Sauger or saugeye?

[Mr. Basskisser]

I caught this fish in Big Darby recently. Last year there were a few discussions on whether it's saugers or saugeyes in the Big D. I think this is a saugeye, black bands on the dorsal fin, and white on the tail. What does eveyone else think?

http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/photopost/data/500/4804100_0216-med.jpg

[saugmon]

Looks like a saugeye to me. Probably was a figerling last year?They grow very quickly.

The tip of their tail usually is more of an off white/cream color.

Nice pic on the black bands on it's dorsel fin!

[misfit]

i second saugeye.the black blotches on the fin are a trait of sauger,but the white on tail is a walleye trait.

[multi species angler]

It looks like a sauger to me but with all the cross breeding going on it can be very hard to tell on some fish. Even fisheries personell need to do genetic testing to be sure on some fish.

[saugmon]

Here's a pic of some of my saugeye this year,and note how small the white/cream tipped tail is:

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y89/saugmon/6-10-6.jpg

Walleye definitely have a larger and brighter white tipped tail.Saugeye have smaller,and not as white on those tips.

I don't have any good closups of any of those saugeye,so you can't see the black bands in their dorsel fins.

[fishslim]

I also say saugeye usually see the darker color on saugeyes in rivers

[crawdiddy]

wish I had a camera, I got the super dark river saugeye tonite (about 19"). All the ones I catch (river)are much darker than the pics I see here. Part of that is probably bc they've been dead a while and gotten paler. But still much darker. Fish tonite hit a pointer 100 (the usual and my goto - yet to be skunked with it).

[fishslime]

Looking at the dorsal fin is the best way to tell sauger form saugeye
your fish is sauger
if there are any defined dark spots in the spiney dorsal it is a suager
saugeye will not have defined dark spots but more of a cloudy checkering of pigmet
Waleye don't not have the 4-6 sadal bands on the back, they will have more of a stripped or tiger pattern when you look strait down at thier back

[shuvlhed1]

http://www.ohiodnr.com/wildlife/Fishing/aquanotes-fishid/fishtips.htm

I'd say, with the white tail, and the dark bars in the dorsal fin, its a saugeye.

[multi species angler]

Saugeye have a white tip on the tail and dark bars in the dorsal fin. The fish in question has spots in the dorsal fin and a white line along the bottom of the tail, which are traits of a sauger. Unless the fish are nearing record proportions I don't worry about it because ther isn't a size limit on either one.

[misfit]

msa,i really think it's difficult to say positively.i still lean toward saugeye,mainly because of the light coloration.saugers are generally darker,wuth more pronounced "blotches".
but then even that won't always hold true.same with the tail.the white line may not be the best way to differentiate as shown by this saygeye.judging by that,this fish's tail more resembles a sauger.


http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/photopost/data/500/158_8.JPG

[gcfisherman]

Check at the base of the front dorsal fin. If there is a back spot on the back end of this fin, then you have a walleye (saugeyes have the bars running horizonal on this fin). A nice one at that!

[misfit]

Check at the base of the front dorsal fin. If there is a back spot on the back end of this fin, then you have a walleye which fish are you referring to?or is that a general statement.as for the black spot,i think you mean the pec fin and not the dorsal.at least thats what i've read.

[wallyman]

The dorsal fin is always the way to tell them apart. I've spoken to fisheries biologists about this and to a person they say that when you see the well defined spots in rows on the dorsal it is definitely a Sauger. Saugeyes will carry traits of both parents but will never have a dorsal with the well defined spots of the fish in that picture. That fish is certainly a sauger.

[wallyman]

I forgot to mention that when you look at the dorsal fin on a walleye there is a distinctive black blotch at the base that neither a Saugeye or a Sauger posesses.

[Mushijobah]

Saugeye. Doesnt have the heavy bronze appearance and definite shaping of a sauger. Saugers also tend to have dots on the dorsal instead of bands.

[Smoke Eater]

Physical Description

Saugeye are a hybrid produced by interbreeding male sauger and female walleye. As would be expected of a hybrid, saugeye have some features of both parent species. The body of the saugeye is tubular and elongate and the tail fin has a white border on the lower end, like a walleye. This sleek body style allows them to burst through the water for short sprints, as well as swim long distances at moderate speeds.

Like saugers, saugeye also have the dark blotches across their sides and back, and the dorsal fin is usually spotted. Their coloration is generally yellowish- to golden-brown.

If I had to guess, I'd have to say saugeye. The caption above came from an internet site.
Good Luck, Smoke Eater

[bkr43050]

I have read in several places that the identification is extremely difficult without genetic testing. The fish can carry more traits of the walleye or they can carry more traits of the sauger or somewhere in between. I usually never try to distinguish between them by any other means than assuming that the fish is the species that is predominantly in that body of water. If a lake is stocked with saugeyes then my guess is the fish I catch in that lake and its tailwaters are saugeye. As far as the Ohio rivers there have been so many lakes throughout the state that have been stocked with saugeye that it would seem to me that the majority of the fish caught we saugeye. I realize that when you get in to the rivers more closely linked to the Ohio it gets more difficult to use that assumption because of the larger population of the saugers in the Ohio. And things can also be more complicated when you have a situation like the lake that I fish a lot. Over the years they have stocked both saugeyes and walleyes so it is anybody's guess.

I just know that when I catch one like Rick's I simply call that "Dinner".:D:D

[crawdiddy]

what I want to know is. is 200 years ago, what % of the "sauger, saugeye, walleye" population were "saugeyes"

I think every walleye has a very small % of sauger. And every sauger has a very small % of walleye.