Yellow perch

[el_carpo]

My brother and I got out to the lake front here in Chicago for a few hours. We tried for perch and had some luck. Here are two photos. We caught around thirty of them in total but only kept twenty. This first one has two smaller ones but you can see some of the skyline.

[el_carpo]

This second one has a couple of the larger ones we caught. The fish were dead and were cleaned just seconds after the photo was taken. That's why I am holding them by their mouths. I don't do that normally because it's not good for the fish. So don't get mad please. ;)

[el_carpo]

There is a funny story to go with the first photo. I'm trying my best not to laugh. A very loud woman did something very stupid on a jet ski right where some very loud fishermen were fishing. The results were hilarious (once I found out she wasn't decapitated by the fishing line that is). Lots of screaming and "F-bombs" being dropped by all involved. It happened about thirty or forty feet away from us. A little courtesy goes a long way. Yikes! Calm down people! ;D

We used all sorts of baits and lures to catch them. Soft plastics (tube jigs and twister tail grubs), maribou jigs, fish belly meat strips, Yo-Zuri Pin's Minnows, and on and on. Most of the fishermen there were using "fathead minnows" with great success.

They look a lot like the redfin perch that you guys catch. What do you folks use for them? Maybe I can find a new super-secret wonder bait/lure to use here?

That's it for now. Thanks!

[el_carpo]

:o :o :o HOLY COW!!!

My brothers just got back from a trip and showed me their catch for today. They did great! My younger brother, Mike caught what for us is the biggest perch we've ever caught and seen. It measured 15 inches!!! Now that's a jumbo! I have a couple of pictures to show. The first one shows the big one compared to an average perch.

[el_carpo]

This second one shows the big one next to what we used to consider big.

[el_carpo]

;D I'm so jealous right now! ;D I wasn't able to go today due to a foot injury. Blast it!!!

They caught most of the fish using 1 1/2 inch red and white tube jigs (soft plastics). Fished low and slow. I'm really happy for them, particularly Mike but ARGGGHHH!!! I wish I was there! ;D That's a fish of a lifetime (so far ;)).

I thought you might get a kick out of seeing some of the fish we drive ourselves to near madness for here. ;D

All for now. 'Til next time.

E.C.

[Scott15]

interesting fish mate. how do they go eating? well done

[el_carpo]

Hi Scott15,

The yellow perch is probably the tastiest freshwater fish in the U.S. The only other fish I've had that tasted about as good would have to be the "walleye." They have really flakey white meat and don't have the heavy fish oil flavor that some species have. They are VERY popular for their taste and are fun to catch as well. Definately one of my top picks of fish to chase here. Fun to catch too!

E.C.

[tetra]

Good on you.

[Nugget]

We don't get that exact fish here in Oz.
My guess is that your fish are Perca flavescens - a close relative of our redfin or Perca fluviatilis.
You might benefit from info related to our species at:
http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/fishfacts/fish/pfluviat.htm

I'm pretty sure they have been recorded to 50cm.
Interesting to see the species you catch over there - thanks for sharing them with us.

Dave ><>

[el_carpo]

Thanks for the link Nugget. That's them, Perca flavescens. The season on them was closed in July here on Lake Michigan so I haven't been able to target them for quite a while. Hopefully, I'll get to go for them soon. If I do, I'll post the results. This whole summer has been frustrating. My schedule and the weather have joined in an unholy alliance bent on keeping me from fishing. We're in a drought (though it's looking like rain out the window right now--I hope) and the temps have been really high. Not my cup of tea to be out fishing and frying so my time on the water has been very limited :-/. The last time out (since May, I think :o) was that trip where I caught those small carp (in the "Little carp" thread). Hopefully, things will change for the second half of summer and into autumn. If I catch anything, I'll post the pics for sure. Thanks again for the link.

E.C.

[cHiCo]

How do you eat them??? The fillets must be tiny

[el_carpo]

You don't fillet them. We just cut off the head, remove the innards, the skin and fins, cover in your favorite breading and fry. It's very easy to avoid the bones. You just run your fork along the spine from the tail up until you hit the ribs and lift the meat right off.

I have filleted them in the past and got laughed at pretty good by experienced perch fishermen. ;D

I did fillet that big one my brother caught though. :)

Really good stuff.

E.C.

[flickflack]

Sounds like you guys are having a bit of fun with the lures , not a bad background in that first pic.Those slugos in 6 and 8 inch work well for flathead as well.
Rod

[Swiss-Fish]

Here is my better half with a decent sized yellow perch from Lake Geneva in Switzerland. This one was coaugt with a one inch Chartreuse Mr twister our pesonal favorite method fished on super light tacke.

A popoular local method of cathing these here is with what you call Sabaki rigs I think like what you use for bait fish in the sea! The ones with 5 small half inch coloured tubes seem to work best.

[el_carpo]

Nice fish and thanks for the tips Swiss-fish.

[Slates]

G'day guys.
Redfin perch are pretty flat out down in Victoria and yeah, (nugget) they do exceed 50cm.
I've caught what I thought was a very small redfin (10 inches/25cm or so) in Canada years ago and tossed it back much to the dismay of nearby perch fishos. ;D

Here's a few pics of some nice redfin from Vic.

Cheers, NS
This one is of my long suffering wife with a reddie of 1.3kg and about 46cm

[Slates]

This one was caught in Rocklands resi when it had water in it by a mate. It was 51cm, but only 1.3 kg - skinny..!

[Slates]

This is one I caught fishing deep with a wet fly.
They love just about anything that moves so lures are great with them.

Best seem to be bright and minnow profiles like Rapala CD5, CD3 etc and locally made stuff.

They love single tailed soft plastics too!

[el_carpo]

WOW!!!!! Those redfin get BIG! I'll bet they are great fun to catch too! Thanks for the pics Slates.

[Slates]

No drama mate
Those are amongst the biggest one's I've caught or witnessed, but I have seen one mounted that was 11 pounds and another of 9 pounds.

In the 70's, Lake Toolondo (now dry) was famous for them and I have seen pictures of blokes holding up literally tonnes of them averaging 9 pounds (4.1kg approx)

There was a story of one being caught at 23 lb, but I've never seen a pic and you'd reckon if you got one this big there'd be a few pics of it.

2kg (4 lb) fish are not that uncommon, but I've never broken 2kg ::)

They're great fun to catch on lures alright!

More often they are caught from 400g - 1kg (1 lb to 2 lb) and sometimes they can be in plague proportions under 400g.

Very nice on the plate too! :P

[speckly]

nice work mate what did you use to catch the perch and what size limit do they have on them

cheers
speckly :o

[Slates]

G'day Speckly.
I've caught most of them on lures such as Rapala minnows and some locally made minnow imitations. They also, of course, love live minnow, yabbies and just about anything else.

There are no size or bag limits on them because they are an introduced species.

Cheers, NS