I don't fish saugeye that much, but I do some walleye ice fishing. For walleye (saugeye are very similar), I like to pound the bottom to stir up dust and silt which can really call in fish. But there's a fine line between just the right amount of pounding, and over-pounding, which is never good! Over-pounding can blow up your hole. The desired effect of the pounding should be to create just a little disturbance so that the fish are curious and come in. You don't want so much silt the entire area is clouded up. I like to crash a blade bait, lipless rattlebait (rat-l-trap or red eye shad), or a jigging rap into the bottom occasionally while working it. But if I'm fishing a live minnow on a deadstick rod, sometimes I'll put a plummet (poor-man's depthfinder), on a different rod and bounce it off the bottom a time or 2 so it looks like the minnow is feeding and stirring up silt. I'll pound the bottom with positive results no matter what species I'm after, even panfish. Sometimes it's also a great way to stir up a sluggish bite. You see fish on the Vex, but they won't commit. Sometimes a pound or 2 on the bottom will turn them on or get them biting again if the action has slowed.
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