Fish ID: Sauger?

[Zoob]

He was just a little guy; about 8 inches long, caught him just as the morning fishing was done (~9AM on South Lindstrom, NE corner).

How does one tell the difference between sauger and saugeye?

[Scott K]

A walleye has a white tip on the bottom of his tail.

[opsirc]

if you have game laws, there is a pic of both.

[Zoob]

The tail was only a bit lighter on the lower tip; nothing significant. Because of all the spots on the dorsal fin and the blotches along the body; I figured sauger -- but the lighter tail tip made me think possibly saugeye (which I think counts as walleye). Not that any of it mattered; it was just a little thing, and got C&R'd.

Was just wondering if there was any way to definitively tell between sauger/saugeye.

[hamms-scooter]

a sauger has black dots like this one does on the dorsal fin- think its a sauger

[NoWiser]

Walleye

[dan z]

I'm thinkin its not a suager or a walleye its not camo enough for it to be a suager and there is not white tip on the tail to be a true walleye.

[deadeye]

saugeye

[bobbymalone]

My vote is for Saugeye and my back up vote is sauger. Even though the DNR hasn't sampled sauger out of south lindstrom.

The dorsal fin and tail don't look like a purebred sauger or a walleye.

The body shape looks like sauger, but it can be hard to tell with the little guys.

go to wiscfish dot org and look up walleye and sauger. there is a section for hybrids.

[JumpStart73]

eyeger

[DTro]

Sure looks like a purebred walleye to me

[bobbymalone]

Sure looks like a purebred walleye to me

Walleye dorsal fins and tails shouldn't have a lot of black pigment and the tail should have a more pronounced white tip.

[jerkbait]

Sure looks like a purebred walleye to me

X2 Catch plenty of both up here. Defintely an eye.

[BRULEDRIFTER]

It's definitely a walleye.

[KTapper]

Yeah def. a pure walleye.

[eyebjim]

Pure walleyes don't have spots on the dorsel fin. Looks like a saugeye to me.

[jwmiller33]

the fact that its tail is laying on the ice makes it hard to judge the white tip on the tail, but i think its definitely just a plain old waldo

[Jim Uran]

It's a tiny walleye!! Small walters will have spots on there dorsal, heck that thing is only 8 inches long.

[Ryan84*]

My vote: WALLEYE

[WhiskeyPete]

I don't see sauger-like spots on the dorsal. There is a black area at the base of the dorsal. And the white tip on the tail. WALLEYE

[Sonicrunch]

juvenile fish always look different, no?

Look at juvenile northern pike.

[magic_minnow]

Thats definately a BASS!

[varmithtr]

No doubt. A pure walleye.

[pikestabber]

Catfish bait

[Zoob]

It's a tiny walleye!! Small walters will have spots on there dorsal, heck that thing is only 8 inches long.

8 inches, if you stretched it real hard. The guy was barely the length of my ice-hole. I'll have to google for some juvenile walleye pictures to compare. The only ones I've been finding online are all adult; which makes it world's easier to identify.

This guy had the camo, and his tail-tip was more tan and small, plus all the dorsal dots. I've never caught a walleye this small before; so had no comparison.