It’s a walleye, a sauger, no, a saugeye.
This hybrid member of the perch family (Percidae), is a cross between female walleye (Sander vitreus), and a male sauger (Sander canadensis). It’s a new fishery that has quietly blossomed, since five Central Kentucky lakes were stocked, beginning in 2013.
In the wild, in lakes and rivers with naturally reproducing populations of both walleye and sauger, researchers found that saugeye hybridization occurs at a rate of about 2 to 3 percent, but the fish stocked in Kentucky waters were spawned and reared at hatcheries in-state.
“They seem to be growing and doing well,” said Jeff Crosby, Central District Fishery Biologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “We’re seeing some 3 to 4-pound quality fish.”
Statewide there’s a minimum size limit of 15 inches on saugeye, with a daily creel limit of six.
Central Kentucky Lakes Stocked with Saugeye
The lakes include:
* Guist Creek Lake, 317 acres in Shelby County, has been stocked every year since 2013, and saugeye up to 20 inches are possible.
* A.J. Jolly, 200 acres in Campbell County, has been stocked every year since 2013 and “is not far behind the population in Guist Creek Lake,” said Crosby.
* Bullock Pen, 134 acres in Grant County, stocked in 2013-15, has harvestable size fish present.
* Boltz Lake, 92 acres in Grant County, stocked in 2015-16, has the potential for harvestable fish in fall of 2016.
* Taylorsville Lake, 3,050 acres in Spencer, Anderson and Nelson Counties, received some surplus fish, and growth rates have been excellent.
“They have almost reached 18 inches, after just two growing seasons,” said Crosby. “Saugeye were stocked at just 2 to 3 fish per acre.”
Plans are to increase the stocking rate to be 10 to 20 fish per acre in the future, when more fish are available.
Spawning, Hatching and Stocking
Josh Pennington, hatchery manager at the Pfeiffer Fish Hatchery, in Franklin County, said the spawning is done at the Minor Clark Fish Hatchery, near Morehead.
“They send us hardened eggs in bags filled with water and oxygen, then we hatch the eggs and raise up the fry to stocking size.”
Soon after saugeye eggs hatch, the young fish begin feeding on zooplankton. “We fill a pond, and fertilize it, to allow the plankton to bloom,” said Pennington. “Then we put the fry in the pond at the rate of about 100,000 to 120,000 per acre.”
By May the saugeye reach stocking size of 1 1/2 to 2 inches in length, and are trucked to the lakes where they are released.
About 60,000 saugeye of stocking size have been raised annually at the Pfeiffer Fish Hatchery since 2013.
“One year we had really good survival, and had a bumper crop of 112,000,” said Pennington.
The small lakes are stocked at the rate of about 80 fish per acre.
By their first fall saugeye can grow to 7 to 9 inches in length, and reach harvestable size in the second year after being stocked.
Saugeye Life History, Food Habits
Saugeye thrive in fertile waters, adapt well to lake environments, and tolerate turbidity and warm water better than walleyes. It’s no wonder identification is tricky. Saugeye look similar to both parental species.
Saugeyes typically have dark brown backs with darker saddle–shaped markings like a sauger, and a white tip on the lower tip of the tail like a walleye. They also have a continuous black lines on the spines of the dorsal fin, while sauger have rows of distinct black spots.
Saugeye, like walleye and sauger, are piscivorous, that is the feed on fish, eating mostly shad, shiners, and minnows.
Fishing Strategies
When the saugeye population in Guist Creek Lake was sampled earlier this fall, Crosby said it was a bit surprising that the fish seemed to prefer mudflats over rock structure. “We found saugeye in 5 to 7 feet of water on points and mudflats.”
Late fall to early spring is a good time to fish for saugeye, since they tend to migrate to the upper reaches of lakes, and in rivers, stack up in tailwaters below dams.
Warming water temperature in the spring cause saugeye to disperse back downstream in shallow, turbid reservoirs, where they locate on old river channel structure. Focus on drop-off edges, and shallow flats, particularly if the water’s muddy.
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Most anglers fish with spinning or casting rods (6 to 7 1/2-foot), with reels spooled in 8 to 12-pound-test line.
Most classic walleye rigs and presentations work for saugeye, but jigs tipped with live bait are particularly effective. Saugeye, like walleyes and sauger, hug the bottom, so use enough weight to maintain bottom contact.
Vertical fishing minnow-tipped jigs is a proven winter presentation, December through February.
Later on in the season, drifting walleye spinner rigs, tipped with live nightcrawlers will catch saugeye, as does casting or trolling crankbaits across flats.
In states adjoining Kentucky, saugeye grow to impressive size. For example, the Ohio state record saugeye weighed 14.04 pounds; Indiana, 8 pounds, 8 ounces, and Illinois, 8 pounds, 7.6 ounces.
Kentucky’s state record saugeye weighed 6 pounds, 8 ounces and was caught in 1998, but Crosby said he believes that record could be in jeopardy.
“I think there’s potential for a new state record saugeye to be caught here in the future,” said Crosby.
Art Lander Jr. is outdoors editor for NKyTribune and KyForward. He is a native Kentuckian, a graduate of Western Kentucky University and a life-long hunter, angler, gardener and nature enthusiast. He has worked as a newspaper columnist, magazine journalist and author and is a former staff writer for Kentucky Afield Magazine, editor of the annual Kentucky Hunting & Trapping Guide and Kentucky Spring Hunting Guide, and co-writer of the Kentucky Afield Outdoors newspaper column.