Perch size in Healy

[wyoutdoors]

I really thought the perch would average quite a bit bigger this season over last. With the introduction of Tiger Musky into the lake and the predators already there, I imagined some really nice pan-sized fillets would be pulled out of there this year and the average size would increase over last season.

Today I worked hard to take home six that hit the 9" mark and worked through at least 100+ hook-ups. I drilled 3 dozen holes from 8' to 35' and thoroughly worked a number of areas. Although I haven't ventured to the north end, I can't imagine the perch aren't moving throughout the lake.

Most of the perch ran around the 6" mark and I caught about a dozen three inch perch. I've fished Healy fairly hard this season, and it seems like last year had higher quality perch over this season. Anyone else experience the same? I know there are nicer perch in there, since I have caught a few over 10" this year.

Are the Tiger Musky really improving the perch fishery? Will we have larger perch averages next season?

Anyone care to weigh in?

[Goodnight]

Fished the lake yesterday, south end. between the 3 of us we took home 15 over 9 inches in a couple hours. Like you say, definitely had to go through a ton of small ones to get to the keepers. Had pulled up a hand full of muskie this year and they are beginning to break the 30 inch mark. Due to the fact they do not reproduce, all of their energy and resources goes towards growth. As they continue to grow and feed more I hope the quality of perch improves.

[gemcityslayer]

I really thought the perch would average quite a bit bigger this season over last. With the introduction of Tiger Musky into the lake and the predators already there, I imagined some really nice pan-sized fillets would be pulled out of there this year and the average size would increase over last season.

Today I worked hard to take home six that hit the 9" mark and worked through at least 100+ hook-ups. I drilled 3 dozen holes from 8' to 35' and thoroughly worked a number of areas. Although I haven't ventured to the north end, I can't imagine the perch aren't moving throughout the lake.

Most of the perch ran around the 6" mark and I caught about a dozen three inch perch. I've fished Healy fairly hard this season, and it seems like last year had higher quality perch over this season. Anyone else experience the same? I know there are nicer perch in there, since I have caught a few over 10" this year.

Are the Tiger Musky really improving the perch fishery? Will we have larger perch averages next season?

Anyone care to weigh in?

I think it takes awhile for that to take effect maybe a few years (2-3).  The tigers will be able toe at a lot more perch when they are 2-3 years older.

Seems like Healy has become more and more popular every year though and it isn't a very big lake.  Maybe anglers are removing a lot of the 8-9" perch.

[wyoutdoors]

It just seems the average size was larger last year. It could be another fish class or two are coming on strong this year.

[Hole Tender]

It appears the tiger muskies are culling the perch from the top down. It takes less energy to eat a big perch rather than several smaller perch. I wonder if the tigers will reduce numbers going forward until they are all gone. I would rather see the perch netted and dumped in to Keyhole to feed the pike and improve the perch fishing. I don't know if that is possible or cost effective though. I'm not a fisheries biologist.

[zjlooney]

As these tigers get bigger, they'll mow down more perch than any group of anglers could ever dream of catching.  However, I don't think there are enough of them in the lake to wipe out the perch population.  So I believe in the coming years the perch bite wont be fast an furious but the quality will improve.  Keyhole is a fine example.  It was a great year for pike but the reports of perch are few and far between.  I haven't caught a single perch there this year, and last year I would catch at least one or two every trip.  I think Hole Tender is right about them taking larger perch over several smaller ones, but I think as the water warms they will be far less choosy.  If you put a ribeye and a petite sirloin in front of me, I'm going for the ribeye. 

[wyoutdoors]

Who are you kidding? We both know we would go for both!

[zjlooney]

Ok ok fair enough! But I'm mowing down the ribeye first!

[gsawyer]

I was reading a while back that the goal of the G&F when they decided to release the tigers in Healy was to increase the perch size by an average of 1 inch. I wouldn't expect the average to get much better any time soon. There are just tons of those little guys in there.

[WGFFishBio]

A couple of things to keep in mind. The first batch of tiger muskie were stocked in 2012. We stocked again in 2013 and 2014. The tiger's that are approaching or have past the 30 inch mark are fish from 2012 (most likely anyway). While the muskie can put down the groceries, they also will prey upon the easiest of items. Most folks don't realize that Healy is loaded with white suckers as well. A muskie most generally will prefer a fish with soft rayed fins (white sucker) versus a fish with spiny fins (perch). I think that once the suckers have been depleted more, the muskie will be forced to eat the perch. But the biggest thing to keep in mind, with anything biological, it takes time. We're excited to see what happens over the next couple of years and are very optimistic that the muskie will work. Heck, nothing else, it's a cool place to catch a cool fish. My family and I have caught several hundred perch this winter, not one fish harvested was under 8 inches (kept about 100 all season). In my mind, it appears to be working.

[WGFFishBio]

I was reading a while back that the goal of the G&F when they decided to release the tigers in Healy was to increase the perch size by an average of 1 inch. I wouldn't expect the average to get much better any time soon. There are just tons of those little guys in there.

Yes, our goal is to increase average perch length from 7 to 8 inches. I will keep you guys posted with the results of 2015 sampling. I would bet that we will see small increments versus a bigger jump to 8 inches.

[Goodnight]

Thanks to all the G&F for staying involved in this. Your input is greatly appreciated!

[wyoutdoors]

The sucker preference does make sense. Thanks for swinging through WGFFishBio!

[Fryinpan]

Yes, Thank you!!  Very much appreciate the information.... all very interesting.

[slamber]

Something else that will help is if people release any bass they catch. I see people keeping all sizes of bass from little 8" to the big ones. Those bass will eat a lot of perch during their lives; not to mention they are a blast to catch. In the last couple of years the number of larger bass , over 12", that I catch has gone down significantly. I'd be in favor of a catch and release bass fishery, or at the minimum a slot limit to keep the numbers up and some big ones in there. Perch are much tastier anyway.

[Houligan]

I am sure the fact everyone is taking the larger fish and throwing the smaller ones back really helps.

Last season I saw three guys ice six hundred perch in a half day. No musky can eat that much. Even though the musky have been introduced you cannot call what or how much they eat. Perch have the potential to be much larger than eight inches. To spend that kind of money on a program like this to gain an average of one inch seems to be a waste of funding. Especially in the times of game and fish crying poor mouth, wanting to raise license fees etc... Then we have debates and hear scare tactics to obtain more funding when funding is seemingly not the issue. How the funds are spent seems, as in most forms of government, to be the issue.

I have seen game and fish do gill net kill surveys for trout in waters where they considered the cutthroat to be threatened or endangered. Yet we spend money like this when this would be a great time to break out the gill nets and get rid of most of the perch in one day. Yes kind of like they have done at other bodies of water in the state on walleye kills...

Now, we are wondering when the perch are going to get bigger. I remember when the musky were introduced and started to gain size. May I remind you, game and fish spent our money on this program to help our fishery and what did people do? There were more boats on that lake then ever before trying and catch the muskies!!! The whole situation is JACKED!!     

[ClearCreek]

I have seen game and fish do gill net kill surveys for trout in waters where they considered the cutthroat to be threatened or endangered. Yet we spend money like this when this would be a great time to break out the gill nets and get rid of most of the perch in one day. Yes kind of like they have done at other bodies of water in the state on walleye kills...

Where in Wyoming did you see G&F setting gill nets on a population of cutthroat that were threatened or endangered?

Get rid of the perch in Healy by setting gill nets for one day - you know better don't you??

ClearCreek