Walleye/Sauger question

[ILmomof4]

The past week or so, I've been catching some fish in the Sangamon River in Illinois, that look like Walleye's. The markings really look like a Walleye. But I thought Walleye's like clean, deep water (the river is very shallow). I thought Sauger's like the dirtier water.<br>Does anybody have an easy way of telling the difference between these two fish? Does anybody know if Walleye's are ever found in shallow, muddy rivers?<br>Thanks for your help.<br><br>

[TheKid]

greetings.<br><br>You would be amazed at the places you can find walleyes my friend. Shallow, deep, weeds, rocks, lakes, rivers, creeks, sandflats. My guess is that these fish are migratory fish moving into prime areas to feed pretty heavily before the cold really sets in. They usually make a "false" spawning run this time of year and stay in these areas or closeby while waiting out the winter months for the true spawn. <br><br>I am not so sure they would be sauger, but stranger things have been known to happen. A pretty good indicator would be to check out the tail of teh fish. If it has a white splotch, then it is a walleye or saugeye. If it doesn't, then it is probably a suager.<br><br>Hope that helps a little. I am not an expert on walleye, but I do catch them enough to know they can suprise you in the strangest of places. <br><br>keep those lines wet <br><br>Daniel C. Nielsen<br>http://www.nebraskafishing.com/index.html