Eating Sauger

[Banjodale]

There are contaminant warnings on practically every water body in Kentucky, but don't let that scare you from enjoying some good fillets. Fish with consumption warnings can be eaten, just not more than twice a month. The mercury levels shouldn't effect grown adult men, but can have an effect on women of child bearing age so they might want to avoid eating any fish with warnings.

[GeoFisher]

There are contaminant warnings on practically every water body in Kentucky, but don't let that scare you from enjoying some good fillets. Fish with consumption warnings can be eaten, just not more than twice a month. The mercury levels shouldn't effect grown adult men, but can have an effect on women of child bearing age so they might want to avoid eating any fish with warnings.

I fish Canada EVERY YEAR...........Great walleye, FANTASTIC smallies, good smallmouth fishing.......whatever.

A few years ago, while looking up some lake data, I found the border lakes I fish in Minnesota and Canada.

You know what.........the cleanest water in the WORLD have the EXACT SAME or WORSE ratings as our beloved Ohio River. All these warnings and ratings are a SHAM..............you'd have to eat 500 lbs of sauger a month to have any issues.

Don't believe me.........check for yourself.

Personally, I eat fish from Canada, and I EAT fish from the Ohio River.

Later,

Geo

[BASSKING]

I know everyone thinks that the river is horrible but if there was something wrong with eating the fish the hospitals would be full cause people haul them home by the bucket full. We have always took sauger home to eat. I don't let my kids eat them and the sauger is all we keep. I usually keep 2 or 3 when I catch them cause that's all it takes to feed the two of us. Other speices I wouldn't keep but the sauger always look good and clean and tate excellent as well. The advisories are there so we don't eat to much. The mercury content in the water gets in the fish as well and to much will make you sick. So don't over do it and you will be fine.

[sam8772]

I know I eat fish from the river every year. No problems ever I just always use the deep fryer to be safe. Get a copy of the 2009 KDFW Fishing Guide and they have a section in there about how much you can eat of what type of spieces.

[BPenrod]

You would have to a whole lot of fish every day for the contamination to hurt you. I don't eat that much fish but I do eat them from about all the lakes rivers and streams in the area. I like how some people won't eat fish from the local waters, but they will eat fish from Long John Silvers. Kinda makes you go hhhhhuuuummmmm!!!!

[EsoxMtK]

I wouldn't eat any fish from the Ohio River. Lots of heavy metals in the river, like mercury, which are very toxic and bioaccumulate in fish like sauger and walleye.

[jcclark]

The contaminate that is monitored is mercury.
Mercury is in the rain, (mainly from powerplants)
there's no escaping it. every lake that gets rain water has just as
much mercury as the river, some even more.
To not eat fish from the river but eat it from the lakes is ridiculous.
The levels are the same.

[DJD]

Sorry but a fish that swims in the stuff found in the river will not make it to my dinner table. I saw some of the discharge at one place when we were trying to catch bait last year and the smell was like a port-o-jon. I mean there are power plants and industrial pants right on the river!
I don't trust the people who give an advisory either because in a few years they will probably say that oops we misunderstood the data. Naw, not me the fish I catch in this state get let go regardless of river, lake, creek or stream.

[creeker]

For those of you who won't eat fish because of the drums, cars, and other debris in the river, have you ever been in the headwaters of any of the rivers that make up our lakes? Have you seen whats in the Cumberland river between Harlan and the falls? And have you seen whats on the bottoms of any of the lakes--there are very few that haven't been used as dumping grounds for someone's trash and cars? Or is it just a case of out of sight, out of mind?

[GeoFisher]

For those of you who won't eat fish because of the drums, cars, and other debris in the river, have you ever been in the headwaters of any of the rivers that make up our lakes? Have you seen whats in the Cumberland river between Harlan and the falls? And have you seen whats on the bottoms of any of the lakes--there are very few that haven't been used as dumping grounds for someone's trash and cars? Or is it just a case of out of sight, out of mind?

Or..........how about the 3500 OIL Wells that existed on the land that now makes up Dale Hollow Lake......If you fish the lake a lot, and you fish it the right times, you will SMELL it, and SEE IT..........lots of residual OIL.

That doesn't keep the meat hunters from taking smallies, AND it doesn't keep me from taking the ocassional walleye or trout or spot.

AND what about KY Lake, or Barkely Lake.......you'd eat fish there........well, that is the CUMBERLAND and TENNESSEE Rivers......and they flow through some of the WORSE offenders for toxic waste in our country..........

You guys KILL ME.

Later,

Geo

[JD7.62]

Its PERFECTLY safe to eat saugar out of the Ohio and trust me ALOT of people do it and we are all fine.

The advisories are pretty much for any fish caught in any river or lake or even the ocean.

I just wouldnt make it a habit of fileting up a 40lb blue once a week.

[Bobby Headrick]

So that explains why Geo is so onoray lol lol lol. eating all those Ohio river fish, lol. I have ate sauger from the Ohio, fish from there or any body of water a matter of fact, are probally no worse comtaminated than our food bought in stores, I mean, look at peanut butter, hamburger scares, chicken, and all the hormones, antibotics and growth feeds they put in our food, pesticides, ferttilizer etc etc etc. Who really knows what is safe now, I grow a garden and use only horse po for fertilizer, so I know some of my stuff is safeer than some.