perch

[walleye wil]

back in the day it was nothing to come off the lake with 50 perch or more. now you have to scout all over to find perch, i just wonder why its
so hard to find schools of them anymore. we used to get plenty on james and jimmersom lakes in angola, but now were lucky to jig up 5 keepers anymore, any thought were they have all gone. love to catch perch through the ice but cant seem to find them like we used too.
jig em up has been the one that finds them every year because he seems to target them more than most people, but have had no luck on them like in the past!

[taxi1]

Fish population dynamics change over time.

[Spooled85]

I have no problem catching 50 perch ..... But every single one is about 4 or 5 inches

[Pan fisherman]

i love perch wish i knew how to catch them like walleye kinda art

[CrappieJigger29]

Caught 2 dozen today.  But only 2 keepers rest were under 7.5 in.   Only 2 over 8.5



I think I did beat smallest perch caught record tho haha

[bigwillie]

Walleye! You answered your own question.  If everybody came off with 50 perch, how long would that last.  Also some of the lakes that have stocked walleye probably have less perch.

[Jigmup]

Right lake, right spot on the lake and right time of ice season for that spot.

I used to catch tons back in the 90's without trying but those lakes have changed because of predator/prey changes. I've moved to lakes where perch numbers are high because they are king of the hill and growth rates are above average.

[river_scum]

they change for sure. why elifrihno?  a couple lakes i fish are full of dinks.  you never seem to catch any over 4-5".  you would think there would be some grandparents in there somewhere but i dont know any ever caught.  there is another scenario on a reservoir close to the house.  this involves carp even!  they just dont seem to grow big in there.  carp tourneys havent even yielded any hogs.  there are big schools of them but they top out at 24" or so.  you would think if any fish would grow big it would be carps. lol

i was on a lake last year and seen a disturbing sight.  thousands of tiny perch floating dead.  some were just coming up to die too.  it was mid summer and hot. this is puzzling though because its a very deep lake plus has inlet and outlet.  you would think a lake like that would be pretty stable.  i never caught any big perch from this lake but there are hordes of dinks.

maybe taxi can give us some educated insight.

[Reel_Ice_hole]

Slow growth rate... and DNR stocking can contribute to seeing dinks.... oh yeah, and something I saw the other day, guy had like twenty - thirty fingerlings on the ice next to him... said they make good snacks, kinda like sardines... just my humble opinion though

[taxi1]

they change for sure. why elifrihno?  a couple lakes i fish are full of dinks.  you never seem to catch any over 4-5".  you would think there would be some grandparents in there somewhere but i dont know any ever caught.  there is another scenario on a reservoir close to the house.  this involves carp even!  they just dont seem to grow big in there.  carp tourneys havent even yielded any hogs.  there are big schools of them but they top out at 24" or so.  you would think if any fish would grow big it would be carps. lol

i was on a lake last year and seen a disturbing sight.  thousands of tiny perch floating dead.  some were just coming up to die too.  it was mid summer and hot. this is puzzling though because its a very deep lake plus has inlet and outlet.  you would think a lake like that would be pretty stable.  i never caught any big perch from this lake but there are hordes of dinks.

maybe taxi can give us some educated insight.

If you guys need info on particular lakes, the fish in them, and their relative abundance right now, you should contact your district biologist by phone or email. That's what they get paid for and they are quite friendly and will go out of their way to give you the information you need. Many but not all of our Indiana lakes are surveyed periodically including scale samples to determine growth rates etc. They are more than happy to get you copies of the latest surveys.

http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/3590.htm

We could probably get them to participate in his forum but unfortunately some of us have a nasty habit of attacking the very people that are on our side or work for us.

[taxi1]

Slow growth rate... and DNR stocking can contribute to seeing dinks.... oh yeah, and something I saw the other day, guy had like twenty - thirty fingerlings on the ice next to him... said they make good snacks, kinda like sardines... just my humble opinion though

Are you saying the INDNR stocks yellow perch? I don't know of any instance of yellow perch being planted anywhere in the state by the INDNR.

[markum]

Caught 2 dozen today.  But only 2 keepers rest were under 7.5 in.   Only 2 over 8.5



I think I did beat smallest perch caught record tho haha

I think I got you beat! I'm the guy fishing on the ice with a bag over my head

[river_scum]

i dont recall too many slams on here towards our biologists?  a very few want gill limits and some would like to see different eye regs(that they got), other than that most seem to think our biologists do a fine job with our fish.  now deer would be a different story. lol 


i dont think i need to bother them with my trivial questions.  most arent that important.  the answers i have gotten to questions over he years havent impress me.

as far as perch go, there is no way you could convince me they have been over harvested.  not even from a pack of sardine eatin hillbillys or beards. lol
 

[Scheu]

Seems like most of us always catch an occasional nice sized 9” to 12” perch, throughout the ice fishing season, while fishing for gills and crappie. You don’t catch them very often and you only get maybe 1 or 2, but they are a nice bonus, every time. However, if you do manage to catch the nice sized ones, they are usually females that are full of eggs. They won’t get to spawn and lay those eggs. So, maybe that has an effect on the overall population of perch.

[Fishslayer81]

The perch are still out there in Mass quantities and good size. If you don't  catch them like you use to then you need to evolve your fishing game. Fish move and patterns change due to the lakes eco system. Over treating lakes with weed killer is one of the primary causes. I had a spot where I could catch jumbo perched mixed in with pan fish all winter in 10-15fow. Since lake residents thought it was wise to treat this bay and kill the weeds off, now the Perch only come in this spot late in the year and they just cruise around. So it's hit or miss....

[taxi1]

i dont recall too many slams on here towards our biologists?

I've seen my share of slams here and on the Myfshfinder forum. See one of the comments in this new thread: "Indiana’s DNR is not very good." Why would one of them even want to come on here with comments like that?

https://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=355328.0

I've also seen it in public too. I had a huge guy almost try clean my clock when I did a creel survey on Sylvan Lake years ago. He was sure the INDNR was setting trot lines everywhere and he was raving mad as he had stepped on one while water skiing. Was out on a survey with a biologist once and a guy came up in a boat and started in on the biologist on the stupidest stuff I have ever heard.

And they get some really dumb complaints: like people that complain the INDNR takes fish from their lake and moves them to other lakes. People complain they are taking the fish home to eat from their gill net surveys! Not so. The fish are actually disposed of and wasted because of people like that.

No matter what they do there are people that complain about something they do.

OTOH I have locked horns with an employee that issues the permits etc.  I won't go into that though.

That said I don't agree with everything they do or don't do, but treating them in a disrespectful manner won't get us anywhere.

E.G. I think not allowing the reintroduction of a coldwater forage base into the Oliver Lake chain to enhance trout growth and survival due to them being an "exotic species" is just plain silly. The trout are already an exotic species. And every other state that manages a put and grow trout fishery is all for enhancing the coldwater forage in a trout lake. The argument they are detrimental to the other species in the lake does't hold water either. I'm thinking there is pressure from somewhere that is holding this back.

I also find it odd there was so much support for the 25 fish bag limit on bluegills in the rules change proposals and it just seemed to be dropped. I can't get a comment back from Indianapolis.

[river_scum]

lmao i seen that thread this morning.  i stand corrected.

why would they come on here?  to defend their actions with educated opinions.  most of us are just going by what we see in our catches not actual science.  and they are here you bet your bass they are here lurking.  i know a guy that had the CO knocking on his door, from a post/picture on the internet.

yes there will always be people complaining. 

im with you on the forage deal.  your obviously educated in this area and i trust your opinion on the matter.  if it isnt money or ill affect reports from other states programs im not sure why they wouldnt consider it.  wasnt the smelt that used to be in there years ago there naturally?  i seem to remember a netting season on them there? maybe im remembering foggy?

i only dabbled in the other trout lakes because they didnt seem to have the size.  did oliver chain ever produce larger fish besides the lakers that survived undetected for years?  i sure wish i could have sampled those dudes! lol  i remember reading the article of the guy catching a few holdovers, in the 20#(mite be miss-remembering that size?)range many years later. 

do you remember what year they decided the smelt were gone?

[taxi1]

Tim, I think your questions about the smelt etc. are answered in the Smelt proposal. I thought you read it on the link I provided at myfshfnder,com last fall?

I posted a link to it again along with the brown trout regulation proposal in the the following thread here:

https://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=354600.0

[Rkoomler]

Perch question has made me wonder and wander a ton,   pictures of huge hauls from the 70s out of wawasee.  Have to think there is a water quality componet, or a chemical thing happening.  There wasn't 24D in the water then.......

[river_scum]

ok, im gona reread that one tomorrow. thx