Thread: Sauger at Ky. Lake

Hey guys, I just got directed here from shipahoy41 in another section saying you guys talk about sauger in this section of CDC.

I'm interested in learning seasonal patterns of sauger in a man made fishery such as Ky. Lake. (BIG lake with moderate depths ..0-30 ft... and a good deep channel...30-60 ft.)

I know we have sauger here as I have actually caught a few of them while night fishing for white bass down around the bridge pilings at Egner's Ferry Bridge. But that is during the summer and I'm sure what I catch there is just by accident.

Where are they....and... at what time of year and water temp? (maybe even why are they there during each of their seasonal patterns)

Blade baits work great for them as does a bucktail jig tipped with a minnow.Target points with drop offs during bright light times,shallower at night.Good luck with them.

What time of year or maybe, better yet, what water temp?

Originally Posted by rnvinc

What time of year or maybe, better yet, what water temp?

im going by what works for me in the Ohio river and at the dam of a big lake

twister tailswhite/green/yellow/pink and the original rapala in black/silver
also live bait like minnows or fresh cut bait like shad or skip jack if you can find them

we catch them year around but better in cold weather and overcast some reason they like those cold overcast miserable days

they are a lot like walleye they don't just look like them they do everything like them so anything you can find on one will work on the other

also if you are gonna be fishing from a boat for them and in the waters you described i would troll baits for them i haven't had the chance to yet but i do fish an area near a boat launch for white bass and carp and i have talked to a guy that trolls for them with great success i don't know the baits he trolls but im sure you could dig up some info on it if you have that depth of water and the channel like that it may just be the way to go

my uncle we today and in a few hours caught 40 he went the same place same bait same time the day before and caught 5 so the temperature is there

any more tips to catch these toothy critters in the main part of ky lake?

I used to go to blood river area in early June with my family. We would use our fishfinders to locate a stretch of the old riverbed and put out markers along the edge . A lot of this water is 11-12 ft . We would then just troll with crank baits...with big enough lips to get down and dig on the bottom. Some times you lose one on a stump...but many times when you feel the bait digging on the bottom...you'd pick up a sauger. We would troll that stretch for awhile...then move on, pick another stretch , mark it, and troll again. Another good place to look are for underwater humps. Lots of times when you see these humps on the fish finder...then get ready...as soon as your crank bait gets to those spots and starts digging....someone would be pulling in a fish. We also caught white bass, largemouths, cats, with this method. A shallower crank bait would also pick up a suspended crappie.