# Winter sauger??



## BigFishAddict

Are sauger mostly fished for in the colder months in rivers? I have only caught them in early spring on accident. 

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## Dandrews

I always intend on fishing through the winter but usually hang things up sometime in November and get back out in late February early March. Having said that; its not uncommon to see a few diehards fishing the GMR below the dam in Hamilton throughout the winter. Theres a healthy population of sauger in that area, I cant imagine fishing for anything else there at that time of year.


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## kingofamberley

I'm thinking of hitting the dam at least once during the winter, to see if it will produce. I was thinking for winter, either a jig tipped with a piece of nightcrawler fished slowly on the bottom, or a jig tipped with a minnow under a float. I feel like live bait is probably necessary to tempt a bite when its cold and slow out. Correct me if I'm wrong.


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## BigFishAddict

I'm not sure. The sauger I've caught were in early march on minnows, jerkbaits and grubs on jigheads while fishing for wipers. 

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## Daveo76

They are fished for below Greenup dam on the Ohio River ALL winter long. The worse the weather , the better


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## pikeguy

All other Ohio River dams as well! My best days have been in January and February. Jig and plastic tipped with a minnow. Bites are usually very light, and depending on the temp you might have to deal with the guides icing, but worth it.


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## BuckeyeFishinNut

Can definitely catch them all winter long below the dams on the Big O. I mainly use a jig n plastic fished super slow. I use braid to tell between the tick of a rock and the light bite of a sauger. 

One of my best sauger days ever was a few years ago. It was about 28 degrees out and during a snow storm. I seriously caught one every cast for about 3 hours. Didn't wanna leave but I left because I was worried about getting home due to the snow. If you can stand the cold, you can usually catch them


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## Daveo76

Limits are coming easy at Greenup right now


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## BigFishAddict

I'm headed to a dam on a trib about a mile and a half up from the Ohio river in PA tomorrow so ill let you know how it goes. 

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## blackxpress

I plan to give it a go this year. I've only lived in Ohio a few years but I used to live on the Tennessee River (upper Kentucky Lake) and we caught a lot of them in the winter time down there. The rule of thumb was if there's ice on your line it's good sauger weather. We didn't ever start fishing for them until the surface temp dropped below 50 degrees. We caught most of ours bumping bottom in about 25 FOW near the mouths of the tributaries on heavy chartreuse jigs tipped with minnows. The best spot was below Pickwick dam but I didn't go there much since I had to load the boat on the trailer and drive an hour or so to get there.


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## ARReflections

Fishing from the dams in Ohio, does it require a boat? Also on average, how deep is the water if you are jiggin the bottom?

I like fly fishing but something tells me that may not be an option 

I live close to Meldahl, can people still fish there?


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## pikeguy

Does not require a boat. Matter of fact, I think there are restrictions on how close to the dam you can be in a boat. I have always fished from the bank. As for how deep, it varies, but honestly most of the hits are relatively close to the bank. I should also note that I only fish at night. If and when you go, plan on losing some jigs, but well worth it.


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## plinder

Fish below the Meldahl in a boat. Use salvage magnets to hold your boat to either lock wall. There's big metal bands that run through the wall. Use jigging spoons, blade baits, jigs tipped with minnows, straight minnows, etc. The bite should start any day now, and last through March.


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## Daveo76

blackxpress said:


> I plan to give it a go this year. I've only lived in Ohio a few years but I used to live on the Tennessee River (upper Kentucky Lake) and we caught a lot of them in the winter time down there. The rule of thumb was if there's ice on your line it's good sauger weather. We didn't ever start fishing for them until the surface temp dropped below 50 degrees. We caught most of ours bumping bottom in about 25 FOW near the mouths of the tributaries on heavy chartreuse jigs tipped with minnows. The best spot was below Pickwick dam but I didn't go there much since I had to load the boat on the trailer and drive an hour or so to get there.


We always catch them the end of summer while fishing for Wipers. This past year just happened to be at the end of September. So the guys just start jigging the sidewalk for them. But as everyone has said, they concentrate and gather up in the colder water. Bad weather is the best but they can be caught anyway. I caught the last one yesterday on a zoom superfluke fishing for Wipers. Hungry huh All this is from the shore


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