Yellow Perch - what's going on?

[hammerhead]

thousands of these worthless birds dont help.

YouTube

[Jameson46]

I agree with West Basin. In my opinion, The problem is related to these algae blooms. . I believe It has decimated the minnow population. . In years past, I can remember schools of minnows out from shore, even in areas of high algae concentration. But this crap is toxic. Very rare to see minnows now. The perch have adapted to a new food source.

[Fishfull thinking]

We have been having some sucess lately catching them . Got 55 of them friday near green can in catawba. Some jumbos but alot near the 8 inch size.

[Lucky Duck]

Thats the most good news I have heard in weeks!

[fishhawk2700]

Head boats and six pack charter boats are a good source for info on catch rates. This "crash" in catch rates is not so sudden. Michigan needs to reduce the daily limit to 25 fish, as do the rest of the Lake Erie states. In 40 years of fishing all over Michigan waters of the great lakes I've seen perch fisheries "crash", and in every instance it's been for a number of different reasons. The one constant has been inaction when the fishery is stressed. If things get better creel limits can always be increased

[fishhawk2700]

I know where those perch went.

[faithwalker]

thousands of these worthless birds dont help.

YouTube

there needs to be a hunting of the evasive bird they are a feeding machine.....they should be controlled.....I hear nothing on this matter much.....

[faithwalker]

I agree with the bloom problem but the evasive birds are not helping neither as they are eating fingerlings by the droves

[branhamautomotive]

Well there is no doubt that all those 19-22 walleye will eat there fair share of small perch as always

[bobd47fish]

No, you are good it needed to be said. Thanks.

worst year ever for catching yellow perch.
lots of theories: spiny water fleas, algae, commercial fishing excess, water temperature.
i vote for high water temperatures. with the lake wide surface temps in the 70’s, the perch are not coming into the mi waters of the western basin as usual this time of year. my records show thta i catch big perch when water temps hit 67.
with the highest june, july, august temperatures world wide ever recorded, it must play some role.
what do you folks say?
thanks.
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Offline Tory Gabriel, Ohio Sea Grant
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Re: yellow perch
« Reply #1 on: 09/27/19, 13:00 »
Hi BobD,

Sorry to hear about the yellow perch woes. Interesting that you've kept detailed records, sounds like a cool potential data source.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be one great answer. There are a lot of yellow perch out there, so that's even more frustrating that they are hard to catch. They are growing fast too, according to a blurb in this article, which means they are eating a lot of something. Of the issues you mentioned, the least likely to have an effect is the commercial fishing. It is highly regulated and dependent upon a high enough population size, so it's highly unlikely to be effecting the catchability of yellow perch. The other issues could very well all being playing roles, and maybe even compounding each other.

We do know that they eat spiny water fleas, and they seem to be eating them more in the fall than in the past. ODNR data from past years shows a shift to a more forage fish dominated diet in the fall, but they seem to still be focused on the invasive water fleas and other invertebrates in recent years. Those invasive water fleas aren't schooled up near the bottom, so if the yellow perch are trained in on them their behavior is going to be different. There have been reports of folks having success using wax worms instead of minnows, and targeting suspended fish instead of sinking the bait to the bottom. You can read one such report here, though I've heard that from multiple anglers going back to last year.

We're not exactly sure how the harmful algal blooms effect the bigger perch. In the central basin the dying algae contributes to the hypoxic "dead zone" that is low in oxygen, and drives the yellow perch away. Depending on currents, there can be small, intermittent hypoxic areas in the western basin as well, though they don't hang around all season like in the central basin.

Your water temperature question is a good one. One of our big uncertainties with climate change in Lake Erie is how the cool water species like walleye, yellow perch, smallmouth bass, etc. will respond as temperatures continue to warm. That said, when looking at the Stone Lab data buoy it appears this years water temperatures are in line with last years so far at this date. Last year did not record consistently under 70* F until the end of September, and it's right at 70* F now. With the cool evenings in the forecast, you should be able to find out pretty quick here if your 67* holds true this year.

Hopefully it does and you'll be filling your cooler soon!
Lo