Sauger, Walleye tactics July and August

Had a few questions. I have been fishing rivers for Walleye and Sauger for a few years now, but only in the Spring and Fall. I’m well versed with jigging and dragging jigs as well as pulling three ways. My main question is if there is much of a bite during the summer months and can I use the same approaches to catch fish? I’m planning to head up to Everts next month and would appreciate any general direction as to what I should be doing out on the river up there.

Thanks in advance!

My favorite technique in the summer is Hand Lining. Still puts a lot of fish in the boat. You can also pull cranks three way or on lead core.

It all just depends how you want to fish. By June I’m usually jigged out and ready to do something different. I like casting cranks at wing dams (when the flow allows it). You can pitch live bait at wing dams, you can drift with bait on channel edges or sloughs (or drag jigs here).

The biggest adjustment is getting away from the dams and fishing the entire pool. Some of my best summer big fish spots are within a mile of the Dresbach dam, but the best summer eater spots can be 10 miles downstream.

Casting cranks on dams is nice because I can cover 10-30 dams in a day vs live bait fishing one spot for 2 hours. To each his own.

This year is anything but normal but maybe by the time you head this way things will have settled down. In a normal year by July and August dragging livebait on a light jig will usually put eaters—and the occasional piggy— in the boat on the upper end of Pool 4. Most guys by that time will be out on the lake trolling crankbaits and that bite is usually the hot ticket by late July. With the weather this year it is anybodys guess but as it gets closer to your trip I think there should be some information you can use here. The good news is with all this high and dirty water the walleye are not getting pounded as hard as they usually do so there should be plenty of willing fish in the system in a months time. Good luck and let us know how you do!!!

Thank you so much for all your responses! So it sounds like I can use my knowledge and skills even during the summer Do the dams, locks, walls and tail waters hold fish during this time or would I be better off fishing down river finding deeper holes?

i’d work wingdams during the day, and rip rap at dawn/dusk.

ive found that dynamite can very effective as well..

You actually want to fish shallower water in the summer. The face of most wing dams are 8-12′ deep, and most areas you drag jigs and bait through will be between 6-12′ deep. Many, and I mean many of the better eyes I catch in the summer are sitting right on top of the rocks on wing dams crushing cranks. The brighter and sunnier it is, the higher I find them.

By the way WELCOME TO IDO !!

I like to troll cranks in the summer, usually up shallow by weeds or structure (bridge pillars, rock piles, wingdams, etc). If I’m not doing that, then throwing ringworms up on the sand/gravel bars is usually pretty fun, never know what you are going to catch.