Stocking perch?

[nutinbutjiggin]

Anyone know if MT FWP stocks perch in lakes reservoirs or is it not feasible?
I am mainly talking about bigger size bodies of water not smaller ponds etc.

If so where are they raised and what size are they when planted?

Thanks

[perch poacher]

Years ago (15-20) FWP trapped (netted) perch from Lake Mary Ronan and trucked them over to Fresno Reservoir by Havre to try to boost the forage fish there.

[Born Late]

http://fwp.mt.gov/fip/plants/plant_input.action

Select "yellow perch" from the species drop-down list.

[nutinbutjiggin]

Thanks for the link. Its very interesting. What I was wondering is what kind of volume are or can perch be transplanted. Enough to really help out a body of water such as Canyon Ferry?
Looking at the numbers on the chart there are some pretty small numbers moved around but a few (such as Fresno 18,000). So maybe it is possible?
It seems FWP does a ton of trout stocking (high volume fingerlings) and I just wondered if perch were more difficult or expensive to attempt in large quantity because I don't hear of it being attempted or even talked about?

[Born Late]

Sounds like a good question for the FWP fisheries folks.

[wheeler406]

Take a look at this interesting article about perch and walleye on Canyon Ferry. Basically FWP doesn't have enough perch hatcheries to support the demand for perch for humans AND walleyes. http://fwp.mt.gov/mtoutdoors/HTML/articles/2010/CanyonFerry.htm#.VNEQkk1ATAU

[nutinbutjiggin]

Interesting article at least in some respects. Seems a bit slanted or maybe over simplified.
 
What I don't understand is if the basic message is: that the evil walleye are eating everything out of the lake (in this case CF)  then why after all these years of having walleye in Holter lake is there an epidemic number of perch according to FWP and also a ton and I mean a ton of trout?

Maybe the perch fishery at Canyon Ferry is a bit more complicated than pointing a finger and saying ..."The walleye did it"
It was flooded in 1955 and now 60 years later 99% of the flooded sage brush and trees are gone, rotted away. Could that be a reason the perch don't spawn like they used to?

Look at what happened to Fort Peck the year after it came up 40 feet and flooded the shoreline brush. It was and is a bait fish Bonanza.

Another thing is the bit about ciscoes and how they ruined Tiber as a walleye fishery because they ate all the plankton.....Tiber is an awesome walleye fishery right now,. The best it has been in anyone's memory.

Im no expert but I wonder if its really possible to come to solid conclusions with limited budget/data FWP has to work with?

[1goldsniper]

This a good article. Thanks for bringing it our attention!

[MTntv]

Piles and piles of Xmas trees have replaced lots of the lost spawning beds

[Born Late]

"...a diverse body of evidence from a number of western reservoirs strongly suggests that it is unlikely that a productive yellow perch and wild or put-grow-and-take trout fishery could be maintained in Canyon Ferry in the presence of heavy walleye predation. Fishing would likely be good for all three species for several years after walleye were introduced, but the ability to sustain a productive fishery is highly questionable once the walleye population becomes large. A mixed walleye and trout fishery could be maintained by stocking large (8-13 inch) hatchery rainbows, but at significantly greater cost. Over the long term, depletion of the forage base, and associated declines in walleye growth and reproduction, would likely occur, necessitating a decision on whether to introduce additional prey species as forage for walleye."

Happy 23rd birthday to that dead-on prediction. 

http://docs.streamnetlibrary.org/StreamNet_References/MTsn85140.pdf

[missoulafish]

Exactly!⬇️

[MTntv]

Walleye have been in there since the 50's...perch,trout and walleye fishing are very good,how is that accurate?

[nutinbutjiggin]

.a diverse body of evidence from a number of western reservoirs strongly suggests that it is unlikely that a productive yellow perch and wild or put-grow-and-take trout fishery could be maintained in Canyon Ferry in the presence of heavy walleye predation. Fishing would likely be good for all three species for several years after walleye were introduced, but the ability to sustain a productive fishery is highly questionable once the walleye population becomes large. A mixed walleye and trout fishery could be maintained by stocking large (8-13 inch) hatchery rainbows, but at significantly greater cost. Over the long term, depletion of the forage base, and associated declines in walleye growth and reproduction, would likely occur, necessitating a decision on whether to introduce additional prey species as forage for walleye

Well its 23 years into it and the sky still hasn't fallen....mmmm

If it does fall then well it would “--necessitate a decision on whether to introduce additional prey species as forage for walleye[/i]
That’s where the perch come in.
The non native trout in there are raised in a concrete tank in a hatchery. “natural” went out of the fishery in 1955 when they dammed the Missouri river. There's not a reservoir in the west that is still “natural” so lets get over that.
FWP already stocks larger trout like the 1992 study suggested and its working, trout fishing is awesome.
I say let’s quit kidding ourselves and raise some perch in those 4 huge dikes at the South end.
If we did the trout win the walleye win and the perch win.

[Meatfisherman]

Sure aren't many perch now.  The ones that are there are large.  No small perch all 10-13 inches.  How old are these perch?

[Born Late]

Yup, the trout ARE doing well...since FWP began stocking larger fish rather than pouring fingerlings directly down walleye gullets...and it IS more expensive, all of which was discussed 23 years ago. Perch survey numbers are at historic lows and the walleye are dependent upon perch. The walleye sky has not yet fallen but it's pretty damned cloudy. Fortunately they must be a resilient and stealthy species since they were somehow able to avoid detection for 30+ years after their reported introduction.  Well, some reports. 

[MTntv]

People were catching them,thing is there was no internet for all the experts to collect their data,no sample nets,nobody really knew what they were for years.I knew two old ladys when i was a kid that had been catching them for years,they filled buckets with them down by yaht basin while everyone else was fishing for spawner trout.