oh where !oh where! did all our perch go!!

[richard nogin]

maybe in the freezer of all the overbagging commercial nets.. makes sense to me !

[bountyhunters]

about a 98% chance your right.

[GR]

"perchatory"

it ain't heaven , it ain't #### - but it's definitely out of sight

[COOLERKING]

Only perch fished maybe 4 times last year?, due to the
walleye being so strong in Erie! Limited 3 out of 4, but
was an "all day event", like they were not schooled up??
Lorain used to be a sure bet for jumbos from Aug till Ice
5-6 years ago, not uncommon to keep 10" and up, actually
got a 14 1/2 perch in 2001 that went on the wall! Commercial
nets finally got so thick, we would go to Avon, then Cleveland!
As we moved, or the (perch), the commmercial netting would
always follow! Kinda makes ya sick! Come Sept, Oct, wouldnt
you think they would have met their "quota"?? On another note
is it possible with the walleye being so strong, they are feeding
on the perch so heavy, as to diminish the numbers??? Saw that posted
on another site, not so sure im buying into that one!

Jack

COOLERKING on 79

[Hombre Robusto]

I'm sure the commercial nets taking 80 tons over their limit has something to do with it, but what about the fishermen? Every time I go up, I see boats all around me throwing undersized (to them, I guess) perch to the sea gulls. I see them throwing perch after perch to these 12 pound sea gulls, and keeping maybe every fourth or fifth fish. It sure seems like a waste of a resource to me. I keep what I catch. If I catch a 5,6, or seven inch perch, it goes in the box. I've never heard anyone say "these perch taste small" at any of my fish frys.

[Baron Magnum]

The way I understand it is that perch populations go in cycles because of the fact that female perch grow three times faster than the males. So when you go out and target the big perch you are keeping mostly females. So on a peak population year you see alot of anglers catching limits of 12"+ perch, they are taking alot of females out of the population so it takes another 3 to 4 years for the smaller females to grow and have another great year. This is true for most species of fish.

[pepe]

hey baron, i just saw that on north american fisherman show. it has some merit. hey hombre, (gee i like saying that) when my cousin and i tried to fish for perch near vermilion ohio all the perch and perch fishermen were out in deep water. we caught a few small perch and threw them back because they were too small. their bladders popped out and they could not go down so the seagles got them and we quit fishing them. i still believe the netters are the biggest reason for the shortage of perch. they take more female perch then all of the perch fishermen can catch...pepe

[WalleyeSteve]

I'm sure MDNR will follow suit. The late winter and ice fish'n bite was great around the downriver area, lots of limits and some good #'s of large fish. One of my perch spots was loaded with 12 in black carp, big gold fish too. I would bet the carp were feeding on the perch eggs, so much for that spot in a few years. I saw a salt water show and the guide had a syringe for bleeding off the air blater. I don't feed sea rats perch, maybee a sheaphead. I'll fillet a 5 1/2 in perch , they won't taste small to me either!

[Paulywog12lb 8oz.]

D can was wide open early fall, cleveland was good in nov and dec, last year wide open s. side of sand bar.

Size wasn't great but I'll say it wasn't a bad perch season.

Up tight to the rocks in the fall is where I've got some 10s and 12s esp. in C town.




It wasn't all that bad for me, but I didn't do that much perchin since the eyes were so good.

5 years ago off Rocky River were all jumbos. Average fish was 10 in. with lots of 12 and 13 inch double headers.

What a blast that was.










Try off Lakeside and marblehead in 25-35 ft. in about 2 or 3 weeks.

[Footdoc 1]

I believe it is the commercial netters. Here on southern Lake Michigan, the yellow perch are making a hugh come back after several years of NO commercial netters allowed in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois or Wisconsin. The perch are getting more plentiful. Another reason for the perch proliferation is that guys like vetspet are trying to catch them. We all understand his limited abilities when it comes to fishing! Happy Easter

[jerky]

I'm not a scientist, but don't we have to conclude that the 2003 walleye class in all of it's glory had to consum a lot of perch. They eat the perches food and yes they eat a lot of perch.
Just a thought, I don't like the nets even so.

[perchbagger]

Leave it to our sorry #### DNR. They thought we had great numbers of perch to allow us to get 40 for what, 1 measly season sound's like a few years back when they got so stipid and let us get 10 walleyes a day. It sure didn't take them long to move it back to 4. And now they are letting some deer hunters take 6 deer in some county's sounds like they need drug tested.

[Buckeye]

Anytime there is ANY bag limit change, you can always count on some WCers to turn into Lund-console based biologists and complain about how stupid or wrong the changes are, or dispute the science that goes into those recommendations. The funniest part is most base their arguments on little more more than their personal opinion of how successful (or not) they were last year on the water.

The DNR sets the regs based on the advice of the researchers within their own agency and others like Sea Grant, MNR, PA's fisheries people, etc. as well as other professionals.

I'd much rather put the future of the lake with them than to let those decisions come from popular opinions of the weekend warriors.

[bob oh]

I would agree Buckeye. The state agencies especially are influenced by politics, but overall they are our best resource.

rod bender bob

[Tim FRick]

Comments like perchbaggers sure show ones IQ. If you just did a little investigating or ask questions you would not be saying these things. These guys are dedicated fishermen just like you and me. They want to protect the resources as much as we do. Be thankful they make these changes in a timely manner instead waiting till the resource is totally depleted.

To give you some insight on your statements:
"They thought we had great numbers of perch to allow us to get 40 for what, 1 measly season sound's like a few years back when they got so stipid and let us get 10 walleyes a day. It sure didn't take them long to move it back to 4."

I'm sure the fact that the netters sand bagged their numbers had something to do with changing the limit. And going from 40 to 30 perch a day is a drop in the bucket. If you can't get enough meat with 30 perch than your keeping too many small perch.

For the walleye, the ODNR raised the limit to 10 because we were never getting our quote in the first place. When the walleye population was on the decline they dropped it to 4 because they wanted to put more pressure on the other stake holders in the fishery to reduce their limits. Remember the netters up north always get their quote.

Lake Erie is still one of the most productive lakes in the world. To bash these guys for doing their job is like bashing the forest rangers for forest fires. There are a lot of factors that go into a huge fishery like Erie. If you think you can do a better job than give your opinion on the Ohio Sea Grant forum. If not than sit back and go fishing.

Good Luck!!
Tim FRick

[pepe]

hear, hear. well said tim. and anytime you would like, i would be willing to trade lake michigan for lake erie. we in indiana are alowed 15 perch per day. its been like that for several years now...pepe

[ETT]

With the 03 walleyes being the size they are, is it any wonder the perch numbers are declining. Not rocket science.

[Johnnyg]

I hear that ETT
Full size stinger spoons in Perch and other gold colors was hot last year around the perch pack last August.

I can only believe those 03's were just eating up those little perch.

[pepe]

dont forget those cormorants. i think that you guys did a great job of thinning them out last year. how much did someone say that they consume...pepe