The preferred method of fishing for sauger and walleyes here on the Cumberland river system is (the most common, but not the only method) using a hair jig with either a minnow or plastic trailer. Using whatever weight it takes to maintain contact with the bottom, (in heavy flows that can be anywhere up to a 2 oz jig) lift the jig off bottom 6-12 inches, then lower it back to the bottom. Repeat.....a jillion times. I have better luck with a lift up, and slow descent, touch bottom, lift up and hold three to four inches for a count of ten, then repeat. Some days we'll catch a limit of ten or twenty. Other days we'll be lucky to catch dinner. It can definitely be a tough sport, fishing for walleye and sauger. Sauger will normally be in heavier flows and deeper than walleyes. Sauger will definitely hug the bottom. If you are a foot off bottom, you're not too likely to get bit by saugers. There you'll catch your white bass, bluegills and spotted bass. Walleyes will typically hold shallower than sauger.

I was fishing a dropoff into the river in a creek mouth last week and I had caught a couple of sauger in 34 ft of water. While fishing down the dropoff in about 20 ft, I hooked into a nice 6.04 lb walleye( the one pictured). Name: photo(2).jpg Views: 1405 Size: 52.2 KB It seems they were holding on the edge of the drop jut out of the current whereas the sauger were holding dead on the bottom at the edge of the dropoff. Fishing around creek mouths seems to be a good place to start looking. In February they'll move into shallower water to spawn, then they'll go into a two week recuperative funk and they'll be hard to catch.

Good luck in your search!