Was fishing the willow with my rod for blues and started to talk to a couple of guys that where there fishing for cats about the Deer and my quest for Eyes everytime i'm there. One of the asked me if i had ever cough a Sougers out of there then i said you mean an eye's and he said no i just scored on some sougers out of there just a couple of weekends ago, even showed me pics on his phone. Fish had cow spots on them and they did look like Saugers. So my question is has anyone else seen them there or where they pulling my chain.
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[cool][#0000ff]The "average" Utah fisherman cannot tell the difference between a cutthroat and a rainbow. The below average cannot tell the difference between a carp and a sucker. Sounds like these guys fall somewhere in between. They probably caught a walleye with unusual coloring...not unusual...and then looked it up in a book. They got the right family but wrong species. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]For what it is worth, there are no saugers in Utah. And, even in the states where there are both saugers and walleyes...and often "saugeyes" (hybrids)...even some pretty experienced anglers have trouble identifying them. This is especially true among the smaller fish. Once they get over about 3 or 4 pounds you can pretty well bet it is a walleye...but not always.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]For what it is worth, there are no saugers in Utah[/#0000ff]
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[/#0000ff][#000000]Not that you know of...who would think there would be Tilapia in Utah. Walleye in Red Fleet, carp in Pelican, burbut in the Gorge, lake trout in Yellowstone, perch in Mary Ronan, sculpin in what I thought was a seclusive away from everything reservoir. Asian carp, perch, snakeheads, Utah chubs have even been disastrous to some lakes in Montana. The list goes on.[/#000000]
For what it's worth,
I don't think there are any saugers in Utah as well [
].
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well the easiest and quickest way to tell if it is a sauger or walleye is that walleye have white tips on their fins, and and sauger do not, also sauger's do not get over 2 pounds, or atleast the alberta (canada) record is i believe 2 pounds 5 ounces... i am probably wrong but it's around there
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[cool][#0000ff]I suppose a more appropriate reply would be "There are OFFICIALLY no saugers in Utah."[/#0000ff]
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are they as nasty as the eyes are and good eating as well.
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we have them in boysen in wyoming and several other places the state record was broke this last jan 7th @ boysen res it was 26.5'' and 7.5lbs so it would be possible to have them in utah all it would take is a bucket that is how the walleye made it to sulpher cr res in evanston wyo iam sure.
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Saugers are a riverine species. They don't do very well in still or impounded waters. Boysen is on the Missouri I believe and is more of a flowage than an impoundment, hence the Saugers. Most impounded waters use Saugeyes, a Sauger/Walleye hybrid. It is beyond me why anyone would move them into any of Utah's waters. They are as difficult to catch as walleye and just as predatory.
[#800000][size 4]The Sauger (Sander canadensis) is a [/size][/#800000][url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresh_water"][#800000][size 4]freshwater[/size][/#800000][/url][#800000][size 4] [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perciformes"]Perciform[/url] fish of the family [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percidae"]Percidae[/url] which resembles its close relative the [/size][/#800000][url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walleye"][#800000][size 4]walleye[/size][/#800000][/url][#800000][size 4]. Saugers, however, are usually smaller and will tolerate waters of higher [/size][/#800000][url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbidity"][#800000][size 4]turbidity[/size][/#800000][/url][#800000][size 4] than will the [/size][/#800000][url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walleye"][#800000][size 4]walleye[/size][/#800000][/url][#800000][size 4]. In many parts of their range, saugers are [/size][/#800000][url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympatric_speciation"][#800000][size 4]sympatric[/size][/#800000][/url][#800000][size 4] with walleyes. They may be distinguished from walleyes by the distinctly spotted [/size][/#800000][url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorsal_fin"][#800000][size 4]dorsal fin[/size][/#800000][/url][#800000][size 4], by the lack of a white splotch on the [/size][/#800000][url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_anatomy#fins"][#800000][size 4]caudal fin[/size][/#800000][/url][#800000][size 4], by the rough skin over their gill, and by their generally more brassy color, or darker (almost black) color in some regions. The average sauger in an [/size][/#800000][url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angling"][#800000][size 4]angler's[/size][/#800000][/url][#800000][size 4] [/size][/#800000][url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creel_(basket)"][#800000][size 4]creel[/size][/#800000][/url][#800000][size 4] is 300 to 400 [/size][/#800000][url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gram"][#800000][size 4]g[/size][/#800000][/url][#800000][size 4] (0.75 to 1 [/size][/#800000][url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_(mass)"][#800000][size 4]lbs[/size][/#800000][/url][#800000][size 4]) in weight but the world record was 8.1 [/size][/#800000][url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilogram"][#800000][size 4]kg[/size][/#800000][/url][#800000][size 4] (17 lbs, 12 [/size][/#800000][url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ounce"][#800000][size 4]ounces[/size][/#800000][/url][#800000][size 4].) Saugers are more typical of [/size][/#800000][url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River"][#800000][size 4]rivers[/size][/#800000][/url][#800000][size 4] whereas walleyes are more common in [/size][/#800000][url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake"][#800000][size 4]lakes[/size][/#800000][/url][#800000][size 4] and [/size][/#800000][url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reservoir"][#800000][size 4]reservoirs[/size][/#800000][/url][#800000][size 4]. The sauger is highly prized as a [/size][/#800000][url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seafood"][#800000][size 4]food fish[/size][/#800000][/url][size 4][#800000].[/#800000][/size]
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[url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_(biology)"][#800000][size 4]Hybridization[/size][/#800000][/url][#800000][size 4] between saugers and walleyes is not unknown; the hybrids, referred to as [/size][/#800000][url "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saugeye&action=edit&redlink=1"][#800000][size 4]saugeyes[/size][/#800000][/url][size 4][#800000], exhibit traits of both species. Being intermediate in appearance between the two species, saugeyes are sometimes difficult to differentiate, but they generally carry the dark blotches characteristic of the sauger.[/#800000][/size]
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[cool][#0000ff]They are actually fairly common in some rivers of the east and upper midwest. Pretty much a walleye with smaller genes (jeans). Harder to catch on lures in some spots though. Live minnows are usually best, but they will hit artificials.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Just like perch and walleyes, saugers are supreme table fare. Mighty toothy and toothsome too.[/#0000ff]
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