Sunday, January 3, 2010

That funny-colored walleye is probably a sauger

Red Lake, Ontario sauger
They are rarely caught by Bow Narrows' fishermen but there are also sauger in Red Lake.
The photo above from last fall shows a sauger on the bottom and a walleye on the top. The sauger is mottled, has spots on its dorsal fin and doesn't have the golden color or the white tip at the base of the tail like the walleye.
Sauger are probably much more abundant in Red Lake than our anglers would think. For some reason they don't bite well in the summer, but can be caught readily in the winter.
There is almost no ice fishing at the west end of lake where camp is located but quite a bit goes on at the east end, near the town of Red Lake, and downstream from Red Lake, at places like Keg Lake and Gullrock.
Anglers in those places report catching many sauger in the winter.
Sauger don't get as large as walleye. The one above was about 13-14 inches and that is pretty typical for this species.
They are included as part of your walleye daily and possession limit.
Sauger are more abundant in more southern latitudes.
They taste virtually the same as a walleye.

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