Fishtales Library
October 27, 1997
Jim Pope tells about one of his favorite Tennessee quarries. Makes me want to try to catch some to filet and fry!
Sauger - The Toothy Critter Of The South
Jim Pope
As the trees become painted with the colors of autumn and the nights begin to cool the vast waters of the Tennessee River, many southern folks begin to get anxious. The fall and winter in southern middle Tennessee bring about a metamorphic change in the animal world. The squirrels and deer begin to loose their cautiousness in favor of finding a girlfriend, and some species of fish begin a migration upstream in preparation for the late winter spawn. The majority of sporting folks can be found in the woods on frosty fall and winter mornings, but a few can always be found either on or next to the cooling waters of the Tennessee River.
As early as October, the southern relative of the Walleye begins to head upriver looking for a good supply of yellow-tail shad, threadfin shad, or crawdibottoms to build their fat supply prior to the late winter spawn. The sauger (often called 'jack salmon' by many older fishermen) is a voracious predator, and anyone who has ever tried to lip one probably displays the scars when telling the story.
The favorite food of the sauger is the crawdibottom. This writer never knew that a crawdibottom was actually a member of the snaildarter family until the construction of a dam on the Duck River in Maury County, Tennessee was halted because of the distruction of habitat of the endangered snaildarter. When a picture of this little aquatic creature was displayed, I recognized it as a crawdibottom. The creeks of Wayne County, Tennessee are full of them. The crawdibottom is a small brown and black spotted fish which grows to about five or six inches in length (most are smaller). They must taste really good, because Sauger and Smallmouth bass will pass up an entire school of shad to get one crawdibottom (so I'm told). It gets its name from the way it sits on the bottom and inches around looking for food. When frightened, it seems to magically transfer from one place to another. That must be where the 'darter' part of its name originated.
From late October to early March, the dedicated sauger fishermen fight the cold in hopes to later fill a platter full of tasty sauger fillets. There are two methods of catching the cold water toothy critters, bank fishing or boat fishing. It is not strange that these are basically the only two ways to catch any species of fish.
In southern middle Tennessee, boat fishermen fish the tailwaters of Pickwick Dam from the dam to as far as forty miles downstream. There are many landings from which to launch. The trick is to launch the boat as close to the fishing area as possible. Running, even at slow speeds, is painful when the air temperature is in the teens or twenties. Sauger love any kind of eddy water. River bends or structure such as rockpiles, islands, points, etc. are prime spots for the sauger. A half jig sized to match the current and tipped with a live minnow or grub is an irresistible offering to a hungry sauger. When the fish are found on shallow sand bars (usually around islands), trolling a Model A Bomber or Shadrap can be deadly.
This writer prefers fishing from the bank. It is much easier than having to deal with the boat in subfreezing weather, and fishing trips can happen with little planning. The immediate tailwaters of Pickwick Dam offer some great fishing. It seems that the colder the weather, the better the fishing. The best trip I had last winter was on a February night with the temperature hovering at twelve degrees. Oddly enough, there were several other dedicated souls fighting the cold with the same purpose in mind. I managed to land fourteen dandy sauger. Every fish was over seventeen inches long. The only way to fish was to extend the rod into the water as far as possible to keep the guides from instantaneously freezing.
When it is that cold, my lure choice is a bucktail jig. I tie my own jigs in a variety of colors and sizes. White with a brown back, yellow, or lime green are great choices. As spring approaches, a soft rose color is good. In the more still water, a 1/32 oz. head with a three or four inch hair body works great. I mold the tiny heads on size 1 or 1/0 hooks for better hooksets. A seven to nine foot graphite spinning rod with a small reel spooled with four or six pound test line is the ticket. The lightweight jig can be bounced over the tops of the huge rip-rap rocks which line the banks. The best way to describe the strike of a sauger is to compare it to a bass taking a worm or jig. A solid 'thump' is telegraphed to the angler's hand.
The toothy critter of the south is a formidable opponent, and those willing to brave the elements may be rewarded with some of the best eating they have ever experienced.
