A Few Thanksgiving Catches

[mo65]

   We decided to get out there one last time before the snow flies. I used my Dam Quick 3000...that thing fishes great. I caught a really nice hybrid striper and a few saugeye. Actually, maybe the saugeye pictured is a walleye, I'm not the best at identifying them.

[Lunker Larry]

That's a walleye. Sauger are black mottled.

[Vintage Offshore Tackle]

Beautiful fish Mo!

[philaroman]

the only difinitive difference: species-specific tackle & guided trips for saugeye are cheaper  

[Maxed Out]

 Nice job Mo

That fish in 2nd pic doesn't look very big, but I see some nasty teeth on it

[Gfish]

Kinda dark for a Walleye, he got's the teeth, but not really the "walleyes". Real nice hybrid. Much better'n me. Back from the South-side, not even a bite!

[Benni3]

Fantastic job man,,,,, we could have a bad winter this year ,,,,,,,, which makes fishing better,,,,,,,,

[Donnyboat]

Ay Ted, Mike is a hugh man, so in comparison, that second fish is much larger than we would think, nice work Mike, cheers Don.

[steelfish]

thats great Mo, nice catch

[sharkman]

Nice catch.

[Midway Tommy]

Nice, Mike. That "eye" will taste delicious 😋.  Your hand is covering my telltale id spots. First thing I look for is the white spot on the tale. Sauger don't have the white spot but walleye & saugeye do. Next clue is the dorsal fin, which your hand is covering. Walleye have a black spot at the rear base where it meets the body. Sauger and saugeye have small black spots all over the dorsal fin but no big one at the base. The blotchy sides/bars are a tough id'er because the color of the water they come out of has so much to do with their actual coloring. The bars and blotchyness can really be inconsistant. One thing I've really noticed when cleaning them, and the books call it an identifier, is the sauger & saugeye gill plates are rough and the walleye's are smooth. I guess the roughness is caused from scales. "Eyes" are my favorite to fish for with crappies & yellow perch a close second/third. "Gills" are pretty good eatin', too.

[oc1]

Congratulations.  Good way to end the season.

[mo65]

   Thanks everyone! Those saugeye and walleye are tough to tell one from the other...they look so similar when taken from the Ohio River. In the end, it really doesn't matter, as they both taste fantastic. Matter of fact, so do the sauger!

[Midway Tommy]

The thing that irritates me about most states that have length limits on them is they don't reduce it for sauger. An 18" sauger is a rarity most places.

[Gobi King]

Nice, way to go.