So on another thread people were talking about saugers and keeping the big ones. I know what size walleyes are typically the best breeding fish but what size saugers produce the most viable eggs in P4? What size do you consider an “eater” and what size do you practice selective harvest of?
That would depend on the time of year caught and whether the fish is full of eggs and can be identified as a female. The 15-18″ range are great eaters.
Personally like walleye, I’m into the 14-15″ range.
But I don’t have a problem if someone else takes home larger ones.
Personally like walleye, I’m into the 14-15″ range.
But I don’t have a problem if someone else takes home larger ones.
…You must be at work again. 
… rrr
I thought you were going to get ready for hunting??
The posts against keeping a certain legal-sized fish seem to come up more often between seasons, which I don’t think is a coincidence. It’s apparent the lack of time spent hunting or fishing (or ice fishing currently) gets people a little more testy, so next time someone tells you not to go hunting/fishing, tell them it’s for your mental health. Then no longer talk to that person as you don’t need that kind of negativity in your life! 
As far as the OP, I have no problem with people keeping legal fish of any size. Personally I let any eye or Sauger over 20″ go all year(unless it died while catching, which rarely happens), and in the spring on P4 I let all the fish, who haven’t dropped their eggs yet, go.
I like the 13 to 16″ range for eaters….but I’m not going to waste a lethally hooked fish either. I fish cranks harder than most, and have a lot of them eaten. I do mean eaten where virtually all you see in line going into the mouth. It’s unfortunate, but when they feed like that there is a high mortality rate and I’ll eat them rather than pitching them back and hoping they survive.
As for mature sauger, look at the reality of them. They reach reproduction (females) in 2 to 4 years of age and an average legth of 10 to 11″. The SD DNR has studies on them showing female egg production can slow down by 6 years old. How old is a 18″ sauger??? How many people catch (on a regular basis) a sauger over 20″? My guess is is not many. Ya, you hear reprts and see pics go around, but over all I don’t think a lot are caught. My guess is that the 12 -13″ saugers are your major spawners…and look at how many of those you catch and how agressive they can be
The posts against keeping a certain legal-sized fish seem to come up more often between seasons, which I don’t think is a coincidence. It’s apparent the lack of time spent hunting or fishing (or ice fishing currently) gets people a little more testy, so next time someone tells you not to go hunting/fishing, tell them it’s for your mental health. Then no longer talk to that person as you don’t need that kind of negativity in your life!
As far as the OP, I have no problem with people keeping legal fish of any size. Personally I let any eye or Sauger over 20″ go all year(unless it died while catching, which rarely happens), and in the spring on P4 I let all the fish, who haven’t dropped their eggs yet, go.
I tend to do what you do regarding size. I also have no problems if someone keeps a legal fish. I was just wondering if the prime breeding size for saugers is different than walleyes.
Most people consider Walleye’s 18-24 to be the best breeders. I know a lot of people who release any over 20 for that reason. Thing is with saugers the biggest I have seen in a 18.5″ fish.
Usually for me, nothing over18″. This helps protect what I feel are good spawners, and I honestly think those bigger heavier fish don’t taste as good anyway. Then again, I bake mine and never fry them. If I wanted to make every fish taste the same, I’d fry them.
You can really tell the difference in taste when you bake or grill them. That being said, I only keep a few meals a year and throw the rest back.
Yeah, I’d be curious to know what the ideal spawning size is for saugers also. My buddy pulled a 23.5″ sauger (maybe a saugeye after further research lol) out of P4 a couple years back, so they do get pretty big.
Here’s the state records:
Sauger 6 2 23⅞ 15 Mississippi River near Red Wing (L&D No.3) Goodhue 5/23/1988
Saugeye, Walleye x Sauger Hybrid 9 13 27 17¾ Mississippi River near Red Wing Goodhue 3/20/1999
Keep in mind that the sauger on pool 4 run much bigger than lakes like Lotw. If I get a 16″ sauger on Lotw it is a nice fish for me up there. Pool 4 it is common to get 18-20″ sauger. On pool 4 I usually keep both sauger and walleye up to 19″ if I am looking for a meal. If a fish doesn’t appear like it is going to survive I will keep a larger fish, but most of the time I am pulling cranks, and it is rare to hook a fish that deep with a crank. That being said, I have no issue with someone keeping a legal limit of fish. I like the MN law that legally you can only keep one walleye over 20″ in a daily limit, although that law doesn’t apply to border waters. I get annoyed by people that judge others for keeping legal fish and call them out online. This practice of keeping legal limits has been going on for years and years down on pool 4, and the population seems to hold steady year after year. I will say that the last couple years I thought the sauger average had dropped in size, but this year I have been getting larger saugers again, so that makes me think that just like every other body of water, pool 4 goes through the same size cycles.
Saugers typically only get to be 12 years old anyway.
the 2000-2001 great year classes are long gone.
You are catching their replacements now.
And things are looking good for the near future.
Selective harvest would be nice, but most people just don’t care.
Personally I’d like to see a two fish daily limit on walleye and sauger from December to end of April. Could or would that ever happen… We may never know.
I keep em all that are legal. The big walleye and saugers are the best eaters in my eyes. Nice wide flakes, cheeks to cut out, and thicker fillets = better eating fish IMO. Side by side with a smaller fish the big fish wins the ‘taste’ contest 100% of the time. I believe this is mainly due to the thicker meat holding onto more moisture while cooking. Plus I prefer the texture of thicker flakes vs skinny flakes of meat.
I keep em all that are legal. The big walleye and saugers are the best eaters in my eyes. Nice wide flakes, cheeks to cut out, and thicker fillets = better eating fish IMO. Side by side with a smaller fish the big fish wins the ‘taste’ contest 100% of the time. I believe this is mainly due to the thicker meat holding onto more moisture while cooking. Plus I prefer the texture of thicker flakes vs skinny flakes of meat.
fanning-flames.png
Big or small fillet ’em all 
Sauger size I believe has more to do with the spawning year class. I have talked with several fish biologists and you can look at year classes of the breed and see why you are, or are not catching the quality of fish. Just what I was thinking.
I keep em all that are legal. The big walleye and saugers are the best eaters in my eyes. Nice wide flakes, cheeks to cut out, and thicker fillets = better eating fish IMO. Side by side with a smaller fish the big fish wins the ‘taste’ contest 100% of the time. I believe this is mainly due to the thicker meat holding onto more moisture while cooking. Plus I prefer the texture of thicker flakes vs skinny flakes of meat.
So common to read that the little ones taste better. These aren’t deer where the old ones taste like shoe leather. If going solely based on taste I think the bigger fish are better. Going on conservation it isn’t a bad idea to release females full of eggs and keep smaller males.
Whats the best way to tell male from female, outside of the shape of the belly? I’ve cut open a few fat walleye/sauger that looked preggers, but they ended up being overweight males. I’ve also cut open a few slender looking fish that ended up being full of eggs.
As a professional minnow sexer at Everts Resort…
It is easier to tell the sex in spring when the bellies are drooping like a 59 year olds beer belly…
But there is another way. Take a look at the walleye/saugers rear end. The anus on a male is circular while the anus of a female resembles a keyhole, and the female’s will become larger once it is time to drop her egg.
Personally I have never found a large walleye to taste good. I dont like the large flesh flake from a large walleye. Also if you have a family and you feed them your catch it is a known fact the large fish have dangerous levels of PCB’s in them, were the younger fish have a level considered safe. I have always considered that first when keeping fish for my plate. When I fished the Chippewa River in Eau Claire they had the 14-18″ protective slot. Man o man a 13.5 inch walleye is about as tasty as they get and that river was loaded with them.
There’s not a real hard fast rule about which fish should be kept versus released.
For those who keep limits of 14-15 inch walleyes, please realize that virtually no female fish in this size range have spawned. In order to ensure that each female from a year class has had an opportunity to spawn at least once, you really need to wait until their 19 inchers. Pounding 14-15 inch fish BEFORE they’ve reached spawning size can have some pretty horrible effects (the argument against slots).
The legal fish argument needs to stop. I could go out and keep 6 fish of any size every single day and be within the law. But if enough people do that, the fishery suffers and everyone gets screwed. I also think most of these catch and kill fisherman have an illegal amount in their freezer, or give away fillets which we all probably do, but is also illegal.
People complain about Indian netting and cormorants, but don’t bother changing their own habits. If you want to be able to keep a limit of 6 occasionally, you better be doing your part and limiting yourself to 3 most other days, otherwise the government eventually will.
Saugers are different than walleyes in how their biomass is distributed. I don’t think you run into the problem of female fish being taken out prior to hitting spawning years. I don’t see the need to keep a fish that has been sitting in the river for 8 years, but I won’t lose sleep if someone does. I’m more concerned with the guys that go day after day and keep limit after limit of any size.
As a professional minnow sexer at Everts Resort…
It is easier to tell the sex in spring when the bellies are drooping like a 59 year olds beer belly…
But there is another wayward . Take a look at the walleye/saugers rear end. The anus on a male is circular while the anus of a female resembles a keyhole, and the female’s will become larger once it is time to drop her egg.
Brian,
That works for muskies. It doesn’t work for walleyes.
Great post, John Hamer. I like trophy fishing and generally believe that selective harvest of big fish (meaning, you keep the biggest fish you catch) does harm to the balance of the system. That said, the only definite impact of the occasional big fish being kept is that it will never be caught and enjoyed again.
Selective harvest overall is the key to any sustainable fishery, period. I couldn’t agree more that the legal limit argument needs to stop. Use your brains, guys!
I couldn’t agree more.
or give away fillets which we all probably do, but is also illegal.
You can give fish away, but I doubt anyone actually follows the letter of the law (pg 23):
Can I give away fish that I’ve kept?
If you have kept a fish and want to transfer it as a gift, it must be accompanied by a receipt that must remain with the gift. The person receiving the gift cannot possess more than the statewide limit including your gift. The receipt must contain all of the following information:
• Name and address of the owner
• Name and address of recipient
• Date of transfer
• Description of the gift
• License number (DNR number or transaction number) under which the fish was taken
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Brian Klawitter wrote:</div>
As a professional minnow sexer at Everts Resort…It is easier to tell the sex in spring when the bellies are drooping like a 59 year olds beer belly…
But there is another wayward . Take a look at the walleye/saugers rear end. The anus on a male is circular while the anus of a female resembles a keyhole, and the female’s will become larger once it is time to drop her egg.
Brian,
That works for muskies. It doesn’t work for walleyes.
LOL! tell the biologist. I eat them all.
For those who keep limits of 14-15 inch walleyes, please realize that virtually no female fish in this size range have spawned.
Depends on what system we’re talking about.
The WI DNR placed the 15″ minimum on walleyes so they would spawn at least once.
In the Mississippi the walleye/sauger grown fast and die young compared to other fisheries.
I’m certainly not a walleye expert (try not to portray one on TV or the internets) but I listen and drop a camera down (a lot).
There’s a free presentation held in Rochester coming up. I know I’ve learned a ton from the DNR that works hard at keeping the pulse on Pool 4.
It’s worth the trip.
From A&T’s post in the Mississippi General Forum:
The DNR will be giving a presentation on the fishery oF Pool 4 on Monday January 4,2016. The event will be at 7pm. Location is the Elk’s club in Rochester. This is a free event and open to the public.
Walleye Searcher’s meeting will be after the presentation.
Please attend and ask how to identify a male vs. female walleye. 
Or, maybe head to the cleaning shed at Evert’s and post some pics that show what you’re describing? I’ve tried this and absolutely cannot tell the difference, but I’m willing to learn!
LOL… sure. Google is your friend John.
If you’re unsure, put your pinkie up there. 
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