Interesting article

[Cap'nkirk]

Found this article interesting, might explain why the perch are harder to catch..

ODOW surveys show record walleye hatch again: NE Ohio fishing report

The Ohio Division of Wildlife reports an unprecedented fifth straight year of record hatches of walleye around Lake Erie.

www.cleveland.com

 

[DST]

It would suggest that the perch are no longer a near bottom feeding fish in the summer.

Icing perch that have been dining on the spiny water flea • Outdoor Canada

Spiny water fleas have invaded my home waters of Lake of the Woods. Here's how they've impacted yellow perch

www.outdoorcanada.ca

Good old days of perch fishing might not be finished - Outdoornews

Anglers reporting limits of "yellow gold” in Erie’s Western Basin.

www.outdoornews.com

 

[G.Mech]

Just adding to the perch post, here's a chart from a Michigan biologist. He tells me growth for Erie perch will be a bit quicker but it's still close.

 

[spearfisher]

I caught some 15+" perch earlier this fall and they were 7 and 8 yrs old. My wife aged them, she ran an ageing lab for yrs. We caught alot of large perch this fall in Eastern l erie and a high % were males. I was a little susurprised I thought they would all be females.

 

[spearfisher]

 

[Truck26]

Not to burst your bubble, that’s a nice perch but 15” is a stretch…

 

[Derkd9]

Not to burst your bubble, that’s a nice perch but 15” is a stretch…

Tail starts at 1” so that’s a 14” at best

 

[Dmanwithnoname]

Who cares what he tells the wife we all know the truth lol. J/k nice catch

 

[Dmanwithnoname]

Just adding to the perch post, here's a chart from a Michigan biologist. He tells me growth for Erie perch will be a bit quicker but it's still close.

View attachment 69236

Hey GMech isn’t there a migration pattern out of st Clair into the lake similar than walleye? I have always thought the perch seem to be on the same pattern only 2-4 weeks ahead of the walleye.

 

[G.Mech]

Hey GMech isn’t there a migration pattern out of st Clair into the lake similar than walleye? I have always thought the perch seem to be on the same pattern only 2-4 weeks ahead of the walleye.

I don't really think perch migrate long distances but could be wrong....let me check into it.

 

[G.Mech]

Hey GMech isn’t there a migration pattern out of st Clair into the lake similar than walleye? I have always thought the perch seem to be on the same pattern only 2-4 weeks ahead of the walleye.

Here's the response from the MDNR biologist Andrew Briggs:

 

[spearfisher]

Heres the big one. Knife is 13inches.



Perch Dont migrate like walleye, they will move miles but not 10s or hundreds of miles. Perch move around and in/out of lpb but not too far.

 

[spearfisher]

These fish were from Eastern l erie this fall. Had a month plus of great perch fishing in oct nov

 

[Dmanwithnoname]

Here's the response from the MDNR biologist Andrew Briggs:

View attachment 69242

I think they move quite a bit more than we think, at least the larger fish schools. I’ve seen them threw the ice on st Clair schooled up with small groups of walleye. Seen it over a dozen times over the years.

 

[G.Mech]

I think they move quite a bit more than we think, at least the larger fish schools. I’ve seen them threw the ice on st Clair schooled up with small groups of walleye. Seen it over a dozen times over the years.

For sure the perch move around within a large area but the general consensus is that they don't migrate hundreds of miles like many of the walleye & musky do each season. The telemetry results from MDNR will be interesting to see if that's true or not.