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Ice Fishing Tips -Check your local regulations! => Perch => Topic started by: logicallycompromised on Jan 16, 2018, 08:31 PM

Title: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: logicallycompromised on Jan 16, 2018, 08:31 PM
i was offered this explanation from a trusted source as to why the perch get so fat in the winter.  a quick google search suggest this to be accurate as well.  has this been your experience?

the reason i am looking confirmation as it begs the question why do anglers seems to keep these desirable breeders? regardless of what their reason maybe it is their prerogative as a licensed fisherman to keep as many as they like in accordance with the laws.  but as someone who gets a lot out of fishing i would like to use this thread as a way to possible inform others who may not think much about all the tomorrows.  from what i understand these toads offer little extra meat in exchange for their added mass.  smaller males could offer similar fillets with the added benefit of aiding in a healthy population.

what say you?
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: DR.SPECKLER on Jan 16, 2018, 08:33 PM
they breed like cockroaches..if you don't harvest they will become over populated and stunted.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: rlusk3030 on Jan 16, 2018, 09:35 PM
they breed like cockroaches..if you don't harvest they will become over populated and stunted.

Couldn't agree more.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: SHaRPS on Jan 18, 2018, 06:22 AM
they breed like cockroaches..if you don't harvest they will become over populated and stunted.

Exactly. Plus they taste great and you cannot buy them at a market. And because of your post, you reminded me that tomorrow sounds like a great day to have perch for dinner!
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: Kinkyline on Jan 18, 2018, 07:47 AM
   G ;Dreat eating and abundant. Just keep your harvest to what you can use for a couple meals.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: panfishman13 on Jan 19, 2018, 10:34 AM
if i catch a perch over 10 inches, it's pretty likely to go back as long as it's releasable. it takes a long time for them to get that big, and i want those genetics in the system (around here, 11 inches is uncommon, 12 inches is rare). plus large perch will prey on smaller perch, and those big fish will put a significant dent in the young-of-the-year perch.

fish 10 inches and under go in the bucket. even down to 4 inches. any that are too small to fillet i freeze whole as bait for sturgeon and catfish come spring.

and of course, that depends on the lake. some lakes around here i keep every perch i catch because there's not enough predators in the system that are big enough to knock down the numbers of the little perch. other lakes don't have a large population of perch so i tend not to keep any.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: Figure ate on Jan 19, 2018, 11:35 AM
Because some fishermen think that they breed like cockroaches and will take over if not removed. Which explains why low pressure lakes have the most big perch, because fewer are taken out every year. Ignorance is bliss
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: crdroste on Jan 20, 2018, 09:26 AM
It's my opinion that perch so breed like crazy and a population can be sustained with small size perch. So taking large perch filled with eggs doesn't affect the number of yearlingsg spring.  But perch are cannibals and what the large perch do is eat many many small perch keeping the population from becoming stunted in most waters large perch are important in making sure there are large perch in the future, without them perch easily become stunted in low productivity waters.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: taxi1 on Jan 21, 2018, 10:56 AM
One perch can produce 200,000 eggs ( I hatch yellow perch on my farm). They are very prolific. You really can't extirpate them by overfishing, as if that was the case they wouldn't be an issue in waters they don't belong.

But like anything else the words "it depends" applies to fish population dynamics. On smaller bodies of water you can reduce the numbers of jumbo perch if anglers hammer the lake really hard during ice fishing season. There will still be enough eggs to take up the slack but the number of jumbo perch can be significantly reduced. I've heard of hundreds of anglers converging on a small lake if the word is out there are jumbos being caught.

Contrary to popular believe they usually won't overpopulate in smaller ponds where there is a good bass population and vegetation isn't to excessive. Won't be eliminated, but won't be very common either unless periodically planted. It seems the bass really hammer them due to their fusiform shape vs. bluegills. And their habit of traveling in schools does many of them in.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: ice dawg on Jan 21, 2018, 11:10 AM
I think perch populations can be overfished to the point where it takes a number of years to get the population of large perch back to where it was. I think Bitter Lake in  NESD is a shining example of this. All it takes is a look at the G,F&P test net surveys to see this lake has been pounded for years because it was populated with jumbo perch. Not the perch numbers there now that there used to be so another "hot lake or slough" will get pounded now.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: taxi1 on Jan 21, 2018, 12:00 PM
I think perch populations can be overfished to the point where it takes a number of years to get the population of large perch back to where it was. I think Bitter Lake in  NESD is a shining example of this. All it takes is a look at the G,F&P test net surveys to see this lake has been pounded for years because it was populated with jumbo perch. Not the perch numbers there now that there used to be so another "hot lake or slough" will get pounded now.

I agree, which is what I said in the second part of my post about reducing numbers of large perch in lakes small enough to be effected by heavy fishing pressure.

How big is Bitter Lake? Acre wise?
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: BN3HH58 on Jan 21, 2018, 12:10 PM
Bitter lake is roughly 19,000 acres or nearly 30 square miles in size.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: taxi1 on Jan 21, 2018, 12:18 PM
Bitter lake is roughly 19,000 acres or nearly 30 square miles in size.

And you think fishing pressure there has reduced the number of large perch? I'm not saying it's not possible, but that's awful lot of water to be effected by fishing pressure unless much less of the acreage is conducive to yellow perch.

Are you sure predator prey relationship dynamics may not play a bigger role? Or I could be all of the above?
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: ice dawg on Jan 21, 2018, 12:20 PM
19,000 acres in 2013 and floods more land every year. It is growing every year like Devils Lake in ND.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: taxi1 on Jan 21, 2018, 12:22 PM
19,000 acres in 2013 and floods more land every year. It is growing every year like Devils Lake in ND.

Devil's Lake is still growing? Or does it wax and wane?

I organized an ice fishing trip there at least a decade ago and it was getting bigger then.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: ice dawg on Jan 21, 2018, 12:25 PM
I'm no fish biologist, but this lake used to have a thousand people ice fishing daily. Another larger lake in the area used to have an average of a thousand ice fishermen daily until Bitter Lake got hot.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: ice dawg on Jan 21, 2018, 12:31 PM
Devil's Lake is still growing? Or does it wax and wane?

I organized an ice fishing trip there at least a decade ago and it was getting bigger then.
They say Devils Lake is still growing. I have never fished it. I have fished Bitter once in summer and it was such a zoo I never went back. I have not bothered to ice fish on Bitter for this reason.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: deerefishyfishy on Jan 21, 2018, 12:54 PM
My take on the original post is mixed. I agree with a lot of it, but I disagree about bigger fish having negligible more meat. I would take a hand full of jumbos over a pail full of 8 in chers all day long. Much bigger and thicker filets and far less fish cleaning to get it!
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: DR.SPECKLER on Jan 21, 2018, 01:07 PM
Because some fishermen think that they breed like cockroaches and will take over if not removed. Which explains why low pressure lakes have the most big perch, because fewer are taken out every year. Ignorance is bliss
I really don't like you calling me ignorant either..if they don't breed like cockroaches why do all the lakes have 1000s upon thousands of dink perch in them.had to get there somehow..all lakes have big perch and small perch has nothing to do with low pressue from fisherman.has to due with food sources,water quality and good habitat really.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: SHaRPS on Jan 22, 2018, 12:31 PM
All I am saying is Perch tacos were great!
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: DR.SPECKLER on Jan 22, 2018, 01:41 PM
All I am saying is Perch tacos were great!
got that right!!
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: ejdelvo28 on Jan 26, 2018, 02:07 PM
Bitter lake from 2010 to about 2014 got absolutely destroyed, both on ice and open water.  Almost every day there were at least 1,000 people out there with close to 5,000 on weekends.  The lake used to be a perch factory with 14"+ fish being fairly common, and some really nice walleyes mixed in.  Now it's just a shell of its former glory.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: ice dawg on Jan 26, 2018, 02:27 PM
Mina Lake has more perch per net than Bitter Lake according to the G,F&P surveys and locals call Mina Lake "the dead sea". People wonder why SD people are quiet about where the fish are biting? Not hard for me to understand.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: Doeslayer on Jan 26, 2018, 02:52 PM
If you fish a species just eforegheir spawn they will absolutely be full of eggs... Perch spawn a last ice early springish so if you ice fish them they will have eggs in them.. same with walleye... And any other spring spawning species.... I'd be more worried about icing crappie as they seem to be slow breeders and don't flourish like a perch
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: taxi1 on Jan 26, 2018, 06:32 PM
My yellow perch don't spawn until the water gets into the upper 40's. They also start developing eggs the previous fall.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: SHaRPS on Jan 30, 2018, 08:35 AM
Well its been 2 weeks now. Fish taco time!!!!
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: 3300 on Jan 30, 2018, 09:00 AM
a friend eats the eggs (keeps them in the sack and lightly cooked) and gives the meat to his mom.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: taxi1 on Jan 30, 2018, 10:44 AM
I don't know about anywhere else but here in the Saginaw Bay area the perch come in and spawn twice a year, both spring and fall.

Are you sure you're not confusing a movement into the shallows in the fall with spawning? The only perch I know that spawn at other times of the the year than spring, are those that are raised in indoor aquaculture systems where the photoperiod and temperatures are altered.

Fall perch can already seem like they are full of eggs but from my experience there is no fall spawning. The perch strain I raise is a Great Lakes strain and I've never experienced what you're talking about.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: captain54 on Jan 30, 2018, 12:18 PM
Not so sure about double spawn. Here in Pa. Perch are fat from late fall till early spring. They seem to spawn when water temps hit the high 40's- low 50's. To be quite honest all warm water fish but gills have eggs all winter in them. I fish Presque Isle bay in Erie,and have caught limits of jumbo for 50 years and that place gets pounded. Of course a lot of fish enter the bay from the lake.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: taxi1 on Jan 30, 2018, 07:53 PM
I'm not a fisheries biologist and I haven't been properly schooled on perch behavior, but when you catch perch in the fall that are so full of eggs they are literally busting out of the fish, I'd say they are spawning.  Again, I just go by what I've seen.

I'm not a biologist either and don't claim to be although I have a degree in the field.  I think you are assuming they are spawning when they're not.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: Chuck Enwinde on Jan 31, 2018, 02:13 AM
I don't really get the logic.  If you take that same fish home in the summer, it won't be full of eggs, but it still won't be breeding the next spring. 

Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: taxi1 on Jan 31, 2018, 10:41 AM
I don't really get the logic.  If you take that same fish home in the summer, it won't be full of eggs, but it still won't be breeding the next spring.

On top of that's it' pretty tough for anybody but an aquaculturist specializing in producing perch to tell them apart in the summer. Even then it's not 100 percent. I know because I tried it in a pond that is supposed to be female only and some of them were apparently males.  ::)

Here's an interesting article if anyone is interested:

https://phys.org/news/2014-06-method-distinguishes-yellow-perch-females.html
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: mboss13 on Jan 31, 2018, 10:46 AM
My brother owns a small pond and somehow perch made their way in there. Completely overpopulated. We fear they are preventing all the other fish from ever spawning again. No matter the size we catch out of there, they are not going back in.

On public waters the limit is 20 here in MN. I never heard of anybody saying put them back for future. Yet every year people seem to be clearing them out of the lakes. It is a great fish that tastes awesome especially in winter.

I'd be more worried about walley and few other species, but perch....yeah, if you catch them, eat them.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: taxi1 on Jan 31, 2018, 10:50 AM
My brother owns a small pond and somehow perch made their way in there. Completely overpopulated. We fear they are preventing all the other fish from ever spawning again. No matter the size we catch out of there, they are not going back in.

On public waters the limit is 20 here in MN. I never heard of anybody saying put them back for future. Yet every year people seem to be clearing them out of the lakes. It is a great fish that tastes awesome especially in winter.

I'd be more worried about walley and few other species, but perch....yeah, if you catch them, eat them.

That's interesting. Your brother must not have a good bass/predator population in the pond. Out here we have found ponds with a good bass population, the perch are grazed down pretty fast. Bass prefer them over bluegills as they are more fusiform in shape.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: tornadochaser60 on Feb 07, 2018, 02:12 PM
Bitter lake from 2010 to about 2014 got absolutely destroyed, both on ice and open water.  Almost every day there were at least 1,000 people out there with close to 5,000 on weekends.  The lake used to be a perch factory with 14"+ fish being fairly common, and some really nice walleyes mixed in.  Now it's just a shell of its former glory.

  Bitter also had a major imbalance in the walleye population, with an overpopulation of 10"-14" fish that were in direct competition for food with the upper end of the perch fishery.  Perch in SD are very cyclical in population, with fast growth rates when conditions are right. 
  It's short sighted to say that fishing pressure from 3-5 years ago has had a major effect on perch populations right now, given the life cycle and spawning characteristics of N.E. SD perch, along with the huge change in short term climate we've had.
A large reason for the fast increase in the perch population 2010-2014 On Bitter, Waubay, and other area lakes in SD can be attributed to the lake growth and subsequent extremely fertile "new" parts of the lakes that were being claimed to flooding, bitter being the last to stop rising due to being at the bottom end of the closed drainage basin. 
  Now, with waters receding, you're going to see a slower more natural cycle in the perch population.  Same as hundreds of other lakes in SD.  Perch in SD live for about 4-7 years.  There are nice perch in bitter right now, if you know where to look.  I'll say this; they aren't in the main basin.
  Look back at netting data for any given number of lakes in SD and you can see how the perch populations cycle.  Throw in a pulse of high water on a given spring and you're almost guaranteed to see great recruitment for that spawn.   We've honestly been lucky to have as good as recruitment as we have had in some lakes given that a lot of our "perch sloughs" are 5'-10' shallower and much smaller in basin size now due to drought.  Things are way different since 2015 compared to the wet cycle of 2010-2014.  For example, my best walleye fishing spots from 2-3 years ago on a particular lake in Coddington County are now dry land again.  A slough that was 8'-9' deep a few years ago in clark county that we hammered 12"-14" perch on has now decreased in volume to the point where I walked completely across it this fall chasing a crippled mallard.  It also winterkilled last year and has very few game fish left in it.  SD perch factories will ramp up again across the state if we can get some good snowmelt and spring rains.  The fall rains last year helped a few sloughs and lakes out, but state wide, we're still a shell of what we used to be for water levels.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: filetandrelease on Feb 07, 2018, 05:22 PM
http://
Yellow perch typically reach sexual maturity in 2–3 years for males and 3–4 years for females. They are iteroparous, spawning annually in the spring when water temperatures are between 2.0 and 18.6 °C (35.6–65.5 °F). Spawning is communal and typically occurs at night
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: fishook on Feb 09, 2018, 07:29 PM
Taxi1 knows his perch because he's in the business of raising them.  The observation that perch with eggs migrate into shallow waters in the fall in Saginaw Bay does not mean that they are spawning. They are not. Perch only spawn in the spring.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: taxi1 on Feb 10, 2018, 09:45 AM
No idea. Never heard of that before unless something is causing their spawning times to be off. I don't see how that could happen unless the photoperiod and water temps were drastically off which doesn't happen outdoors. The only thing that could explain it would be an aquaculture facility dumping their altered spawning fish which sounds extremely unlikely.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: dkruks on Feb 10, 2018, 09:51 AM
This could be  silly statement, but if the perch are being pulled out of deep water maybe the air bladder is expanding enough to push out or rupture the egg sack and push out the roe?

dkruks
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: Chuck Enwinde on Feb 12, 2018, 01:15 AM
No, they are being caught in the cuts leading to the Saginaw Bay.  The water may be 6-8 foot, at best.  And, I'm not squeezing them out either.

Have you ever cleaned a spawned out perch in winter?   Don't think I have.  I did get one last fall that had the previous years eggs rotting inside it still, so I guess anything is possible.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: taxi1 on Feb 12, 2018, 12:04 PM
I guess I'm not sure what you are saying.  Perch, like all other species, spawn when the water reaches "their" perfect temp.  Usually, as the water warms in spring.  Shouldn't the water reach their optimal temp as it cools in the fall?  I guess what I'm saying is both the water temp and the photoperiod have to be the same, twice a year!  Its not like the temp is going to be 65 one day and the next drop to 40! Is it possible that some perch spawn in the spring and others in the fall?

The thing you are missing is some species their gametes mature as the days get longer while others mature as the days get shorter. It's not just temperature and the amount or lack of sunlight.

Even aquaculture facilities that alter gamete maturation have to either increase or decrease the photoperiod along with manipulating water temperatures.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: Splinter on Feb 12, 2018, 01:30 PM
A friend of mine will fry the perch eggs along with the fillets.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: dkruks on Feb 12, 2018, 01:44 PM
A friend of mine will fry the perch eggs along with the fillets.

Perch eggs are delicious! My Grandfather always added them to his scrambled eggs, but then again he was an old German and he also fed us fried pig brains on toast...  :sick:
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: missoulafish on Feb 12, 2018, 02:36 PM
(http://static.skaip.org/img/emoticons/180x180/f6fcff/puke.gif)
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: taxi1 on Feb 12, 2018, 03:46 PM
My grandmother fried up bluegill egg sacks.
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: builder on Feb 12, 2018, 03:57 PM
missoulafish that is one funny emoji!!!!!!!
Title: Re: are most of the large belly perch full of eggs during winter? if so, why kill?
Post by: dkruks on Feb 12, 2018, 07:23 PM
(http://static.skaip.org/img/emoticons/180x180/f6fcff/puke.gif)

Lmao