Perch

[RuralMT]

Do any of the Blackfeet Reservation lakes manage for perch?  I now a few of them have walleye, but I don't recall hearing anyone targeting perch over there.

[Born Late]

If your not on keepers move.When you get on some bigger fish they will move in and out of the area,stay put.

Solid advice. However, having the nets in the same place IS science.  Suggesting that you would move the nets from year to year is not. It’s the same convenient excuse you’ve used regarding Cf where the walleye population clearly impacted perch populations yet you blame the poor perch survey numbers on poor net placement.

[gf hardwater guy]

We need some decent fishable ice in central montana, the natives seem to be getting restless. Not going to come anytime soon however unless a person wishes to head north.

[Born Late]

Man, that 15-day forecast is depressing. 

[Piltzviller]

No kidding, calling in sick tomorrow and heading out!

[coldcreekchris]

Solid advice. However, having the nets in the same place IS science.  Suggesting that you would move the nets from year to year is not. It’s the same convenient excuse you’ve used regarding Cf where the walleye population clearly impacted perch populations yet you blame the poor perch survey numbers on poor net placement.

so true..exactly what I thought....just thought explaining social science and studies woulda made nonya spray his pants....but a valid scientific study comes from fixed variables...so the way they set nets is the same theory for where nonya gets his energy drinks from..the same marketing ..its a standard non bias study ......once again born late...thanks for bringing up the obvious that most would have learned in ninth grade science

[Mizayikaa]

There is no point in arguing with stupid.

[PerchPounderMT]

Solid advice. However, having the nets in the same place IS science.  Suggesting that you would move the nets from year to year is not. It’s the same convenient excuse you’ve used regarding Cf where the walleye population clearly impacted perch populations yet you blame the poor perch survey numbers on poor net placement.

Putting their nets in the same spots that get pounded year round only tells you what is going on in the high pressure areas,not to mention they are setting them WAY too shallow.Do you think perch move out to deeper water as they mature?Has any one of the "science" experts on here even seen where the nets are put out?One of them was in 6 feet of water right off black beach this year.I could put those nets on 7 spots that would put their numbers back up to 2013 numbers...but thats not science...They didnt even net on CF this spring and they are getting ready to make changes,guess"science" isnt needed after all.Perch fishing on CF is the best it has been in 40 years and the walleye quality is at a 10 year low...your F&G "science" is hard at work.Anyone that is going to defend the MT F&G methods and policy's regarding Holter and CF has lost touch with reality.

[vicster]

From what I read about the huge year class it was not about perch spawning habitat, it was about lake conditions that allowed the young of the year perch to survive and thrive.  Perch are prolific spawners, there wasn't a huge population that produced that year class but the ones that were there dumped a ton of eggs into the lake like they do every year.  The difference was that a much higher percentage survived that year and when they matured it was easy fishing. That year class has aged out, they reached the end of their life cycle and most if not all have died.  We are heading into a more normal perch population for Holter and the days of every Joe Schmoe catching bucket fulls are in the past. I'm not saying fishing pressure and harvest hasn't had an effect in area's that are common knowledge, but it's more about lake conditions and fish survival than pressure.  There are still perch in Holter, and will probably be more really large fish because of less competition now but you will have to know your stuff and go find them.  On the plus side, I believe that the going theory that the conditions that produced the 2011 crop was a huge runoff year.... like we had last year.  It will take a few years but there might be a light at the end of the tunnel.

[Houdy66]

From what I read about the huge year class it was not about perch spawning habitat, it was about lake conditions that allowed the young of the year perch to survive and thrive.  Perch are prolific spawners, there wasn't a huge population that produced that year class but the ones that were there dumped a ton of eggs into the lake like they do every year.  The difference was that a much higher percentage survived that year and when they matured it was easy fishing. That year class has aged out, they reached the end of their life cycle and most if not all have died.  We are heading into a more normal perch population for Holter and the days of every Joe Schmoe catching bucket fulls are in the past. I'm not saying fishing pressure and harvest hasn't had an effect in area's that are common knowledge, but it's more about lake conditions and fish survival than pressure.  There are still perch in Holter, and will probably be more really large fish because of less competition now but you will have to know your stuff and go find them.  On the plus side, I believe that the going theory that the conditions that produced the 2011 crop was a huge runoff year.... like we had last year.  It will take a few years but there might be a light at the end of the tunnel.

I agree with your theory, although I will add one thing that nobody has brought up yet (or I missed it if they have). One or two years prior to the boom in the perch population, there was a massive die off of carp throughout Holter. I never heard any reason behind it, but I'm sure anybody who fished there that year will remember the thousands of dead carp floating around all throughout the reservoir. I have to believe that the lower numbers of carp eating perch eggs had to have a positive effect on the number of viable eggs that were successful that year, and once those perch matured they caused the boom in numbers of larger fish. I am by no means a fisheries biologist, but I figured I would put my two cents in. Who doesn't love a good, healthy debate? 

[MT_btagger]

That this year's high water also coincided with a apparent die-off of the 2011 age class should also really help with juvenile perch survival. 

A lot fewer 10 inch perch eating the little ones. I guess we'll all be looking forward to see the fall 2020 net numbers.

[Wenger]

Solid advice. However, having the nets in the same place IS science.  Suggesting that you would move the nets from year to year is not. It’s the same convenient excuse you’ve used regarding Cf where the walleye population clearly impacted perch populations yet you blame the poor perch survey numbers on poor net placement.

Exactly right Born Late. The science would not be usable if the netting was not consistent.   The idea is not to count fish but rather to establish and ID trends.  Besides fish are very mobile any void in high quality habitat will be filled, often within days.

[missoulafish]

Exactly...

[Boetticher]

Holter the last couple of years has been our go-to spot. Planning a trip to cascade lake in Idaho for this year or next. Perch are Huge coming out of there.