Sauger size limits???

Anyone know of any size restrictions for sauger?
I spent last Friday on pool 4 catching a good number of sauger. Almost all of them were 14-15″, with a couple just over 15″. I have looked through the entire handbook and can’t find anything about the size limits.

There is no size limit on sauger, only walleye

There is no minimum size limit to saugers on the river, just make sure you know what you are looking at. If in doubt with the markings, always opt for the release. FISHINFOOL

HEY NO FAIR WATTS . YOU TYPE FASTER THAN ME.

However if you are in a tournament that states so the 15 inch rule applies to the saugers and saugeyes also.

Saugeyes have to be 15 inches as do the walleyes. Saugeyes are becoming more popular on pool 8. Just don’t get them confused with a sauger

I kmow its not your question, but i t9ll don’t get why there isn’t a 15″ limit on sauger…we have closings on down the river to protect them and then up here all winter and spring stringers of 8-11 inchers are ripped out of the water everyday(pool 8,9, 10). I guess I am changing my mind little by little on regulations vs nature???

what is the typical markings of a saugeye ?

I released all but two that were over 15 just in case there was a limit that I could not find. I was reading that you must be 300ft down river from lock&dam #3. It looked to me like there were a LOT of people that didn’t read that part…

Saugeye (Stizostedion canadense x Stizostedion vitreum)

Species overview: The saugeye is a hybrid, the result of mating the sauger with the walleye. The crossbreeding can occur in the wild, but is mostly the result of purposeful mixing of the species in fish hatcheries. As a hybrid, the saugeye has the advantage of “hybrid vigor,” growing larger than the sauger parent. In the U.P. the Saugeye was stocked in a few local reserviors that are in the natural range of the walleye. They are supposed to be more aggressive than their cousins.

Identification: Saugeyes have variable body markings and coloration, but generally look like the sauger, with saddles and blotches more subdued. In saugeyes, membranes of the spinous dorsal fin have distinct spots similar to those of a sauger. A black blotch is also usually present at the posterior base of the spinous dorsal fin, like the walleye. In saugeyes, a white spot is usually present at the tip of the lower caudal fin, also similar to walleyes.

I look for the white tipped tail on a Sauger to ID a Saugeye…also I’ve noticed some horizontal striping above the ventral fin…but this may not occur in ALL saugeye.

Saugeye are stocked by the IDNR in the large flood control reservoirs because they do better in those types of waters than either walleye or sauger. Many of the “walleye” caught out of the lower Iowa River are actually saugeye.

In the Mississippi, where both walleye and sauger occur naturally, saugeye are the result of crossbreeding between walleye and sauger in the wild. Sauger spawn when the water temps. are a couple degrees warmer than walleye do, but male sauger are often ready to spawn when female walleyes are, and fertilize walleye eggs when the females drop them. This is how wild saugeye are made.

The saugeye is unusual among hybrid fish in that it is fertile, and can mate succesfully with walleye, sauger, or other saugeye. (This is not true of tiger muskie, wiper, or tiger trout, all of which are sterile.) I mention this because the various resulting 3/4, 7/8, or 15/16 walleye/sauger mixes can be difficult to identify with certainty. Every year on the Mississippi I catch “sauger” with a rather large white patch on their tail, and “walleye” with noticeble dark patches on their body. According to In-Fisherman , 20% of the sauger in the Missouri river system carry walleye genes, and this is probably true of the Mississippi sauger population as well. As other people have said, when in doubt, treat it as a walleye in regards to regulation restrictions.

Were in the WI or MN fishing regulations does it say that saugeyes are classified as walleyes and not saugers. I only keep fish that are 15” or bigger, but just wondering if this was one of those unwritten laws.

Page 52 of the Wisconsin Regulations.

Walleye and Sauger (Includes Hybrids) 15 inches for Walleyes and no size limit for Saugers.

To me this means the Saugeyes (Hybrids) fall into the 15 inch rule.

But then again I’m not a lawyer.

The old Winona County CO and the Buffalo County CO both told me to treat saugeyes, or fish I was not certain on, as walleye rather than sauger, although neither said they would fine a person for keeping a saugeye if it was under 15″.

i’m looking at the reg book for border water (wisconsin) page 51-53 minn regs. it only says minimum size for walleye and does not as far i can see include saugeye in with minimum size. does someone know the answer or can tell me what page of the regs it is on? thanks
steve

I was checked by the warden at Everts a few years ago. I don’t remember if he was from Wisconsin or Minnesota but all he did was look at the dorsal fin of the fish. If it had black spots on it, he didn’t bother to check to make sure it made the 15″ length requirement for walleyes.

Boone

No size limit on Saugers. I too look for the spots on the dorsal fin if in doubt. Some saugers have very dark distinct blotches like liver spots on a German shorthair or springer. Others are sandy colored (IE sandpike). If in doubt, go with the 15 inches as I am not entirely certain ALL co’s know the difference. I am not gonna take a chance that His ID would be better than mine so if its not 15, it goes back.

I think it may have been 3 or 4 years ago I was fishing at Bellevue and caught my limit of walleye and I also had a large saugeye to boot. Not knowing exactly how the DNR treated saugeyes I went up to John Pitlo who just happened to be fishing up below the dam that day and asked him whether the DNR considered saugeyes to be a walleye or a sauger and he told me that they treat saugeyes as if they are a sauger. I showed him the fish to confirm that it was indeed a saugeye but it was pretty evident as it had all the normal sauger markings but was colored like a walleye. The DNR guy doing the creel check at the ramp showed me a couple different ways of distinguishing saugers and saugeyes from walleyes. Of course there is the dorsal fin spots or lack of spots, the color of the fish and the side markings but he also showed me that the cheeks on a sauger and a saugeye have tiny scales and are somewhat rough compared to a walleye that has no scales on the cheeks and the cheeks are very smooth. If you are in doubt feel the cheeks and if they have scales the fish is either a sauger or a saugeye. I also brought this up to our local DNR agent here in DBQ and he was not aware of the cheeks. He told me that they were instructed that any fish with white on the bottom of the tailfin was to be considered to be a walleye. To me this is very confusing as I have caught many fish that I have no doubt are saugers but they have a slight whitish edge on the bottom of the tailfin. Most saugers have a lighter patch on the tailfin which varies from a cream color to almost white. I think that the DNR field officers need to get on the same page as the DNR fisheries people and come up with a method of determining the exact species of fish that doesn’t leave any question as to what the fish is. To me spots on the dorsal fin or lack there of is a better way than white on the tail or even whether it has on dark spot at the base of the dorsal fin like a walleye. Checking the texture of the cheeks is probably the best way but the DNR field officers do not do this.

Eyehunter