Hybrids legal?

I have always wanted a sauger since they are cool looking and are legal, but all I can find for sale are the saugeye for sale. The walleye is illegal, but the sauger is Legal. I do not know If the Hybrid is legal if it is a mix of a Legal and an illegal fish. I do not see any laws about the Hybrid saying they are illegal, but I just want to make sure It is allowed.

By the way, I know that they just sit around and people say they do nothing, but they still interest me. Thank you for any responses.

Hybrids are typically legal, it always helps to make sure with your dnr.

I would stay away from sander species. When people say they do nothing, they mean it. Owning an animal for the sheer novelty is usually a big mistake. They get boring after a short period of time. Bass pro shops have cool aquariums with this sort of fish for the public. Saugeye can be 14 inches easily. I would steer clear.
That particular hybrid is probably legal, if you want to be sure check with the natural resource officials.

Someone on another forum said
The problem with saugeye is that they are hybrids and there is no set on the maximum size but in general they get larger than the sauger but smaller than the walleye. The saugeye grew faster than the pure parents. All walleyes, saugers and saugeye prefer low 70's but they makes very lousy aquarium fish due to their inactive and nocturnal lifestyle plus super picky eaters that can be fed with live foods only.

^ or hybrids can be illegal depends on the definition what the conservation officer uses. It's best thing is that you don't get the saugeye, they get larger than sauger and have fast growth rates just like other hybrids. It is true that Sander species do nothing. I kept few walleyes in home aquarium in the past, they never moves even at feeding time unless a minnow just swan past the walleye. All they do is just laying around or just hides from the light all day. We have aquariums in the college that houses most gamefish species for the aquatic biology. Walleye and sauger never got any attention from the students because they're super inactive fish. Bass, Pike, Perch, Suckers and Bullheads interacting with the students more often. This year, we replaced walleye and sauger with common carp (YOY), drum and white crappies to just living aquarium up. I can guarantee you that you will get boring of them very fast. Sander species may be popular sportfish but clearly they are not popular aquarium fish for the students.

If Leo wants a "boring" fish, let him have it, if he has the space. "Boring" is in the mind of the beholder. I think swampfish are pretty cool ... cant get much less active (boring) than that. (But then of course I don't need to dedicate 100+ gallons for swampfish).

I have only kept sauger. I can vouch for what others are saying, they do pretty much suck. Boring most of the time, and often very freaky when the lights come on. It often takes a while for a native fish keeper to realize that the smaller fish are generally more interesting and more suitable. Scale it down, and darters are mini sauger, and much more interesting, and suitable for tanks in the home size range.

I would keep darters like a logperch instead, but I have a florida brown bullhead catfish in my tank... And the sauger has a cool look to it with its color. I already know small fish are intresting since I have a tank with 11 fathead minnows and I would say they act similar to piranha when feeding on bloodworms. I am fine with a fish that is very lazy and I would provide darker areas for it. I usually find personality in larger fish more often than smaller fish, and I love predators more for some odd reason.
Another thing is I would rather have a sacramento perch insead, but they are too rare to find. I would get a yellow perch, but they are ilegal.

You know it doesn't make any senses to get an super inactive nocturnal fish that needs to upgrade to larger aquarium tanks. They are difficult to weaning off the live foods. I even have some trouble to feed them frozen foods such as smelts and silversides but they refused them.

As for the legality of saugeye, in my state the saugeye are count in as a walleye for possessing them for aquariums or for freezer. Saugeye looks like more walleye than the sauger which can be explained why they were treated as a walleye and not a sauger. Just like tiger muskie are treated like a pure muskellunge and not a northern pike or splake are treated like a lake trout than a brook trout. At least that's how Minnesotan laws work.

If a walleye is illegal in your state, the chances that a saugeye is illegal are very good.

Why not looking at crystal darter, they are very similar to sauger.

Edited by butch, 25 April 2014 - 11:51 AM.

What type of darter would work with a mottled sculpin? I could put some in my 20 gallon If they do not get eaten.

Crystal darters and logperch get larger than most sculpins.