worms in perch?

[White Pine]

Gentlemen, I have followed this site and find the info you post very helpful. Last winter while fishing with two friends we had a very good day on the ice. We caught trout,bass, pickeral and limited out on yellow perch. We decieded to clean the perch on the ice and this is when we discovered they were loaded with worms. This lead us to the sad conclusion to leave them on the ice. So here's my question, what would you guys do?

[Riverat]

If you are not going to eat them than don't target them or just release them if possible. Personally I do not eat yellow perch so I try to avoid them, but if I catch one and no one in my party wants it than back down the hole it goes.

[NH R3DNECK]

I personally hate yellow perch. There are too many here in NH and I take advantage of "harvesting" them whenever I catch one. Just throw them on the ice and forget 'em.

[KissMyBassNH]

let me guess they were an orangeish color? see it every year, there are clean ones though and some years are worse than others

[thefinlessbrown2]

I personally hate yellow perch. There are too many here in NH and I take advantage of "harvesting" them whenever I catch one. Just throw them on the ice and forget 'em.

you'll find that that kind of unethical action will not get you any freinds here on the shanty in fact that not only is frowned upon but is a major issue with land and access owners..resulting in loss of acess to lakes .thats right up there or even worse than leaving trash on the ice !!!!!!!!put them back if your not gonna take them !!!!

[DasRottweiler]

I fished a midsized pond last week and had another group of guys across from me. When it started blowing and snowing , they packed up. I grabbed the vex and 3 rods and started hole hopping in the holes they had left. I found 5 perch and 2 crappie stuffed in holes as I jigged along.All dead. Many of the perch had thier eyes removed. For bait , I assume, to catch more perch to kill for no apparent reason. No matter what you think of a species of fish, it`s just not right to waste anything on this overcrowded rock we live on. Guys like that give the rest of us a bad name. Why ya think Spofford lake was closed to ice fishing?, Partly because of jokers who left fish and trash on the ice.
  Sorry, off topic, I don`t eat perch, mostly because ya need a pile of em b4 ya gut anything worth filleting, so I just throw em back. Crappie on the other hand....

[captJ]

Alot of guys def think the yellow perch are junkfish - I always catch and release, but last year I saw a vid on youtube about how to fillet a perch in 10 seconds - Well I tried it, it works and amazes people who see it when the fish is out of the hole and on the frying pan in less than a minute - DAMN tasty too!!!  On a side note, saw a guy throwing perch on the ice thought it kinda sucked, but when I went over to see what was up,  he said just wait a minute - Friggin bald eagle had been sittin there watchin and as soon as we were about 100' from the fish, he swooped down, grabbed it flew up into a tree and we watched him eat it - you wanna talk about something to see!!!  That bird hung around for about a month -

[fiesty]

I personally hate yellow perch. There are too many here in NH and I take advantage of "harvesting" them whenever I catch one. Just throw them on the ice and forget 'em.

just remember that your "junk fish" on the ice add up to your limit...yes there is a yellow perch limit in NH, and the green coats will write you a ticket for it....

[NH R3DNECK]

you'll find that that kind of unethical action will not get you any freinds here on the shanty in fact that not only is frowned upon but is a major issue with land and access owners..resulting in loss of acess to lakes .thats right up there or even worse than leaving trash on the ice !!!!!!!!put them back if your not gonna take them !!!!

That's funny that you find it "unethical". As a matter of fact, the New Hampshire Fish and Game encourages the icing of yellow perch:

"They often compete with game fish for habitat and need to be harvested to keep numbers manageable."

http://www.wildnh.com/Fishing/fish_species_profiles.htm

I don't know about you, but I would much rather catch a more desirable fish than a yellow perch.

[thefinlessbrown2]

yeah O.K. LMAO

[NH R3DNECK]

nice comeback, i have written proof, and you have a childish response. very classy.

[thefinlessbrown2]

That's funny that you find it "unethical". As a matter of fact, the New Hampshire Fish and Game encourages the icing of yellow perch:

"They often compete with game fish for habitat and need to be harvested to keep numbers manageable."

http://www.wildnh.com/Fishing/fish_species_profiles.htm

I don't know about you, but I would much rather catch a more desirable fish than a yellow perch.

 WELL I GUESS AT 17  YOU HAVE A VAST ARAY OF KNOWELEDGE...LET ME TELL YOU THIS THERE IS NO STATE OFFICIAL IN NEW HAMPSHIRE WHO WILL TELL YOU ITS OK TO LEAVE ANY FISH ON THE ICE NEVER THE LESS A YELLOW PERCH ..AND IT IS ABSOLUTLY UN ETHICAL AND SHOWS POOR SPORTSMANSHIP AS WELL IT REFLECTS ON OTHER SPORTSMAN ..I'M SURE I'VE BEEN FISHING ON NEW HAMPSHIRE LAKES AND PONDS LONGER THAN YOU'VE BEEN WALKING BUT HEY YOU GOTTA KNOW SOMETHING I DON'T ...APPEARANTLY RIGHT ? OH AND THANKS FOR THE LINK BUT I HAVE IT SAVES ALREADY  ;)BY THE WAY GOOD LUCK OUT THERE

[thefinlessbrown2]

nice comeback, i have written proof, and you have a childish response. very classy.

WHAT WRITTEN PROOF ??YOU GAVE ME A FISH IDENTAFACATION LISTING ?

[Bigtrout131]

Cat Fight!

I'm strictly a trout fisherman and don't like catching Pickeral, Perch or other junkfish. (Junkfish in my opinion only, some of them taste mighty good though).  But when i trout fish i will often catch fish that i don't desire.  I immediately release them back down the hole for someone else to catch.  
I must confess however, that a few times in my life i have fed the bald/golden eagles on the ice with some pickeral in Maine.  I also one time got really upset that one of my favorite Native Brookie streams in Maine produced a small mouth bass of all things and i gave it flying lessons to the woods.  There was no way that bass migrated there.  It was placed there by someone so i placed it onto dry land!  I was mad, but never caught another one in there Thank God!  Anyway, Except for the above instances I stick to the standard that if i'm not going to eat it, then i release it back to the water.

[thefinlessbrown2]

LET ME TELL YOU THIS FISH AND GAME CAN MANAGE THE SPECIES IN OUR WATERS THEY DON'T NEED YOU TO DO IT BY WASTING OUR RESOURCES ...

[NH R3DNECK]

Do capitol letters make you feel more of a man?

[thefinlessbrown2]

I CAN SEE YOUR GONNA LAST HERE 

[kgupats]

NH R3dneck he's just making a point relax and stop being such a d ick it is no sportsman like how would you feel if some one thought rainbows were a junk fish and just caught them and left them on the ice.  I dont eat trout other then lakers so to me rainbows are junk fish does that give me the right to just throw them on the ice like you throw perch on the ice.  Grow up

[timberdoodle]

Dear Nick,
 
The action that you have described is a fairly common practice within the ice fishing community.  I think you would find that if you returned the next day to the location that the fish would more often then not be gone.  Seagulls as well as other birds such as eagles and other wildlife will usually gobble up any "leftovers" on the ice.  I suppose we could argue that this practice is wasteful but in the scheme of things other wildlife benefits from the practice.  When we're talking about perch in particular there is no shortage of the species and as a matter of fact their tendency is to overpopulate bodies of water to the point that their growth is stunted.   However, there is an allowed limit of 25 perch per day...so the individual you've described would need to be adhering to this including any discarded fish.
 
If you have any further questions please feel free to contact me.
 
Sincerely,
 
Lt. Robert Bryant

Here is a response I got from fish and game last year. I still do not condone the practice due to the fact of other people who are out there using the lake that do not fish and WILL think it is wasteful and uneccessary. However back to the topic at hand. If they have the black specks that look like poppy seeds I dispose of them but if they have the white worms I just pick them out with my fillet knive and in the fryer they go. I am surprised at all the people that don't like to eat perch. Me and my family love them I keep the ones in the 8-10 inch range and think they are perfect to fillet and eat. Just my 2 cents...If I could ever get my pictures off my phone I'd post up some perch days.

[White Pine]

Guys, When I posted this last night my intent was looking for positive feedback on worms in perch. I am well aware of the daily limit ,we are also willing to clean our catch, and we will eat what we keep. I have been fishing in NH for over 55 years and lived here my entire life. My question was when we discovered the worms we felt they were now uneatable (these were definite parasites both in the gills and body cavity) We felt that it made more sense to feed the critters than returning them into the water. We also assumed that due to the worms that this made more sense. So again I ask what do you do with wormy perch??? PS: we did not start cleaning until we had limited out - our normal procedure.

[timberdoodle]

If they are the black, hard round parasites I dispose of the perch but if they are the white worms I pick them out with the tip of my fillet knive and in the fryer they go. If you are running into a lot of the black worms you can tell by looking at the fins when you first bring them out of the water..if you can see them there they are in the meat as well. Its not 100%, but it works pretty good.

[oldbuck]

Instead of leaving them on the ice why not take them home put them in the freezer and fertilize your garden in the spring. Or just dispose of them with your regular trash. When I leave the ice I leave it the way I found it, except for a few holes.

[White Pine]

OK good imput, unfortunately we did not have room in the freezer for that many whole perch, still not quit clear on are they ok to eat. Thesse fish were loaded with them.

[timberdoodle]

OK good imput, unfortunately we did not have room in the freezer for that many whole perch, still not quit clear on are they ok to eat. Thesse fish were loaded with them.

Were they the black or white worms?

[White Pine]

White about an1/8" long

[timberdoodle]

I have been eating perch with worms like that for years...I just pick them out with the tip of my knive...and I am sure I have missed a couple over the years. Here's a link...http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/volunteer/janfeb06/raw.html

[timberdoodle]

I think what you are talking about are the YELLOW GRUB's.

[Oldbear]

They say Heron's and other birds bring these parasites in on the feet.  Neither one will hurt you at all when cooked.  The white ones I flick out with a fillet knife and the wife never knows. The black ones look like pepper but by the time their battered and fried anyway.  Go ahead their safe to eat and nothing will be passed on to you.

[White Pine]

Good info, I tnink my time in Vietnam may cloud my outlook on parasites. Just never saw this many in the winter. Summertime is strictly c&r. 

[9huskies]

Guys, When I posted this last night my intent was looking for positive feedback on worms in perch. I am well aware of the daily limit ,we are also willing to clean our catch, and we will eat what we keep. I have been fishing in NH for over 55 years and lived here my entire life. My question was when we discovered the worms we felt they were now uneatable (these were definite parasites both in the gills and body cavity) We felt that it made more sense to feed the critters than returning them into the water. We also assumed that due to the worms that this made more sense. So again I ask what do you do with wormy perch??? PS: we did not start cleaning until we had limited out - our normal procedure.

The black hard parasites that I sometimes see in yellow perch are some type of snail larva.  They are spread by birds and any fish with those larva should not be left on the ice because any birds that eat those fish will spread them through their feces.  Those fish should be released alive or disposed of where no birds will eat them.  They are safe to eat after cooking but not very appetizing.  Any white worms are also harmless when cooked and are very common in many fish.  I remove any that I find and don't worry about those that I miss.