Spiny Water Flea / Yellow Perch Photos

[West Basin]

Been some talk about the invasive species Spiny Water Flea being the cause or part of the cause of the slow yellow perch fishing lately.

Would be nice to know if the perch are feeding on them all over the Lake. If you are out perch fishing check the stomachs of a few to see if they have any spiny water fleas. Don't forget to mention the location.

Yellow Perch full of spiny water fleas


Fleas from a Yellow Perch stomach.


Closeup of spiny water flea and size.


Hope this is of interest to a lot of you.

[Lucky Duck]

Thank you for those great photos. I was not sure what they looked like in the stomach. Great pictures!
Thanks,
Bruce

[Bggeary]

I don't remember seeing these things in the past, is this a recent development?

[Drdave]

Used to see these in lake Ontario when trolling for salmon. They would hang up on the line and slide down to the first piece of terminal gear. Would knock off quarter size globs of them. This was years ago but never seemed to stop us from catching fish. Could be the larger trout and salmon were not feeding on them.

[West Basin]

Photos are not mine. Top two are from another walleye.com member who isn't sure how to post photos. Third photo is off the Internet. If I has up there and had the opportunity, I'd take some nice ones myself.

[SWISSBOY]

Photos are not mine. Top two are from another walleye.com member who isn't sure how to post photos. Third photo is off the Internet. If I has up there and had the opportunity, I'd take some nice ones myself.

I know that last year we caught a lot of perch that were full of the fleas. I think it really hurts the bite. We will be back after them next week I will let you know what we find.