In the March 2004 issue of In-Fisherman magazine, Larry Cofer, who is an Oklahoma fisheries biologist based at Lawton, wrote a great article about saugeyes. Saugeyes are a cross between walleyes and sauger. In this article, he brought up a number of pros and cons about them in public waters. However, he made some points about them in small lakes. I would like to quote him now.
"Followowing the fish to older ages, the scientists also discovered that big saugeyes ate shad, but those over 18 inches long also had a curious predilection for small crappies when shad were scarce. At first glance, that would seem a nasty habit, but the biologists got the idea of using saugeye to controll stunted crappie populations that are all too common in smaller lakes. In Oklahoma, managers have seen improved crappie propulations in about 2/3 of the lakes where saugeye have been stocked for that purpose."
"Our muddy water in western Oklahoma isn't an issue, and they thrive in some small city lakes that don't look at all like walleye habitat."
Does anyone have any thoughts about this?
