The thermometer may say no, but the calendar says yes.
February is the beginning of some of the best fishing of the year for sauger in Kentucky rivers and tailwaters.
Water temperatures will be cold, but fishing can be good to excellent, when water conditions are right. Sauger will bite easily in water temperatures below 40 degrees F.
Kentucky has six rivers that support quality sauger fisheries (Photo from KDFWR)
Obviously, don’t fish during unseasonably cold snaps with dangerous frost or ice, or high water conditions from snowmelt or rain. Weather is a limiting factor in angler success most years. You have to adopt a mindset that winter sauger fishing can be a boom or a bust.
February and March are prime times to catch sauger because that is when they are schooling before spawning. The combination of photoperiod (lengthening days) and warming water temperatures trigger the sauger to “run” the rivers. Dams prevent these migrations and concentrate fish.
By April, the sauger disperse and move back up the river. Post spawn they disperse, making them difficult to catch in numbers.
To check the water levels of streams, click on the link to the statewide streamflow table on the USGS Current Water Data for Kentucky website.
Life history and distribution in Kentucky
The sauger (sander canadensis) is a member of the family percidae, which includes walleye and other perches.
Saugers are dark, slender fish with distinctive brown saddle-like markings on their back and sides, a tall, spotted dorsal fin, a serrated mouth and large eyes.
They feed on a variety of invertebrates and small fish depending on the time of year and the size of the sauger.
The adult sauger’s primary food sources during the spring are small channel catfish and freshwater drum, in addition to shad.
Small saugers feed mostly on benthic invertebrates, such as mayfly larvae, and as their diet expands, they turn to small shad and shiner minnows.
(Illustration from KDFWR)
The average sauger caught from Kentucky waters measures about 10 to 16 inches, but adults can grow up to 30 inches, and weigh up to 8 to 9 pounds. However, most of the time, they are usually less than 20 inches, weighing 2 to 3 pounds.
The Kentucky state record sauger weighed 7.44 pounds, and was caught from the Lake Cumberland tailwaters on April 28, 1983.
Kentucky has six rivers that support quality sauger fisheries – Mississippi, Ohio, Kentucky, and the lower reaches of the Green, Tennessee and Cumberland.
In the 2023 Fishing Forecast, it said the sauger fishery in the Ohio River, in many counties, is an upcoming fishery.
A top spot in northern Kentucky to fish for sauger on the Ohio River is below Meldahl Lock and Dam near Foster, Kentucky in Bracken County. Anglers can fish from a rocky shore or a metal walkway with railings.
Statewide, there is a daily creel limit of six saugers, with a 14-inch minimum size limit, however special regulations apply in some waters.
Consult the 2023-24 Kentucky Fishing and Boating Guide for details.
The 2024-25 Kentucky Fishing & Boating Guide will be released in March, at the start of the new license year.
Tackle and techniques
Anglers have several productive lures and presentations for catching sauger.
Vertical jigging is probably the most effective because it easily probes bottom structure like humps, rock piles, and deep holes. Sauger conserve energy by avoiding the current, then emerge to retrieve their prey as it swims.
This method is most effective when fishing from a boat with a foot-controlled electric trolling motor mounted on the bow. Use the trolling motor against the current, to keep the boat in a controlled drift so that the line stays vertical.
Look for fish with electronics, then place your lure right in front of their noses. Sauger usually lie on the surface or near the bottom and look for prey to ambush. They have good eyesight and see green and orange colors best.
Lower the bait to the bottom, and maintain contact with the bottom, while moving the rod tip up and down.
Jigging cadence, or the rhythm with which the angler moves the jig, is a personal choice. But there are days when the fish seem to like it a certain way, so anglers need to be observant and make rhythm changes as needed.
One rhythm that seems to work well is to lift the jig off the bottom about six inches, hold it there for a few seconds, then lower it back to bottom contact. The bite usually comes on the stop, when the bait is suspended above the fish’s eye level.
Lead head jigs should be rigged with live minnows or plastic curlytail grubs, which offer the advantage of being able to catch more fish without having to re-bait.
In normal current, a 3/8 or 1/2-ounce jig is usually heavy enough to stay in contact with the bottom, but in deeper water or in heavier currents, more weight is needed.
Two of the top jigs on the market for sauger (and walleye) are the Odd’Ball Jig, by Bait Rigs Tackle Company, and the Fire-Ball Jig, by Northland Tackle.
Another option is the blade bait vertical jig. Blade baits are flat oval pieces of metal with a slightly thicker head and a weighted bottom.
The fishing line is tied to a snap that is inserted into a hole in the back of the lure. Blade baits have two treble hooks, one below the head and one below the tail of the lure.
A Fire-ball jig with a stinger hook. (Photo courtesy of Northland Tackle)
Some lures have multiple line-tie positions that allow the angler to vary the pull point based on the depth of water being fished and the desired level of vibration — closer to the head , the tighter the wobble, the farther back, the wider the wobble.
These shad profile baits should be fished by first lowering the bait until it hits the bottom, then reeling it in about six inches or so. Pull the lure up, with a sharp tug of the rod, and keep the line tight to feel the jerk back down. Most bites will occur in the fall.
On overcast days fish with gold colored bait, on clear days silver and blue are two good color choices.
Three of the most popular blade baits on the market are:
• The Silver Buddy, a local favorite, has been a staple in Kentucky anglers’ tackle boxes for decades.
That’s because the Silver Buddy was invented by Jack “Buddy” Banks in Flatwoods, Ky, in Greenup County, in 1983.
The Silver Buddy was invented by Jack “Buddy” Banks in the Flatwoods in 1983 (Photo provided)
Often imitated, but never duplicated, the Silver Buddy, available in three finishes, has improved vibration and handling thanks to its construction and weight distribution.
Fishing guru Billy Westmorland, who died in 2002 at age 65, helped popularize the Silver Buddy, using it to catch large smallmouth bass from Dale Hollow Lake.
• The Vault, by Damiki Tackle, features three line-tie holes, is equipped with Damiki Viper Treble Hooks, and is available in nine colors.
• Bass Pro Mean Eye offers the most variety.
Anglers can choose a lure that most closely mimics the size of the fish they are chasing, and its prey. Mean Eye is available in five lengths and weights, and 13 color combinations.
Another vertical jigging option is rigging a floating crankbait on a 3-way swivel. Attach the line from the rod and reel in an eyelet. On a short leader tie a weight (sinker) to the bottom. Then tie a small, floating crankbait to an 18- to 24-inch leader attached to the third eyelet of the swivel. The weight helps the angler “feel” the bottom, and the crankbait moves with the current, right in the sauger’s line of sight.
Below dams on navigable rivers, fishing from the bank is a viable option because sauger like to stack up in eddies and in current seams under dams. Cast diving/floating crankbaits, jigs or blade baits, from the bank below lock walls and dams.
In relatively shallow flatland reservoirs like Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley sauger can also be taken in the summer months by trolling deep-diving crankbaits on the main lake flats.
The sauger is a seasonal fishery, one of the first native gamefish species Kentucky anglers pursue at the start of the new year. Sauger fishing is a great cure for cabin fever.
