I am not extremely knowledgable when it comes to sauger either. But have this to add... Having family on the Ohio i have fished it some. Fishing a cut off of the river with a 4" worm for bass caught one that went 15" years ago. It was the only fish that day and the only Sauger i have ever seen. My great great uncle fishes 5 days a week year round on the river. He catches a lot of Sauger around the dams in the cooler months. he uses a lot of smaller spoons on lighter spinning tackle, silver buddys work great there too. That is where they were made and obviously are used there a lot with a lot of succes, year round for multiple species.

As far as the kentucky river, i have heard lots of reports of people catching an occasional sauger while bass fishing on any of your average baits. Anything from jigs, worms, and crankbaits. Although most of these fish being caught are few and still smaller, hopefully they will get bigger and reproduce and add a little more spice to the rivers.