What is the best bait for saugeye?
Saugeye rarely forage above the bottom, so baits designed to be positioned on and/or dragged along the bottom are the best bet for catching Saugeye. Jigs tipped with minnows, night crawlers, or leeches are often most effective, particularly in the early spring. Deep-diving crankbaits and spoons can also be used.
How do you catch saugeye in Ohio?
Northwest Ohio
Try fishing just off the beach area at Pleasant Hill Reservoir (Ashland and Richland counties) in 10-15 feet of water for saugeye measuring longer than 15 inches. Another tactic is to try fishing along the shoreline at night with a jig tipped with a live minnow near the bottom.
What lakes in Ohio are stocked with saugeye?
The top three destinations for Fish Ohio saugeye are Indian Lake (Logan County), Buckeye Lake (Fairfield, Perry, and Licking counties), and Alum Creek Lake (Delaware County). The best way to identify a saugeye is to look for dark bars or vertical spots between the spines of the first dorsal fin.
Where is saugeye in a lake?
It is not uncommon to catch saugeye in less than six to eight feet of water. It’s never too muddy for a saugeye, but in dark-water conditions, try black jigs and twister tails. Checking good overhead cover in shallow lakes may be important, too. Saugeye have even been known to hide under brush or lily pads like bass.
How do you catch Lake saugeye?
how to catch Saugeye. Like their parent species, Saugeyes can be taken with light spinning and bait casting tackle using spinners, spoons, or live bait like minnows or night crawlers. These fish can often be caught at night and are considered to be excellent table fare.
Is Saugeye good eating?
Saugeye possess the good eating qualities (meat is soft and sweet) and moderate fighting abilities of walleye but can be easier to catch.
What fish are biting at Indian Lake Ohio?
Indian Lake is well known for its huge bluegills, yellow perch and fair largemouth bass fishing. But the lake’s main draw is its incredible saugeye fishery. Indian Lake, at 5,800 acres, has what many anglers would call the best saugeye fishing in all of Ohio.
What is the deepest part of Indian Lake?
As the water warms in late spring, many disperse back downstream into shallow, turbid reservoirs. In muddy reservoirs without much current, riprap areas along the face of the lower dam may attract and concentrate spawning saugeyes when the water temperature reaches the mid-40F to mid-50F range.
Why is stock called saugeye?
Saugeye provided many benefits when compared to walleye. They are generally easier to rear than walleye, and as mentioned earlier, survive and grow better in reservoir systems. When creel surveys proved that saugeye were also easier to catch, it seemed stocking saugeye was the solution for better angling.
Are there saugeye in Lake Erie?
Saugers were once caught in Lake Erie by the millions by Ohio’s commercial netters all along the south shore, especially in the fall and spring. … From 1974 to 1976, sauger fry and fingerlings were stocked into Sandusky Bay. Netters and anglers caught some of these fish for the next several years.
What’s the difference between walleye and saugeye?
To identify them, first look at the spiny dorsal fin. The walleye will have no spots on this fin; the sauger will have distinct spots; and the hybrid of the two species, the saugeye, will have spots and bars in the webbing of its spiny dorsal fin.
How big do saugeye get in Ohio?
The average length of adults is 12-18 inches, but they can reach 30 inches on occasion. Adults usually weight 1-2 pounds, but they can sometimes weigh up to 14 pounds. The saugeye is in the Percidae (perches and darters) family.
How do you hold a saugeye?
Saugeye behind the head slide your thumb and forefinger behind the gill plate usually flare gills when you grab behind heads. You can also gently place hand under there belly and lift up usually they play nice.
How do you catch winter saugeye?
These sporty fish grow fast, fight well, and taste good in the skillet. Better yet, in winter they like to swim upstream until stopped by a dam, and congregate below. Anglers fish these hotspots, usually using small swim baits and crank baits or small jigs in various colors.