I know what length, girth, and weight makes a trophy walleye, pike, perch, salmon, etc. However I have no idea what makes a trophy sauger. Now that I’m living down here and fish the Mississippi, I see there is a good chance of hooking into a trophy sauger. So knowing that, what makes a sauger a trophy fish?
Any sauger over 20″ is a nice sauger.
A 22-23″ sauger is a special fish. Especially if they’ve had a chance to round out their bellies with eggs or shad. Funny thing about P4/pepin however….there’s no shortage of 22-23″ sauger. Not common, but certainly not uncommon either.
Anything 24″+, and you’ve got a true saugzilla on your hands.
I vote for either over 24″ or over 5 pounds. I’ve caught 3 sauger that were 24, but only one that broke 5 pounds. All from Lake Wisconsin. I think the body of water the fish came from also impacts what would be considered a tropy. Lake Wisconsin and P4 both grow some bruiser sauger, but some other bodies of water may be different and a 21″ or 3 pound sauger may be a trophy from there.
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I vote for either over 24″ or over 5 pounds. I’ve caught 3 sauger that were 24, but only one that broke 5 pounds. All from Lake Wisconsin. I think the body of water the fish came from also impacts what would be considered a tropy. Lake Wisconsin and P4 both grow some bruiser sauger, but some other bodies of water may be different and a 21″ or 3 pound sauger may be a trophy from there.
I definitely agree with that. I’ve got a 13″ length, 9″ girth perch that made it to the wall. The waters he came from were a big factor in qualifying him as a trophy.
I guess a trophy really is in the eyes of the one who catches it. I had a client land a 24″, 7.3lb Smallie last fall and he was not moved to mount it. That is an amazing fish from cold water that is 150 miles north/west of Minneapolis…
I agree with the above replies… My best P-4 Sauger was a cannon ball 24″ that pushed over 5 1/2lbs…I consider that a trophy although she was CPRed to spawn again. 
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I guess a trophy really is in the eyes of the one who catches it. I had a client land a 24″, 7.3lb Smallie last fall and he was not moved to mount it. That is an amazing fish from cold water that is 150 miles north/west of Minneapolis…
I agree with the above replies… My best P-4 Sauger was a cannon ball 24″ that pushed over 5 1/2lbs…I consider that a trophy although she was CPRed to spawn again.
That’s an amazing Smallie. Of course with modern technology, any fish I boat is CPRed even if it’s a trophy. That’s the beauty of replicas. Matt at Artistic Anglers in Duluth is simply the best in regards to replica mounts! He will get all my work and I’ll reference him anytime and every time.
Catching a 19″ sauger yesterday got me to thinking and wanted to revive this conversation.
What’s the largest Saugeye that’s been caught around here?
For me the trophy size depends on the lake. A few years ago I caught a 20″ sauger on LOTW and I don’t see myself beating that. On the other hand, I fished the FLW Tour event in Red Wing last year and saw some freakishly huge saugers. On Day 3, we boated a sauger that had to go 5+ pounds. It was such a neat looking fish that if I would have caught it, I definitely would have had a replica made.
I mentioned my PB Pool 4 Sauger was from April 2007… 23.7″ and 5lbs 10oz.
The rest of the story… Twenty minutes later my partner, Al Erickson caught a 24.4″ er that scaled 6.03lbs on my digital scale. We released boh fish…not realizing they both were record breakers at that time.I agree with Jason…20″ is a trophy Sauger most anywhere… P-4 is a special Sauger fishery.
BTW Both our megaSauger caught pitching Pro Blue ringworms along a flooded treeline. 
The 1st picture is a 22+” St.Croix River sauger, The second picture is a couple of 4+lb saugers from Pool 4.
I have fished the MWC Spring Valley Tournament since 2001. The first two years we caught lots of saugers over 5 lbs. I would guess over 20 fish. Those big ones are few and far between now but what fun. Biggest one we weighed was just under 6lbs but of course we were not in the big fish pot (arrived late for rules meeting).
I know the Miss has some huge saugers but it is hard to beat the Illinois.
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