Sauger/walleye/saugeye?

[Geezle]

So for anybody who doesn't know by now, I tend to do pretty much all of my fishing in the NSR, where there's not many fish you can keep. I'm sure some of you saw my Filleting Adventure thread where I kept a couple of goldeye, but they're quite bony and a pain to clean. Haven't tried the scaling/gutting method yet though.

But I digress...the moral of the story is that I was thinking about keeping a sauger to try if I happen to catch one, since they're another fish that can be kept from the river, and I'm sure they'd be a little easier for me to work with than the goldeye.

So since I know that sauger and walleye are related and quite similar in appearance I started looking into how to identify sauger properly...ok no problems there...and then I stumbled on the saugeye! Is there an easy way to identify the sauger/walleye crosses? Do they look mostly like a sauger only bigger like a walleye?

Also I'm not sure about the legality of keeping a saugeye. I searched the forum and came up with a couple saugeye posts, and in one of the threads somebody said that they would fall under the same legal realm as the walleye, but I haven't found anything yet that's definite one way or the other.

Saugeye, while not unheard of, are pretty rare and what most people think are saugeye are actually just funny coloured walleye. Many river walleye do take on some very strange colourations. If it really is one, I'd suspect that you'd need to follow the rules for the one that is most protected under the regs.

[fishinmatt]

I've cought a few sauger/walleye that I've classified as saugeye. Can't say I'm 100% sure if they actually were saugeye or not but sauger-like markings with a bit of white on the tail is a saugeye to me.

[Geezle]

Ok, I wasn't sure how common they were, I just know that they are out there, and I'd hate to be the guy who keeps one thinking I'm in the clear and then get spanked by the FC's for keeping a walleye or something like that. If I'm not 100% sure then it's going back, that much is a given.

[DarkAisling]

Originally Posted by Geezle

If I'm not 100% sure then it's going back, that much is a given.

That's the best way to do it. If I'm with knowedable angers and they 100% know what it is, I might not throw it back if it is something that can be kept.

[Geezle]

Originally Posted by DarkAisling

That's the best way to do it. If I'm with knowedable angers and they 100% know what it is, I might not throw it back if it is something that can be kept.

I'm pretty sure from the homework I've done that I can identify a sauger vs. a walleye, it's just the idea of maybe catching a cross that might be a sticky wicket.

That being said, it doesn't sound like there's a lot of saugeyes out there, so it shouldn't be too big of an issue

[huntsfurfish]

In 30 years of fishing the Oldman/South Sask. Rivers I have caught only 2 Saugeyes that I was confident in. Possibly caught more but the 2 had obvious charactoristics of each species. They had the rows of black spots on the dorsal fin(sauger) and the white spot on the tail(walleye). Little doubt they were saugeye. In recent years have not caught as many sauger as I used to though?

I guess what Im trying to say is there are probably quite a few that dont have the obvious charactoristics of both so you might have a saugeye that still mostly resembles one or the other(walleye/sauger).

[gallileo]

I've never caught a sauger or a saugeye before, but here is the picture I found from a website. It illustrates quite clear differences among three species.



By the way, do Sauger and Saugeye have glassy milky eyes too?

[tchow]

Originally Posted by gallileo

I've never caught a sauger or a saugeye before, but here is the picture I found from a website. It illustrates quite clear differences among three species.



By the way, do Sauger and Saugeye have glassy milky eyes too?

Those are the best pics to distinguish of difference between the 3, but...
Just when you think you can tell them apart:



I had my suspicions that is was a Saugeye and wanted an expert's opinion. I sent the pic to a Fisheries Biologist. It was identified as a Saugeye. Notice on the lower tail lobe that there is no white spot nor lighter. The fish however does have the distinct coloration of a Sauger. Either way, it was a fish of lifetime !
BTW the fish was released after I got a pic..

[Geezle]

Originally Posted by tchow

Those are the best pics to distinguish of difference between the 3, but...
Just when you think you can tell them apart:



I had my suspicions that is was a Saugeye and wanted an expert's opinion. I sent the pic to a Fisheries Biologist. It was identified as a Saugeye. Notice on the lower tail lobe that there is no white spot nor lighter. The fish however does have the distinct coloration of a Sauger. Either way, it was a fish of lifetime !
BTW the fish was released after I got a pic..

That's a great pic...I came across it when I was searching the forum for saugeye info

[Wulfespirit]

Originally Posted by tchow

Those are the best pics to distinguish of difference between the 3, but...
Just when you think you can tell them apart:



I had my suspicions that is was a Saugeye and wanted an expert's opinion. I sent the pic to a Fisheries Biologist. It was identified as a Saugeye. Notice on the lower tail lobe that there is no white spot nor lighter. The fish however does have the distinct coloration of a Sauger. Either way, it was a fish of lifetime !
BTW the fish was released after I got a pic..

Pretty phoney looking smile though.

[gallileo]

That is a great fish tchow!

BTW, do you know the biologist personally or any public can ask him or her?

[Fishin' Fool]

I'd fished the NSR in the Edmonton area for 20 years and never saw a saugeye. Then last summer I caught 2.

For those who think telling a sauger and a wallie apart will be difficult, just wait till you see a sauger. The color differences are so distinct that you will have no problem. A few years ago, I watched a friend catch his first sauger. He never had heard of them before, but even he, a relative newb to the sport, knew it wasn't a walleye before he even had it on shore.

Once you've seen the two species and have learned to recognize their characteristics, IMO it's pretty easy to spot the half-breed.

On a side note, I used to catch lots of sauger in the NSR back in the early 90's. Then, for me anyway, they disappeared for years. In the last 4 or 5 years though, I've been catching a lot more of them. Anyone else notice this?

FF

[tchow]

Originally Posted by gallileo

That is a great fish tchow!

BTW, do you know the biologist personally or any public can ask him or her?

I know him personally.

[tchow]

Originally Posted by Wulfespirit

Pretty phoney looking smile though.

You would have one also if you thought the fish would have been a contender for the largest Sauger caught in AB.
Maybe one year, I'll catch it and there would be a bigger phoney smile. Before and after I release it...