What is the difference between a walleye and saugeye?

Difference Between Sauger and Walleye Body Color: Sauger are a brassy color with large dark blotches. Walleye are a solid golden color all across their upper body. Dorsal fin: Sauger have dark spots on their top (dorsal) fin. Walleye don’t have spots, but their last two spines are solid black.

Are saugeye bigger than walleye?

Size. For bigger specimens, the easiest way to tell sauger and saugeye apart is by checking their body length and weight. As saugeye take after their walleye parent, they will grow considerably larger than sauger do. Saugeye, on the other hand, have an average length of 15-22 inches and an average weight of 2-4 pounds.

How do you identify a saugeye?

Saugeye look similar to both parental species. They are best identified by the “blotchy” saddle markings on their side and back similar to sauger, but they usually have white pigment on the lower portion of their tail along with dark blotches on their dorsal fin membrane.

Are saugeye fish good eating?

Saugers taste incredible. The firm white meat of a sauger is sought after. Some locals will tell you they like the sauger’s taste better than the walleye’s, as they believe the meat is a bit sweeter. Regardless of opinion, they taste good.

Can saugeye reproduce?

Saugeye are more tolerant of warm water than walleyes, and are particularly suited to life in turbid reservoirs. While they usually don’t reproduce with another saugeye, they are not a sterile hybrid and are capable of reproducing with either parent stock.

What kind of fish is a saugeye?

The Saugeye is a hybrid fish created by crossing a female walleye with a male sauger. Saugeyes can be taken with light spinning and bait casting tackle using spinners, spoons, or live bait like minnows or night crawlers.

What is the best bait to use to catch 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 fish for saugeye from shore?

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.

Does saugeye taste like walleye?

Sauger are closely related to walleye and very similar in taste. They look very similar but are generally smaller. In both size and taste sauger are “in between” walleye and yellow perch.

Are saugeye bottom feeders?

Saugeye make first class tablefare. They are being stocked particularly in lakes with stunted crappie because once they reach 16 inches, they begin to feed on these fish, thus improving the crappie fishery.

Do you know the difference between a walleye and sauger?

Difference Between Sauger and Walleye Sauger has a wider distribution compared to walleye. Sauger is commonly found in rivers while walleye mostly prefers lakes and reservoirs. Sauger is more migratory than walleyes. Sauger has black spots on the dorsal fin but not in walleye. Walleye has a white spot on the lower tip of the caudal fin but, not in sauger.

What’s 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.

Do saugeye try to spawn?

Spawning takes place in the upstream regions of rivers in the early spring; where dams are present, Saugeyes (as well as Sauger and Walleye where the three are conspecific) may aggregate right below dams to spawn. Eggs are adhesive, and are typically laid on rocky substrates where they are fertilized by males.

What is a saugeye fish?

The Saugeye is a hybrid fish created by crossing a female walleye with a male sauger. Saugeyes can be taken with light spinning and bait casting tackle using spinners, spoons, or live bait like minnows or night crawlers.