A piece of sausage with a bad eye? Of course not. Sausages don’t have eyes. A saugeye is a fish, a member of the perch family and a Virginia state record saugeye was recently caught by Michael Miller from Nathalie, Virginia. Miller’s 6-pounder caught on a crankbait in the Staunton River on September 23. The fish measured 26 ¼ inches with a girth of 14 inches and was officially weighed at Bobcat’s Bait and Tackle in Clarkesville.
Saugeyes are hybrids, a cross between a female walleye and a male sauger. Like most hybrids, they are infertile. But because they are hybrids, they grow quicker, and the DWR hopes they will offer more trophy opportunities for anglers in the years to come.
Saugeyes have been stocked and can be found in Lake Chesdin, Lake Anna, Lake Orange, Lake Brittle, Burke Lake, Little Creek Reservoir, the Appomattox River and the Staunton River. Lake Orange was stocked about 3 years ago and some keeper fish should show up this spring.
The Game Department says that techniques used to catch walleye can also prove to be productive for saugeyes. Plus, saugeyes can be less finicky than walleye. Bright jig heads with soft plastic swimbaits work well in rivers during the pre-spawn time frame in late winter/early spring. Crankbaits and jerk baits will also prove productive in the right conditions. Anglers fishing with bait will have luck on nightcrawlers and live minnows.
The future for saugeyes looks promising in Virginia waters. They can tolerate warmer water temperatures than walleye and they perform better than walleye in more productive and turbid systems. Saugeye can thrive in both rivers and lakes with the right habitat.
Saltwater
Fishing for speckled trout and puppy drum remains good in Virginia’s saltwater shallows. Rockfish are also being caught in shallow water along the main stem of the rivers, and at the intersections of the creeks. Bridges and rip rap areas have been holding the rockfish. The channel edges have been good for those trolling in the main river of the Rapp. The humps in the Potomac, around the Colonial Beach area have also been productive. There’s a great sea bass bite happening on the ocean wrecks when conditions allow. Tautog are being caught on the ocean wrecks in the ocean and inside the bay.
OBX
The surf temperature along the Outer Banks has been in the lower 60-degree range. Big red drum are being caught at Buxton. Along with drum, pier fishermen and surf anglers are catching bluefish, sea mullet, black drum, puffers, and trout. Rockfish and trout are being caught around the bridges. Fishing from the piers has been better at night, especially for drum.
On the sound side, speckled trout fishing continues to heat up. There are still plenty of drum and bluefish in the sound as well.
Not much to report from offshore. However, if conditions allow and the fleet can sail, this time of year can produce some of the best tuna fishing.