The kicker, however, is perhaps leaning a bit deeper than you'd expect for walleyes. That at first sounds strange, based on the saugeye's reputation for biting extremely shallow at night or in muddy water. All true. But until conditions that break up sunlight penetration, they'll often remain extra deep. Focus your attention along river channel bends or at the intersections of river channels in the vicinity of dams and causeways. And be ready to switch to fishing the shallows when conditions change, such as:

The shallow daytime bite (muddy open water) -- Spring rains and run-off can generate ultramuddy conditions on reservoirs supporting saugeyes. The classic hot-spot, day or night, occurs below the spillway of the dam, assuming saugeyes also populate the river section below the impoundment. Fish run upriver and pile into the tailwaters below the dam, falling prey to diving crankbaits cast from shore, or to jigs tipped with plastic shad tails hopped across the bottom. Active creeks pouring muddy water into the lower end of the impoundment, preferably near the dam or through rocky causeways, become instantaneous fish magnets. Once again, they're conditions conducive to biting in conjunction with proximity to a rocky spawning area. Chocolate milk water teems with saugeyes so shallow that their backs are nearly out of the water, sometimes even during the day. Big pigs wallowing in hawg heaven -- mud wrestling 'eyes.

The shallow night bite (open water) -- Like the hot bite for their southern kin, the shoreline night bite draws most saugeye angling attention up north. Except here it usually occurs a few days or weeks after the ice disappears. When the word gets out that the bite is on, hordes of anglers walk down to the faces of dams or rocky causeways, typically casting minnow imitators or neutrally buoyant crankbaits from shore for hawg saugeyes that can top 6 or 8 pounds in some waters.

Water temperatures warming near 40F, often spurred on by muddy water run-off, trigger the shallow night bite. Launch your boat and longline troll minnow-imitators through extreme shallows along the dam or nearby causeways; you're destined to catch fish, providing you can position your lines and lures shallow enough without interfering with shorecasters sailing casts over your head. Faced with crowds in key locations, either move elsewhere or go back ashore and join the foot brigade.

SAUGEYE STRATEGIES

Saugeyes usually aren't difficult to catch if -- and that's a big if -- you're not forced to deal with clear water during bright daytime conditions. Muddy water turns 'em on, day or night, and they seem able to see, feed, and thrive in water so chocolaty that it tempts you to plant spring crops rather than make a cast. And the cover of darkness does wonders in drawing saugeyes extremely shallow, transforming them into willing biters that sometimes nearly nip at your toes along the waterline, where you seemingly can't fish too shallow, even when casting parallel to shore.

In essence, saugeyes are an interesting breed -- actually a crossbreed -- well worth the effort of exploration. They often grow big, mean, and feisty, and they bite like crazy in muddy conditions that would shut down walleyes for days. And they taste better than they should, yet you can usually eat 'em guilt-free without harming the fishery. And if you blink, they look just like big fat walleyes with an attitude.

Can't beat that with an Ugly Stik!