Saugeyes

[flathunter]

Anyone here fish for saugeyes, I am going to give it a shot soon, I got to have something to do till spring..I will be fishing mostly spillways like paintcreek.

[CritterGitter]

I fish saugeyes all the time. Muddy waters call for colored twister tails on a lead head. You want to use as light as you can get away with such as 1/8 oz or 1/16 oz. If you have fast current you can go to heavier, but I wouldn't bother if I had to go heavier then about 1/4 oz. You want to make contact with the bottom but not constant. You want to bounce off the rocks. Be prepared to get snagged a lot and have to re-tie. Also, I use 6 or 8lb mono on a light to medium action rod. If you fish a resevoir with clear water or somewhat clear water then you might try a plain lead head tipped with a minnow. This works well for finicky fish. Also, low light conditions are best. Early am, late evening or even night fishing. I have done my best in rivers at night. Overcast days are good too. Let me know if you have any other questions. Pound for pound a saugeye is a great fighter(especially in current) and they are VERY good eating!!!

CG

[Turkeyfoot]

My favorite bait, especially in spring, has always been the jig and minnow combo! Spillways are tough to fish so stay as light as possible (1/8oz) to avoid snagging as CG said. The best color for me has been orange head with chartruese body. I pinch the curlytail off then apply minnow for free swimming action. Don't be afraid to switch colors, as white, red, and hot pink can be good at times;)

I live on the Ohio River and mainly fish Pike Island dam starting end of Feb if weather permits. High water is generally best and you have to carry a variety of jig heads from 1/8 to 1/2oz. Expect to lose your share and current. Meat is what they want this time of year and fatheads are the prefered bait. For shear #s of fish, tailrace areas below dams on the Ohio are hard to beat.

True river sauger are usually smaller than the hybrid saugeye and take 8 years or more to mature. Over the years, I've seen fisherman keep more than their share of egg-laiden females. Wrong!! Keep a few to eat and throw back the spawners for seed. Keep the smaller males if you want a fish dinner:)

On the other hand, stocked saugeye do not reproduce and get much larger. My buddies flat out hammered them at Saly Fork this Fall, 3-6#ers on jig&minnow and Vibe-E's! In lakes, troll or cast crankbaits like shadraps and hot-n-tots will also get em;) ....TF

[ilreel]

saugeyes are basically eating machines. just try to match whatever they are eating at the time. if they are after shad in the spillway for instance than try to mimick a shad. remember, they are pretty much always eating so if you can figure out what they want you'll catch them.

[bill dowler]

hey turkey foot did they catch them in the tailwater or in the lake at salt fork. ididnt know that they were in the lake, ithought it was just walleyes there?

[Links r Us]

Fishing for saugeye at Paint Creek (http://groups.google.com/groups?q=ohio+saugeye&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=4cehb9%24hlr%40acme.freenet.columbus.oh.us&rnum=6)


PS ... I kinda think this S-Eye thread belongs in the warm water forum;)