Thread: Jonesboro

We are currently stocking saugeye in Lake Frierson. From what I was told, the crappie population in the lake became stunted. This was one of the reasons that they started stocking saugeye in the lake. Also, we don’t draw down Lake Frierson in the winter. The only two lakes that get annual winter drawdowns are Lake Charles and Lake Poinsett.

Originally Posted by Mojorig

We are currently stocking saugeye in Lake Frierson. From what I was told, the crappie population in the lake became stunted. This was one of the reasons that they started stocking saugeye in the lake. Also, we don’t draw down Lake Frierson in the winter. The only two lakes that get annual winter drawdowns are Lake Charles and Lake Poinsett.

Can you go us some info on how come the crappie become stunted here in this lake? And I know nothing about saugeye. So why would you stock saugeye to a lake that seem to be hurting in the first place.

Mojorig -- Thanks for the info. I'm glad to hear that you guys don't draw down Lake Frierson. I used to do a lot of hunting around that lake since I had family that had property that joined it. It has, however, been a long time since I did any hunting out there. Back then the water level always seemed much lower in the winter than it was any other time of year. I apologize for any misrepresentation on my part.

As far as the Saugeye go, I've heard that the best way to fish for them is to approach it just like you would crappie. Is this true?

Biggest crappie I've ever caught came out if frierson four years ago. Easily 3 lbs. been a couple times since and ain't caught enough to wad a shotgun. I wish it were better its less than five minutes from the house.

Gindog,

Excellent question but difficult to answer without getting to technical. I hope this explanation works.

I looked in the annual reports for Lake Frierson because this was before my time in NE Ark. In 2007, the crappie population was sampled. That year, they sampled 2,340 crappie. The ages ranged from 0 to 4 years old. The majority (97.5%) of these fish were either age 0+ or 1+. There were no fish collected over 10 inches. Growth was extremely slow. Age 2 fish only averaged 6 inches long and Age 4 only averaged 7 inches long. This is a sure indication that the population is stunted. That doesn’t mean there aren’t bigger ones in the population. The results indicated that spawning success (success of fish hatching) was good. However, they had a hard time surviving to adulthood. Also when they did survive, they were small and slow growing. This could be due to the turbidity of the water or food availability for the smaller fish in the lake.

In 2009, we shelved stocking largemouth bass in the lake because very few of them were surviving to adulthood.

Saugeye have been used to control gizzard shad and crappie populations in Ohio and Oklahoma. This is some information from the Crappie Management Plan: “Boxrucker (1987) reported the population of crappie in Thunderbird Reservoir, Oklahoma improved after the introduction of saugeye. It appeared the improvement of crappie population structure was the result of a density dependent growth response resulting from predation on crappie by adult saugeye. Horton and Gilliland (1990) found that saugeye in Thunderbird Reservoir began feeding on crappie after reaching 350-mm (14 inches) and that crappie comprised more than 60% of the diet of saugeye greater than 525-mm (21 inches). Saugeye became significant predators of crappie after reaching 457-mm (18 inches). This information, along with concerns regarding overharvest of “needed predators” led to the implementation of an 18-inch minimum limit for Thunderbird Reservoir saugeye.” I have attached the Horton and Gilland paper http://www.seafwa.org/resource/dynam...TON-98-104.pdf

Tony,
No problem with asking. I had to look up why it was stopped anyways. So it helped me out as well. By the way, it was stopped in 2008. As for fishing for saugeye, I have heard you can jig for them or troll. That is about all I have heard from anglers.

As always, I hope this helped.

That's an awesome post. Would it not be better for the lake to drain it and start fresh instead of leaving the bad genetics in there?

Very good post!

Saugeye is a hybrid mixing Sauger with a Walleye. When I was a kid in Pittsburgh, we use to fish the Youghiogheny River which runs through southwestern Pennsylvania and Maryland. It meets the Monongahela and eventually joins the Ohio at the Point in downtown Pittsburgh, right next to the old Three Rivers Stadium.

Sauger are small. They tend to live more in creeks and small lakes. Walleye are more of a large water species, although you can catch them in creeks during the spawn. I've been in Arkansas for 20 years, and don't get home to fish, but I haven't heard anyting about Saugers in a long time. Not sure they're still there.

Any of these species eats really good. Crappie is hard to beat, but the saugers, walleyes, and saugeye are outstanding.

They all are bottom dwellers. Drag a stand-up jig head with a minnow or worm across the bottom outside of the spawn. During the spawn, a minnow-shaped crankbait, a worm harness, or minnow snelled 12-18" above a weight will work.


Work them hard early and late or on a cloudy day with some wind. The "eye" part of the name is there because they have big eyes that face up, and they don't take well to light.