I'm in Northern Ohio, and I haven't seen any signs of perch spawning yet. It should be in the 60's in a few days, so I'm hoping for some action.

Anyone else seen any spawning?

In Northern California we are 20 degrees below average temp. and haveonly had 3 days without rain all month. Hence no spawning,no fishing,no fun...Hope your season starts soon, this is depressing.

I've got three egg ribbons in the water. However we've caught and moved 55 mature females that hadn't spawned yet.

Bill Cody is Northern Ahia's YP expert. You got your ears on, Bill?

In nearby NE Indiana, Cecil Baird has reported seeing some YP eggs in a small pond (that probably warms up fairly fast?). Ahh, I see he has reported directly.

I have had yellow perch eggs since Saturday Mar 25. The first strand may have been laid Mar 24. Currently I have 10 egg strands. Another local pond with just females and another pond with mixed perch do not have any reported eggs as of today. My water temperature at 3 ft is ranging from 45 to 47 depending on the amount of sunshine and wind. My first egg srand were from smaller perch probably 8"-9". Larger strands from 12"-14" fish did not appear until Tuesday Mar 28.

Bill , i put in some perch 2 years ago this spring. they were around 3" to 4" , we have caught some last fall about 8" , are these big enough to spawn? where should i look for spawning activity and where do they put their eggs. what do the strands look like. frogs eggs? thank you

I have one more egg strand in the water in the big pond. However it's entirely possible there may be some in deeper water as I have some cutoff dead cattail stocks there that I cannot readily inspect.

Water is moving up in temp now, and I fed a large hungry group of largemouth off the pier softened pellets. I think I will terminate the perch fishing, and give the bass a break as we catch and release a lot of them to catch the perch. Looks like 55 perch will have to do the job in the new pond. I can always add more icefishing if I don't drain the big pond this fall.

I'm trying to get the perch in their new pond to feed on the soft pellets squeezed to make them sink as per the master Bill Cody. I saw 5 in a group today but they were very skiddish. Wow what a sight to see large perch swimming by with those big black bars!

Cecil, it's funny that in your last posted picture of a huge YP, it's two middle black vertical bars were at what almost seems like 45 degree angles.

Makes me feel a little better about my gut.

Yesterdays pond cruise revealed a massive egg drop! All of my christmas trees are covered with eggs. From one or two to lots in 24 hours.

Well if it makes you feel any better I had the local paper out to interview me and take pics regarding my taxidermy business. One pic is of me standing over one of my students. At first I was going to get 4 papers at the local drug store. Once I saw the pic of me with my gut hanging out I put two back. 2 for my student and none for me! Damn I gotta start working out! At least the wife was a sweetheart and said, "That doesn't look like you!"

BTW why is it we like overweight fish and fish with big pot bellies but not people?

At least the wife was a sweetheart and said, "That doesn't look like you!"

I know what you mean.

I've got to have a talk with my Dad. Lately it seems like every time there's a picture taken of me, he sneaks into it somehow and ruins it!

Ken - your perch are old enough to spawn this spring. Look for egg strands in shallow water. Strands from 8" perch will be about 1"-1.25" in diameter and 2.5-3ft long. The strands appear creamish-white translcent and sometimes will be in a pile or mass if they are not strung out and laid on top of brush or among the stems of last years emergent vegetation. It is too early for frogs in Ohio to be laying eggs. First "frogs" in OH to lay eggs are toads. Toad eggs are single strings of eggs with individual black dots (single egg) dispersed inside each individual strand of eggs. Toads start trilling and begin laying as soon as the perch are basically done laying eggs at about water surface temps of 58-60F.

Cecil (kinda) complains:
I've found great success with the Runza diet. If that doesn't work, paint on a couple of vertical bars and hang out at the beach.
:p

Nothing up here in Upstate NY as of yet. My YP are also 2 + years old and don't see any eggs yet. I keep looking around the edge to see if there are any sacks. Everything in the pond seems to be active now and all the frogs are out of their winter hiding spots. Just wish I would see some activity from the YP or the SMB. ahhh well maybe a few warmer days will help things off a bit.

In the mean time I did find I have a new species that made its way into the pond - in the vein of this being a perch discussion, I now have log perch in the pond (Percina caprodes) Interesting little guys. Not many there that I see but still fun to see them. One was even about 6.5 inches long. Good size for a log perch.

Stay tuned!

Strike that last post about them not spawning yet. I just got back in and found tons of eggs in many spots hidden from my normal view. Looks like the first spawning for the YP Yaaaahhhooooo!

Great news. Spawning time is a wonderful time of year to be around the pond to watch the renewal of life unfold.

Eric,

About the smallmouth. Although they are considered coolwater fish I had the fish farmer that sold me my last batch tell me they are the first to go off feed in the fall, and the last to start feeding in the spring. That makes sense as of all the largemouth bass we have released fishing for perch (up to 100) only two smallmouth bass have been caught. Although I have had some mortalities of predominately smallmouth bass this winter, I still think there are a good number left.

I am sure they are out there. Just want to see them play a little. I have seen a few unexplained circles and movement that I can't say are due to the frogs and am guessing that they must be the bass.

I have found the one thing about my pond that is not the best is that I drop off straight down to 5 ft then straight off to 14 ft deep and as such it leaves little visability for some of my fish I would like to see.

I am still enjoying seeing the still tons of minnows and now the new log perchs. I am glad I went the way of waiting to make sure the eco system built up gradually and each group had time to establish!! Best advice from the form here. Hardest to let happen but best advice.

Eric, Consider removing some of the eggs. Typically in a small pond you do not want all of them to remain and hatch. You can easily and quickly become overrun will small perch. Unless you have bass predators to prey heavily on the small perch. I remove all egg strands that I can find. The hatch from one egg strand can produce several thousand small perch.

Thanks Bill. I do have about 20 - 25 SMB in the range of 6 - 10 inches. I also know there is one or two trout in the pond from an upstream pond ( they came through the seasonal creek )

Silly question here, out of the strings of eggs I do see, I assume that there are many more that I wouldn't see? Most of the eggs I see are on top of the grass and very close to the edge. If I have the water level go down at all they will be on dry land or on dry grass. I am trying to figure out how the perch put them up so far on the grass. I know that the grass is floating out from the edge and I believe they laid them under the grass and they have floated up a bit with the wind and wave movement.

I have not yet done any fishing in the pond since I started stocking it almost 3 years ago. I did not know, except seeing some fish that the heron left behind, if any perch were still around.

I have been fortunate and have not had any fish kills. I think the seasonal creek running most of the winter has helped with that. That being said, just seeing the eggs and knowing that the eco system is still working well makes me very happy.

Went to a fish farm that produces YP today and the sides of the ponds were littered with egg strands. The manager said that he had cleaned a few that were around the previous evening, so they were all new.

Eric,

Concerning the 5 ft dropoff in your pond, if you had a "do-over", what depth would you have made it?

Eric, If you want to be sure some of the eggs hatch put some tree branches along the shore in 1-2 ft of water and lace the egg strands among the branches and twigs. Eggs will hatch in 8-14 days. If zooplankton densities are good, lots of fry will survive.

No parental care for YP, Bill?

Just courious what city are you in in Northeast Ohio?