Sauger state record?

  • freitag
    Osseo, WI
    Posts: 335
    March 27, 2006 at 4:11 pm #1249493

    A state trooper friend of mine received a phone call Thurs. / Friday from a friend that claims that they may have caught a state record sauger in Alma….they claimed it to be over 6 lbs. They were looking for a DNR officer to officially ID the fish. Haven’t heard anything since. Wondering if anyone out there has heard or seen anything.

    scottsteil
    Central MN
    Posts: 3817
    March 27, 2006 at 6:36 pm #433671

    James Holst had a picture of one they caught on Friday that must have been close to 6 pounds. We had one over 5 last year and the one he had a picture of seemed to dwarf the one we caught. No idea what the record is, but this is the time of year to get one.

    bret_clark
    Sparta, WI
    Posts: 9362
    March 27, 2006 at 6:49 pm #433674

    Sauger state records are –
    Wisconsin – 5lbs 13oz
    Minnesota – 9lbs 13.4oz

    John Schultz
    Inactive
    Portage, WI
    Posts: 3309
    March 27, 2006 at 6:52 pm #433677

    So, when I catch a 10 pound sauger on pool 4 this week, does that mean I get a state record in both Minnesota and Wisconsin or do I have to pick one state?

    jon_jordan
    St. Paul, Mn
    Posts: 10908
    March 27, 2006 at 7:14 pm #433688

    Quote:

    Sauger state records are –
    Wisconsin – 5lbs 13oz
    Minnesota – 9lbs 13.4oz

    The Minnesota state record Sauger is 6 lbs 3 oz. The state record Sauge-eye (Walleye Sauger hybird) is 9 lbs 13 oz.

    The record fish is usually recorded in the state you are licensed.

    -J.

    bret_clark
    Sparta, WI
    Posts: 9362
    March 27, 2006 at 8:18 pm #433702

    Thanks for the correction Jon. I thought that was one monster Sauger At any rate 6 pounds is still one pig of a sauger!

    lenny_jamison
    Bay City , WI
    Posts: 4001
    March 27, 2006 at 10:28 pm #433733

    Quote:

    James Holst had a picture of one they caught on Friday that must have been close to 6 pounds. We had one over 5 last year and the one he had a picture of seemed to dwarf the one we caught. No idea what the record is, but this is the time of year to get one.

    I believe the one James had was right at 5 1/2 LBS. It was 22 1/2 inches if I remember correctly.

    mike_j
    Nashua Iowa
    Posts: 754
    March 27, 2006 at 11:00 pm #433742

    I caught one on P4 in Nov 05 that was 23″ and 4# 15oz. I don’t know how much they gain between nov and march, but that one would have to be getting close to a record by now.

    fireflick
    Alma WI
    Posts: 875
    March 28, 2006 at 2:07 am #433790

    The guy who caught it came in too the store to tell that he had a huge sauger. He then took it to an offical scale where I heard it weighed 6lbs. 9oz. This is just second hand info. I will dig into this more.

    mb757
    Dodgeville, WI
    Posts: 73
    March 28, 2006 at 1:27 pm #433896

    I might pose this question to Joel Ballweg but there were rumors of a 27″ Sauger caught below the Dells dam. The slot on Walleyes and Sauger in that section won’t let you keep either species below 28″. That would have been a state record but they said it couldn’t be kept to validate. It would be tuff to return a fish like that.

    chris-tuckner
    Hastings/Isle MN
    Posts: 12318
    March 28, 2006 at 1:37 pm #433898

    Are you sure about the sauger regs? That would make them virtually catch and release there.

    drewsdad
    Crosby, MN
    Posts: 3138
    March 28, 2006 at 2:38 pm #433917

    James showed us the sauger picture and I believe he said it would have been a Wisconsin record if the person had had a Wisconsin license. Anyway, it was huge. A lot of real pig saugers coming to the boat right now.

    dd

    John Schultz
    Inactive
    Portage, WI
    Posts: 3309
    March 28, 2006 at 4:49 pm #433945

    Slot limit on the Wisconsin river above Prairie du Sac dam covers both walleye and sauger. You may keep five fish in total, between 15 and 20 inches, including one over 28″. Everything from 20 to 28 goes back, sauger included. There is consideration to lower the slot on sauger to a top end of 25″, but that isn’t official yet.

    jldii
    Posts: 2294
    March 28, 2006 at 5:36 pm #433954

    Many years ago when I was still fishing out of a jon boat and used a portable Bluewater pro for my only electronics, a friend and I caught the perfect day and time and conditions to be on the wing dams in RedWing in the early spring. Mind you, this was before my developing an understanding of the value of catch and release. Anyway, we came home with a stringer of saugers that made people stop in they’re tracks when they saw us coming out of 4 Seasons (the old location) from weighing them and getting our pictures taken with an old Polaroid camera. 12 fish, 34+ lbs. with 3 over 24″, and the biggest pushing 26″. The scale Ralph weighed our stringer on was the same scale he used to weigh LP tanks, so who knows how accurate it was, it sure wasn’t digital, but it said that big one was about 5.5 lbs.(pre-spawn). It wasn’t till the next day while enjoying a fish fry that the subject came up and we decided to look up the state record for sauger. My stomach turned when we read that it was only 6+ lbs. and realized that we had put a knife to a fish that should have been on the wall or released. I’ve regretted cleaning that fish ever since, but obviously remember fondly the experience of that day on the water.

    FYI…3/8oz. orange jig, chartruese twister tail, and a small fathead. Had to be small or else you got short bites, and they wouldn’t touch anything with a stinger hook!! LOL

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