90% of the ones I saw caught last year were about half the size of the one in the pic. Not even enough for a fish stick! I know the little ones were hanging out in the shallow weeds last summer. Where do the big ones live in the summer?
You're right, Dan. I remember seeing someone catch one off of the dock near the main boat ramp at Lake Shawnee about 12 years ago. I fish that lake quite a bit, but that was the only yellow perch I've seen out of there.
90% of the ones I saw caught last year were about half the size of the one in the pic. Not even enough for a fish stick! I know the little ones were hanging out in the shallow weeds last summer. Where do the big ones live in the summer?
I am just pullin' your leg.:D
Sand, my son and his buddy catch quite a few of them in the coves during the summer, his buddy's dad calls them rock bass(wrong family). When I used to fish there alot we would catch them on the old brush in the camping coves. I need to start fishing over there more often!
Scotty and CaptainT,
There are a number of reasons why yellow perch are not more widely stocked in Kansas public fishing waters. First off, we are on the extreme southern edge of the range of yellow perch and the established populations of these fish have never amounted to much of anything. Although they can persist over time, the populations in these lakes that currently hold yellow perch don't offer a quality fishing experience to anglers as most individuals are small in size and density is low. A yellow perch stocking program would place unneeded competition on more popular fish species such as crappie in Kansas impoundments and there is the potential for negative impacts to the more popular species. I've never heard funding as a reason why to not stock yellow perch more widely in Kansas as it is usually 'biological reasons' that tip the scale in favor of not stocking. Historical stockings produced less than stellar results and interest in additional stockings dropped off.
If you are looking for a quality yellow perch trip, you'll be best heading north!
Cool pic, Craig! I'm thinking I may just need to see if I can sweet talk Andy into getting me into some up his way.
I go to wisconsin and fish lake michigan and inland lakes. We catch alot of nice size perch they are as much fun as crappie.
Craig,
There are yellow perch in Alabama. A friend of mine is a retired Alabama DNR biologist and he regularly catches them in Thurlow (not far from Montgomery). Also, check out this link:
Yellow Perch in Alabama
Pete
BTW, Thurlow (that I mentioned above) is downstream of Lake Martin - the lake that is mentioned on the site above. I used to fish Thurlow when I was a grad student at Auburn. There are some HUGE shellcracker there.
Pete