Sauger Fishing - How To

[mic]

Gents (and ladies),

I just found out there is a lake local to me that is supposed to have a good population of saugers in it. How do you fish for them?

[Flatbottom Boy]

I would think the same methods to target walleye. I became pretty fond of the slow death rig over at Stockton. It's pretty simple with a bottom bouncer, a couple feet of leader, and a slow death hook tipped with half a night crawler. I drift this rig at different depths mostly rock ledges until I find them. Some days they would be as shallow as 10 FOW all the way down to over 30 FOW. I add a float to mine right in front of the hook and change the length of my leaders to see how far off the bottom they are. The thing I really liked about this rig is we picked up a lot of bonus fish, such as big bluegils and catfish. There is some info on the worm harness on one of the forums here, I do not have any experience with those. Some guys troll cranks at different depths also. Check out the Stockton Lake thread on here and you can pick up some good info..Bull Shoals is another I get info from.

[MOsmallies]

For a beginner... Some of the best ways to fish for them is trolling crankbaits (Shad Raps) or vertical jigging spoons or grubs tipped with minnows. I've done both of these successfully, but in river systems not lakes. There's a lot of guys on here with a lot more knowledge that should give some helpful info.

Good luck and report back once you give them a try.

Paul

MOsmallies

[mic]

The thing I really liked about this rig is we picked up a lot of bonus fish, such as big bluegils and catfish.

That sounds like a good plan, because I'm sure it will take a couple of rookies a while to figure it out.

[Flatbottom Boy]

The thing that will take the longest to figure out besides where the hell the fish are at is the speed of your "drift". There is no shortage of wind on Stockton, but trying this technique on different bodies of water I have had to use the trolling motor to speed things up a bit..or slow down depending on how fast you want to go.

[Kayser]

The number one thing I've heard from everyone is that you've gotta be ON the bottom. Dragging slender minnow crank-baits behind a bottom bouncer and ticking it through the rocks (below the dam). Tipping jigs/grubs with big minnows or half a nightcrawler and hopping them through rocks/sand/gravel (no mud). Looking for cover and current breaks where they can hide from the sun and current.

[Ham]

I made a trip to Ohio to fish with a friend. We caught good numbers of sauger/walleye hybrids bouncing jigs on bottom in river systems. Aggressive little turds.

[jdmidwest]

One Ounce Jugs tipped with a minnow hooked thru the lips works well in the Tennessee River below Pickwick Lake. Other than that, deep jigs, spoons, crank baits, or just a minnow fished on the bottom.

If they spawn in the lake, look for a clear gravel area in Jan. or Feb and target that.

[Jeff Olson]

hey Mic, all good info on here! and my 2 cents on them from fishing them on the mississippi in WI is,definately on bottom. they dont seem to suspend like walleye sometimes .they usually spawn earlier than walleye,and are usually at the depth and deeper than walleye normall .they like holes and rocky cover.I have found bright colored baits are best. crank baits and stick baits in firetiger, chartrues or orange are best, and jigs with same colors and or twister tails. good luck and hope to see a post about it!

[Stoneroller]

mic I know what lake you are talking about. you need a sonar and you can use a grub, tube jig, drop shot, shakey head, crankbait, etc to catch them there. once the water drops below 78 or so they should really fire up. we caught a couple of real nice ones there in the spring while fishing. you need to be back in the 'old' area of that lake though, they like to hang out there.