The mere mention of hybrid saugeye (female walleye x male sauger) in states where they’re stocked, brings smiles to the faces of most fishermen. When fingerlings are stocked in adequate numbers (depends on fishery goals), saugeye easily are the most popular and tasty gamefish for the table. So why are states like Iowa, Tennessee, Indiana, and Ohio taking a more critical look at their saugeye stocking programs, with some opting to discontinue stocking? The biggest concern is the saugeye’s ability to spawn (back cross) with either parent species.

Saugeye, like their parents, can and will migrate out of reservoirs during high water, both upstream and downstream. Research in Ohio determined that saugeye of all sizes migrate intentionally, not moved passively downstream by high muddy waters. Small fingerlings are capable of moving upstream against fast turbid water soon after stocking. This movement can be triggered by instinct to find suitable habitat, better water quality, or relieve stress from overcrowding and lack of forage.

When saugeye come in contact with native stocks of either walleye or sauger, they have the potential to dilute the gene pool of these stocks if they spawn in the same areas at the same time. This genetic mixing could interfere with the genetic integrity Mother Nature has fine-tuned over a span of 10,000 years.

Good points are made on both sides of the argument as to whether stocking saugeye is a responsible fishery management practice. The most obvious objection is the saugeye’s being a fertile hybrid. Where native stocks of its parents exist in rivers that still retain historic spawning habitat, genetic dilution may reduce long-term survival. Another common concern is that saugeye may compete for available food with other gamefish or eat the young of other gamefish populations.

The positive side of saugeye stocking is readily apparent in states like Ohio, Oklahoma, and Kansas where tremendous fishing opportunities have been created where past walleye stockings have failed and other gamefish numbers are limited due to poor habitat or turbid water conditions. Ohio anglers have collected large petitions of appreciation to present to the Division of Wildlife—a saugeye fan club, if you will.

Overabundant gizzard shad are the primary food of saugeye in Ohio, as in many other states. It’s a great trade. Oily inedible shad converted into saugeye, a feisty, delectable gamefish that rivals the table quality of the yellow perch and the size of the walleye. Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas are stocking saugeye in small impoundments to help control stunted panfish populations, in an effort to increase panfish size. Since saugeye have extremely limited success spawning with each other, adjusting stocking rates will control their numbers. This gives agency biologists the option to reduce rates or discontinue stocking if an additional predator is no longer needed.

In central and southern Ohio, where ice fishing is a rare event, saugeye have opened up a whole new season of fishing. Fishermen crowd the banks, along the riprap, both above and below dams, to cast jigs and crankbaits to saugeyes all winter. The 1996 saugeye harvest estimates for the Deer Creek Lake, Ohio, tailwaters (two acres) was 30,000 fish.

The answer? Is stocking saugeyes a positive endeavor? Are managers taking the correct approach? The answer, like so many in natural resources management, isn’t a simple yes or no. Managers must balance their decisions among science, common sense, protection of the resource, and the needs and desires of sportsmen who are their customers.

In some obvious situations, the stocking of saugeye isn’t the responsible approach. Ohio doesn’t stock saugeye in the northern half (Lake Erie drainage) of the state, to avoid mixing them with native walleye. Oklahoma doesn’t stock saugeye in the east to avoid mixing them with native sauger stocks. But the answer becomes tougher in watersheds where both walleye and sauger coexist. Common sense indicates that where walleye and sauger have coexisted since the ice age, natural hybridization already has occurred between the two species.

Recent genetic research in Ohio, Tennessee, and South Dakota confirms this. The question remains, to what extent did they occur before man began collecting specimens, and are they increasing due to stocking? In most lakes where saugeye are currently stocked, the lakes are manmade or altered natural systems that don’t resemble the historic habitat present before man intruded. Many of these lakes eventually drain into large rivers with native stocks of walleye, sauger, and natural hybrids, also living in greatly altered environments.

This doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be prudent to try to protect the integrity of these native stocks. But the addition of a certain percent of manmade hybrids (from native species) into these systems probably would have a minor effect compared to damming, sedimentation, barge traffic, in-stream gravel mining, chemical pollution, and the introduction of non-native species.

Biologists are trying to reduce the addition of hybrids into main-stem rivers like the Ohio, by limiting stocking in nearby lakes and reducing or eliminating direct stocking into tributaries. Perhaps the addition of predators into these systems benefits other gamefish by helping reduce the numbers of juvenile forage fish. Fish such as gizzard shad and carp compete directly with gamefish at the juvenile stage, and they’re usually not the best forage species, due to their rapid growth past edible size. Research in Ohio has shown that in fertile reservoirs, gizzard shad numbers continue to increase, even with high numbers of gamefish present, and that juvenile shad directly compete with the young of largemouth bass and bluegill.

A Silver Bullet

Is there a silver bullet? Yes, thanks to genetic research. Research is being conducted by Dr. Konrad Dabrowski at Ohio State University in cooperation with the Ohio Division of Wildlife to determine the best methods to culture triploid saugeye. A triploid is incapable of producing offspring and would eliminate genetic mixing. The catch is, to make them a viable option, these triploids must be as hardy as normal saugeye and survive as well in hatcheries and in waters where they’re stocked.

Another solution may exist in lakes where the habitat and water quality is reasonably suited for walleyes. Through all the saugeye research conducted in Ohio—culture methods, stocking rates, timing of stocking, population estimates, growth and harvest rates, sex ratios, and now movement within watersheds—some lakes can conceivably switch back to walleyes with similar success rates. Ohio routinely raises 6 to 10 million saugeye fingerlings (not fry) per year and stocks 52 lakes. A lake’s stocking rate depends on water retention time in the lake among other things, with high-outflow lakes receiving higher stocking rates. The normal stocking range is between 100 and 300 fingerling per acre annually.

Two study lakes receive 500 fingerlings per acre to facilitate research. Interesting, though, these high rates didn’t reduce growth rates. Biologists ask, what if they were to stock walleyes at these new increased rates? Historically, lakes might have received only 25 to 50 walleye fingerlings per acre, a stocking rate some states have used for saugeye and considered their stocking unsuccessful.

I believe the future will hold a combination of all three possibilities. Saugeye will continue to be stocked in states where they’re popular but maybe in fewer lakes. If triploid culture methods are reliable and cost effective, they will be used in more sensitive areas. Finally, walleyes are sure to return to some lakes if the higher stocking rates of healthy fingerlings are successful.

Location

Ice-out is my favorite time of year to fish for saugeye. The fish are staged in predictable locations and the biggest females are easily caught. Unless unusually early rains have resulted in high muddy water flowing out of the reservoir, most of the action will be along the riprap above the dam and on major points and deep flats in the lake basin closest to the dam. Tailwater action below the dam will increase later with increased water flows and turbidity.

Saugeye and low-light conditions coincide, whether they’re wave-induced mudlines along shoreline points, turbid conditions due to heavy rains, or the dark of night. Anglers have an advantage from ice-out until spawning at the end of March or early April as water warms from 40°F to 50°F.

Saugeye holding near dams become active at night, roving rocky points and riprap areas along causeways and dams in 1 to 15 feet of water. Daytime location depends on weather and water conditions. Clear water (visibility over 10 feet) keeps fish deep and presentations tough. The saugeye at my favorite reservoir last March were between 45 and 60 feet deep. On good days, fish grouped at the base of shoreline points at 32 feet. In years past, when the water was more turbid, saugeyes held from 26 to 32 feet deep on slow days, and as shallow as 15 to 25 feet on active days.

When spring rains increase water flows and turbidity in the tailwaters, saugeye fishing is at its peak, and anglers began making great catches, breaking state records below the dam forming Deer Creek Lake. Saugeye collect in high numbers at this time of year.

Location changes in small tailwater pools, depending on water flows. Fish hold tight to seams and breaks in current where water is slack. This helps them conserve energy as they gorge on small gizzard shad being flushed through the dam. Look for breaks in the current behind dam baffles, bridge abutments, along concrete walls and sidewalks, and in depressions in the stream bottom.

When the water reaches high flood stages, saugeye may move into flooded timber downstream from the dam, but I don’t recommend trying to fish under these dangerous conditions. If dams are located upstream, check tailwaters.

In presummer, saugeye are found on main-lake points, especially bigger points that reach all the way to the channel. In clear lakes, deep weedbeds or flooded wood hold saugeye shallow. Saugeye also are attracted to current along a narrow causeway opening or flowing tributary. Also, water release at the dam increases saugeye action at the dam and in current areas. In clear water, night fishing may still offer the best opportunity for shallow active eyes. Presummer also is the time to check more remote structure, like submerged islands on flats, sunken roadbeds, and woody or weedy shorelines in bays.

Summer is probably the toughest time for most saugeye anglers. Newly hatched gizzard shad are everywhere, and so are pleasure boaters. Fishing can become spotty, and most of the active fish caught are small. I confess I’m mostly a muskie fisherman at this time of year, but muskie fishing has offered valuable clues to catching large active fish at this time of year. In fact, the hotter the summer, the better and more predictable this pattern becomes.

Cast and troll large shad-imitating crankbaits off the ends of bars that touch the old river channel and troll for suspended fish above the thermocline out over the old river channel. Once you leave the cover associated with bars, active suspended saugeye will be associated with clouds of forage fish, like young gizzard shad.

In fall, saugeye resume holding tight to classic structure again, more evenly spread throughout the lake. Concentrate on areas where huge schools of gizzard shad form. If summer has been cool, much of this concentration still may be in the upper end of the lake. Late season fishing also can pick up on shallow riprap shorelines at night. Near-freezing conditions require dependable equipment. Dress in windproof and waterproof clothing and always fish with a partner.

I tend to ice fish near the same areas I fish soon after ice-out. I concentrate on deep breaks near the channel and 10- to 15-foot-deep tops of structure nearby. When fish become active, usually the last hour of daylight, these shallow areas can produce some fast action. In darker water, active fish move shallower.

Presentation

If I were to choose one presentation for year-round saugeye fishing, it would be a jig. Except for possibly a short time in summer, saugeye are bottom huggers. The most important part of any presentation is to keep in constant contact with the bottom. Using a heavy jig that stays on bottom and keeps your presentation near vertical when fishing out of a boat is more important than trying to use a small subtle jig.

Thin superlines like 6-pound-test FireLine are ideal for deep-water jigging. Their lack of water resistance makes it easier to keep jigs in contact with the bottom and also to feel subtle bites. A plastic grub body and minnow is the preferred dressing for a jig. Many fishermen prefer scented grub bodies, but with a minnow combination, you should do fine without it. Hot colors like fluorescent orange, chartreuse, and pink are popular. In clear water, try subtle colors—white, red, or clear with flakes.

From the end of May until late season, tipping jigs with nightcrawlers instead of minnows becomes more effective. Jigs can be dragged on bottom, fished with a slow lift-drop to feel for the extra weight of a fish, or with short hops. Again, be sure the jig remains in contact with the bottom.

I prefer to use my transom trolling motor to position over the fish and keep my line near vertical. When the action picks up and the fish scatter, controlled drifting works well. Windsocks are becoming popular to slow your drift on windy days. When you locate fish, triangulate your position with shore references, because saugeye hold in tight schools during the day. Using floating markers is an excellent way to learn a new spot and how saugeye are relating to it.

When saugeye are making their nightly runs along riprap during the prespawn and spawn, crankbaits rule. Stake out prime locations (close to the deepest water available) along the shore of the dam and cast shallow-diving minnow imitations parallel to shore in 1 to 8 feet of water. The bigger females seem to hit consistently in the couple hours before and after dark. Males roam in packs, and if you’re trolling multiple lines, doubles and triples aren’t uncommon. The hour before sunrise seems to be the second best time.

I like to troll with my transom trolling motor. Sometimes, however, the outboard is necessary in heavy wind. But when trolling at only 1/2 mph, a lot of time is required to reposition the boat after yielding the right of way to another boat or shore fisherman. Be courteous and patient; most people don’t stay long after dark, anyway. And you’ll have the water to yourself.

Your rig can be as simple as a standard spinning outfit and Rattlin’ Rogues, Husky Jerks, Ripsticks, or ThunderSticks. Or get a little fancier and use long trolling rods or planer boards to reach shallow fish. I wouldn’t recommend more than one board for night fishing, if any at all, since keeping things as simple as possible is best.

When fish are holding deeper in say 10 to 14 feet of water, my favorite combination is the new Penn line-counter level-wind reel, a 7-foot Ugly Stik Lite, and 14-pound FireLine with a ball-bearing swivel and 4-foot green Trilene XT leader of 8- to 10-pound test. The heavier FireLine is a little easier to handle at night, but still gets lures down. A rod with a soft tip like the Ugly Stik is ideal for low-stretch line and helps keep the big girls from shaking out hooks. The line-counter reel makes returning a lure to the right depth simple, which is critical for staying right on bottom without snagging.

Another rig I’ve found useful for saugeye consists of low-stretch line running to a three-way swivel. A 3- to 5-foot leader is added, depending on the type of lure, and a 2-foot-plus dropper line with a hollow egg sinker held in place with split shot. The distance between the swivel and the weight of the egg sinker depends on current and depth, plus lure type. This rig can be adjusted to tick bottom without becoming snagged. If the weight snags, only one split shot and your egg sinker is lost. This rig works great when casting from the bank and also from a boat.

Trolling crawler harnesses from May until the heat of July is another excellent way to locate saugeye once they begin spreading out on bars. In turbid water with active fish, big thumping Colorado blades in chartreuse and green, fluorescent red beads, and ultrasharp #1 or #2 worm hooks work well. For finicky fish, try smaller blades and pieces of nightcrawler. At certain times, try Rat-L-Traps and jigging spoons. And remember to carry along plenty of Shore Lunch batter mix to fry those tasty saugeye fillets.

* Elmer Heyob Jr., an avid multispecies angler and In-Fisherman contributor, is a veteran Ohio Department of Natural Resources biologist in the Columbus, Ohio, area.