SAUGER (JACKS)

For those of you that might not be familiar with this fish, here is some info:

Additional Common Names: In the southeast, anglers also call sauger: sand pike, jack salmon, & spotted trout.

Characteristics: The sauger is a large species of the family Percidae prized for its sport fishing character and its flavor. Cylindirical in body form, the sauger has a large horizontal mouth and well-developed pointed teeth. The back and top of the head are mottled brown to golden olive, the lips are less mottled and appear distinctly speckled, and the lower sides and venter are white or light cream. Four dark saddles traverse the back and may be expanded along the sides to produce large lateral blotches, while the back and sides are variously speckled with pigment. The lining in the eye behind the retina appears silver, a trait characteristic of the genus and presumably an adaptation for night feeding. Membranes of the spiny dorsal fin have distinct spots that sometimes appear to be banding, while the soft dorsal fin and caudal fin rays are definitely pigmented, producing delicate banding.

Adult Size: 10 to 18 in (254 to 460 mm). The state angling record (5 lb, 2 oz) was caught in the tailwaters of Wilson Dam on the Tennessee River in 1972.

Habitat & Biology: The sauger is found in quiet backwaters over sand, mud, or bedrock substrates, usually at tributary mouths and in deeper tailwaters over rock and rubble substrate downstream of dams. Spawning occurs from April through May in a variety of places with the tailwater areas providing good spawning habitat. Individuals taken on hook and line are generally 2 pounds or less, but may reach 5 pounds. Small sauger feed on microcrustaceans and aquatic insect larvae, while large adults feed almost exclusively on fish, including young saugers, white bass, crappies, yellow perch.

Information courtesy of outdooralabama.com and is copyrighted information from Fishes of Alabama and the Mobile Basin.