Where'd the yellow go?

[Tip-UpTommer]

This perch is white where the yellow is supposed to be. It was rather large too, about 15 inches. This is the first time i have ever seen something like this. I thought it was just a mutation in the gene for color. Any other ideas?

[MACHINIST]

WOW thats kinda cool I think that I would have that mounted definitely different.

[rayfish]

I've seen blue gils turn purple during the winter but never a perch

[seaweed01]

Tipup,
This is a color mutation in perch. In the lake that I fish a lot we get one of
those every now and then, probably 1 in 200. We call them "blue perch". One
15" would be an excellent mount.
Do any any of you fisheries people have a comment on this color phase of
the perch?

[Pasquatch]

That's a blue perch, but ever keep a perch on the ice for  few hours? They look just like that after they've been dead for a while when its cold out.

[fishboy899]

Yup thats a blue perch.  Haven't caught one before but have seen quite a few of them.  Those are some big perch also.

[missfishylicious]

that is cool never seen one before.looks like it's full of eggs to bad you didn't release it, not that I blaim you ,just to bad.

[C.C.]

Cool looking, About fifty in my sink would look great
       Jim

[BASSandICE65]

Well I've seen a blue lobster so why not a blue perch interesting and pretty cool. Might make a great wall mount next to a regular perch

[big walleye]

Hey if i was a perch and I saw a 20lb pike comming at me I would turn white to.

[Sax_]

i read some where that it is caused by heavy stress on the fish it has happend in other species of fish

[archbishop]

Hey if i was a perch and I saw a 20lb pike comming at me I would turn white to.

 

i think its probably like most animals, just an albino of sorts? definitly a cool looking fish

[fishingking]

crazy   albino???

[Tip-UpTommer]

some people have told me that there is such a thing as a blue perch (just like a blue pike) which i didnt know existed. my high school biology teacher told me it was a just a color changed caused by hot or cold pockets of water in the lake caused by springs or something like that. its prety cool either way and was really excited when i caught it. i'm still lookin for explanations.

[cstolp]

We caught one once and it was very blue unlike the one in the picture which appears more white.  Afterwards I was reading a Wisconsin magazine that stated that the DNR was interested in these.  I don't know much more about then that.  I see that other state's dnr officials are also interested.

Chris

[Tip-UpTommer]

let me know if you find out more

[BillP]

thats a cool lookin fish i probably would ate it hhhahaha

[taxi1]

Tip up Tommer,

It's obviously a fish with a lack of pigmentation for whatever reason. Most likely a genetic mutation as mentioned earlier. There are northern pike mutations out there that are silvery in color with no markings that are referred to as "silver pike." As a taxidermist I mounted one once. Stressed fish turn dark not light as do blind fish, and no offense to your biology teacher but his theory of cold and hot spots is the silliest thing I have ever heard.

Speaking of pigmentation the following is probably not the same thing but of interest: In one of my ponds, which I plant annually in the spring with 9 inch female yellow perch from a fish farm, the first year class which is 11 to 11 1/2 inches by ice up is always lighter than the older fish that have been in the pond more than a year. In the picture below you will see the smaller perch is lighter although not as light as your fish. Once they color up after the first year they are a deep yellow/orange all the way to the belly. No white bellies on them. Could have something to do with the strain. My perch are a Lake Erie strain. Anyone else catch perch that do not have white bellies?

[Reel Wet Ride]

I've done a lot of searching for information on "blue pike" (really a thought-to-be-extinct walleye) and in doing so came across a million articles about color variations in fish. The perch you caught is most likely just a result of a color mutation. The truth is (my truth anyway) that any number of things can cause color changes in fish. Stress levels, spawning, water color, diet, home range, and on and on and on. However, most of these are short term color changes. If your still holding on to it, a call to your local fisheries department would probably net you some more information.  Regardless, those were three very nice fish. Congrats.

RWR

[fiesty]

looks like a dead perch...blue,yellow,green....it don't matter...all equals the same...

[taxi1]

I've done a lot of searching for information on "blue pike" (really a thought-to-be-extinct walleye) and in doing so came across a million articles about color variations in fish. The perch you caught is most likely just a result of a color mutation. The truth is (my truth anyway) that any number of things can cause color changes in fish. Stress levels, spawning, water color, diet, home range, and on and on and on. However, most of these are short term color changes. If your still holding on to it, a call to your local fisheries department would probably net you some more information.  Regardless, those were three very nice fish. Congrats.

RWR

Excellent response Reel Wet Ride. Don't forget the particular strain of fish can have an effect on color. I've seen the most variation in the salmonids I raise. BTW I do have a fisheries degree and raise fish along with being a fish taxidermist. I've seen a lot of weird things.

[Swift]

Could be a Great Lakes thing, caught some like that way back in college fishing Spring Lake off the Grand River a mile or so in from Lake Michigan. Didn't catch many but enough to remember.

[Reel Wet Ride]

Excellent response Reel Wet Ride. Don't forget the particular strain of fish can have an effect on color.

I ment to hit on that as well. For instance, the perch that I've caught out of Lk. Michigan or some of the smaller lakes around K-zoo look nothing like the fish that I pulled from Higgins last year. The fish in Higgins where very light in color, very white/blue. The fish from around here and Lk. Michigan were full of color.  On another note, as a man of science, can you tell me what the abnormal black spots on LM bass are and what effects they have on the fish. Sometimes they have a yellow ring around them. Bottom line: should I remove these fish from the lake?

[taxi1]

I ment to hit on that as well. For instance, the perch that I've caught out of Lk. Michigan or some of the smaller lakes around K-zoo look nothing like the fish that I pulled from Higgins last year. The fish in Higgins where very light in color, very white/blue. The fish from around here and Lk. Michigan were full of color.  On another note, as a man of science, can you tell me what the abnormal black spots on LM bass are and what effects they have on the fish. Sometimes they have a yellow ring around them. Bottom line: should I remove these fish from the lake?

How big are these black spots and what time of year are you seeing them? Any pics?

[Reel Wet Ride]

Sorry, I don't have any pics. But I can give you a very concise explanation. It seems to be a common condition on my home lake. I see it from ice out until ice-up, assumed a remaining condition under the ice. I don't believe that it has an immediate effect on the fish itself as I've seen the same bass for more than 3 years. (call em' spot, go figure) Looking at the spots, most are black, some have a yellowish ring around the spot itself. I would say the majority are the size of a quarter, but some are larger. Most of the fish I've seen carrying these "spots" only have one, and most of the time it will be on the upper part of their body, at or behind the dorsal. However, some bass I've seen have been covered. I'm a C & R bass fisherman, so I've never kept a fish to see the effects on the skin or the flesh. Based on the limited amount of info that I've found, I suspect that it is a disease passes from bass to bass, but I haven't found anything to support removal of the fish themselves. If you know of this condition or what the causes may be, I'd be very interested.

Thanks,
Jason

[taxi1]

Sorry, I don't have any pics. But I can give you a very concise explanation. It seems to be a common condition on my home lake. I see it from ice out until ice-up, assumed a remaining condition under the ice. I don't believe that it has an immediate effect on the fish itself as I've seen the same bass for more than 3 years. (call em' spot, go figure) Looking at the spots, most are black, some have a yellowish ring around the spot itself. I would say the majority are the size of a quarter, but some are larger. Most of the fish I've seen carrying these "spots" only have one, and most of the time it will be on the upper part of their body, at or behind the dorsal. However, some bass I've seen have been covered. I'm a C & R bass fisherman, so I've never kept a fish to see the effects on the skin or the flesh. Based on the limited amount of info that I've found, I suspect that it is a disease passes from bass to bass, but I haven't found anything to support removal of the fish themselves. If you know of this condition or what the causes may be, I'd be very interested.

Thanks,
Jason

You got me. I've never seen this.