, 2011)

I would lean more towards saugeye also. OSG- Look at the color variation between the two saugeye you posted. Same species, but different coloration. Coloration isn't a good identifying characteristic for hybrid species since, as previously stated, they can look more like one parent than the other. Great fish regardless.


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## Matulemj (May 29, 2012)

BigFishHunter said:


> I would lean more towards saugeye also. OSG- Look at the color variation between the two saugeye you posted. Same species, but different coloration. Coloration isn't a good identifying characteristic for hybrid species since, as previously stated, they can look more like one parent than the other. Great fish regardless.


OSG wasn't basing his opinions on the color. He was basing it in the white tip, that was the purpose of his last post. Really, the best way to determine the difference is through its dorsal fin.


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## BigFishHunter (Dec 14, 2011)

I see that now. I didn't notice the text under the second picture and misread the post following. Yes i agree the dorsal membrane is the best identifying characteristic, but it's not visible in the original picture.


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## trailbreaker (Oct 11, 2008)

nice fish sir


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

Matulemj said:


> OSG wasn't basing his opinions on the color. He was basing it in the white tip, that was the purpose of his last post. Really, the best way to determine the difference is through its dorsal fin.


yup..dorsal fin has usually been the mark that helps me tell the difference


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## SMBHooker (Jan 3, 2008)

OSG, OMG!!!!!!


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## treytd32 (Jun 12, 2009)

impressive sir. should have taken a scale for analyses.


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## oldstinkyguy (Mar 28, 2010)

treytd32 said:


> impressive sir. should have taken a scale for analyses.


Probably, I was worried about killing the fish after having it out of the water a long time making sure there were no saugeye markings on the fish. And frankly at the time the thought never crossed my mind. There are a couple more pics and the story of landing it on my blog BTW.


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