Sauger Coming

[TNBronzeback]

Gonna get the boat wet after a LONG stint away from fishing this weekend.
Not ideal sauger weather being 70 degree's, but the rain chance/cloud cover may help.
any reports on water color and temp between cordell hull dam and O.H dam.
Cordell has been operating primo generation so if it stays that way and the water color is managable, i will test my super secret honey holes and see if anybody is home. LOL.

[goreds.king]

Keep us posted...I'm going to try my hand at sauger fishing out of my kayak this year. I've got a couple spots in mind.

[TNBronzeback]

will do!
i have several friends that WERE been doing good prior to all the rain and warmer temps, but im hoping it was cold enough, long enough to get them fish headed into their winter patterns in preparation of the spawn.
ive got several area's, both new and old that i plan on hitting so if they are there, i will leave no stone un-turned to get em in the boat! lol

[TnCreekMaster]

I was up river around bartons and spring creeks this past thursday and it was a nice shade of chocolate with a steady strong current bringing with it all the debris.
Seems like every lake in the Cumberland and Tennessee river basins are running it wide open

[notorious]

Spoke with Flipper last week, his buddy has been limiting out on Cordell Hull for Sauger. Not much action on OH as of yet. I fear I may miss it completely as I travel for work and am in the mid-west now. I will Ice Fish if I find a local lake that produces, otherwise I will hit DH this coming summer for wallies.

[polarkraft]

How do yall catch these things? A buddy and I will be giving it a go on old hickory in the coming weeks and really have no idea where to start.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[jad2t]

The best way that I've found to catch Sauger...


Is on accident. Haha. They're not an easy fish to figure out. I've caught them when targeting other species but to set out solely to target them is something I'd never do. I don't care how good they taste.

[TNBronzeback]

Originally Posted by polarkraft

How do yall catch these things? A buddy and I will be giving it a go on old hickory in the coming weeks and really have no idea where to start.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

a good place to start is the community holes below the dams to cut your teeth on the crazy sauger fishing. Fish the wing walls and below the flood gates (when they arent open of course) Winter time the saugers and walleyes will start schooling up for their spawn below the dams. Best method in my opinion in any moving water situation is always going to be vertical jigging. That doesnt mean you have to jig with the old standby of 1oz. leadhead with bucktail fur though. ive done incredibly good with blade baits, spoons and rattle baits. Let the current dictate your jig size. last year on a few occasions i was able to use a 1/4oz jig to catch saugers out of 52ft of water. thats the whole key to entire concept of vertical jigging...it MUST be vertical to maintain the natural movement of a dying baitfish. a few degrees of angle in any direction can make the difference of loading the boat or wearing your arm out for nothing. Near the dams most of the time you can use a smaller jighead, most times its a 1/4oz for me. If your fishing the main river, you have to bulk up. if your gonna try the main river, fish the deeper holes, fish the creek mouths. you dont really have to focus on cover like rock humps or trees when your sauger fishing in the winter, it can help sometimes, but dont think you need to scour the river marking every pebble and stick to come back and fish it. Your main focus should be STRUCTURE. My #1 super secret hot spot to date that i found last year is on the backside of a hole on a gravel bed about twice the size of my boat. anything up river of that spot = nothing, anything down river of that spot = nothing. but when i get positioned just right on the right drift, fish on every pass i make, i usually jig with 2 rods, so its super fun when i get hit on both jigs. But that river is FULL of little gems like that. My best spot below old hickory is totally, completely flat, not a feature on bottom to be found. BUT, what is within a few hundred yards of that place is what makes it special and hold fish.
Saugers can be a finicky fish, my best advice is use braided line, ALWAYS use stinger hooks. I personally always take live bait with me, if i need it, i have it, if i dont need it, i take it home and keep it alive for the next trip when i do need it. Fish the deep water, dont pass up 40-50ft of water cause you think its too deep....cause its not. i dont think i would personally concentrate on water less than 25ft or so though.
i like my jig colors to be either white or chartruse. and the fur to be either white or chartruse. if you dont want to mess with live bait, use curly tail worms or shad bodies or sliders on the jig...but again, use a stinger hook.
Ive burnt alot of hours and gas looking for these things and there really are alot of places in cumberland system that host alot of saugers! chances are you wont mark them on your electronics but if you find a gem of a hole or hump or some kind of river feature that in the pit of your gut tells you there MUST be saugers there, they are probably there, you just need to hammer em pass, after pass after pass changing your jig cadence, jig color, tail color, jig size, ect until you unlock their secret for that day, then you just wear them out as long as you can cause chances are, thier mood will change fast and you have to start all over again, whether its that day or the next.

[TNBronzeback]

Originally Posted by jad2t

The best way that I've found to catch Sauger...


Is on accident. Haha. They're not an easy fish to figure out. I've caught them when targeting other species but to set out solely to target them is something I'd never do. I don't care how good they taste.

why wont ya target them? what is it about them that makes ya say that? Just curious! LOL.

[jad2t]

Originally Posted by TNBronzeback

why wont ya target them? what is it about them that makes ya say that? Just curious! LOL.

I'd actually love to know how to catch them but I don't have a clue where to start! Plus from the little I do know, they're deep water fish that you find schooled up, not spread around. That can be tough in a kayak. My depthfinder is a mid grade unit. The more I use it, the more I realize it's good for finding brush piles and suspended fish but to locate fish on bottom it's tough to distinguish. I should have gotten a color display.

I've eaten one and it was tasty!

[XxthejuicexX]

Originally Posted by jad2t

I'd actually love to know how to catch them but I don't have a clue where to start! Plus from the little I do know, they're deep water fish that you find schooled up, not spread around. That can be tough in a kayak. My depthfinder is a mid grade unit. The more I use it, the more I realize it's good for finding brush piles and suspended fish but to locate fish on bottom it's tough to distinguish. I should have gotten a color display.

I've eaten one and it was tasty!

I have a color unit sitting in the garage you could buy for cheap

[TNBronzeback]

Originally Posted by jad2t

I'd actually love to know how to catch them but I don't have a clue where to start! Plus from the little I do know, they're deep water fish that you find schooled up, not spread around. That can be tough in a kayak. My depthfinder is a mid grade unit. The more I use it, the more I realize it's good for finding brush piles and suspended fish but to locate fish on bottom it's tough to distinguish. I should have gotten a color display.

I've eaten one and it was tasty!

Well more often than not, ive always got room in my boat if ya ever want to go. I have me a hell of a time out there too. Take some brats or deer steaks and grill em on my little propane grill.
Ive got a place thats ideal for a kayak too but the conditions gotta be just right or you will be doing some hard paddling to make another pass.
I can tell ya all ya need to know about fishing em if ya wanna know.

[XxthejuicexX]

what's the closet place to Murfreesboro to find sauger?

[TNBronzeback]

Originally Posted by TNBronzeback

Well more often than not, ive always got room in my boat if ya ever want to go. I have me a hell of a time out there too. Take some brats or deer steaks and grill em on my little propane grill.
Ive got a place thats ideal for a kayak too but the conditions gotta be just right or you will be doing some hard paddling to make another pass.
I can tell ya all ya need to know about fishing em if ya wanna know.

Hit send too early....i dont have great electronics on my boat. No side or down imaging. But i have it tweaked for best showing of bottom hardness.
For jigging, ive entertained the idea of side imaging, but i dont need to know whats off to the side, i need high res detail of whats under me so i know if i need to crank up to avoid a jig eating forrest on the bottom. I can so though, my unit in the bow is good enouh to pick up my lure when im jigging which is a huge benefit.

[jad2t]

You got yourself a deal. I'll bring some steaks from a local farmer we get our meat from. It's the good stuff. Gotta stay fueled in that cold weather! We won't be hungry!