Pond Boss
Posted By: DonoBBD Yellow perch fingerlings? - 10/03/14 11:08 AM
Yellow perch spawned this year should be how big? We're in Ontario Canada.

Last year we had seen some eggs but this year we didn't physically see any this year. In our pond I want to make sure they are re populating before we add any walleye.

We do have millions and millions of minnows but they all seem to be emerald shiners, common shiners, and fat heads. We have not been able to trap anything more than them and crayfish in our traps.

Beginning to think we have not had much luck with perch spawning just yet. Maybe plankton blooms are just not there at the right time.

I just think we should be able to catch young perch in the minnow traps right now.

Perch have been in the pond for three full years now pellet trained,
5-6" three years ago 11-12" now,
400 in one acre,
very deep pond with aeration,
no fatality's other than the ones we have chosen to eat, 22 eaten.
10-15% wooded brush structure, lily pads,
Rip rap shore all around the pond.

Cheers Don.
Posted By: Bill Cody Re: Yellow perch fingerlings? - 10/03/14 01:29 PM
Your 2014 year class of yellow perch in Ontario should be 2" to 4" long with maybe a few at 5". It is very possible that the high density of shiners (not FHM) are eating most if not all the YP fry as soon as the fry are at swim up or free swimming stage, thus little if no recruitment. This can be a pro or con. I see it as an advantage. With no recruitment you will have mostly pellet fed perch that grow at optimum rates for a quick turn around stock to harvest each year. Pellet trained YP stockers are relatively inexpensive compared to the time and effort required to manage a lot of small overpopulated perch that may not be eating pellets and slower growing. Harvest 100 restock 100. If you want a few walleye stock some and they will primarily survive and grow on the abundant minnow/shiner forage. Adjust walleye density based on the minnow population density.
Posted By: DonoBBD Re: Yellow perch fingerlings? - 10/03/14 05:14 PM
Thanks Bill, I had a feeling about the shiner possibly eating the perch fry. The very odd thing this year was after the first week of June the perch stopped eating the pellets. Just the minnows showed up to the feeder. Maybe next year we will use floating feed to really see if they are eating the pellets.

Any we did harvest all had minnows, snails, and cray fish in them. One of the 20 or so we took had a pellet in it.

Cheers Don.
Posted By: Bill Cody Re: Yellow perch fingerlings? - 10/03/14 06:18 PM
Try and switch to the floating feed if you water has low visibility of 2-2.5 ft. It allows you to better monitor fish size and relative abundance. If you have been always feeding sinking feed and YP were not trained on floating feed the YP may not readily accept floating feed. Maybe first try a small 5-10 lb sample of floating feed to see if the YP will eat it before buying 50lbs.
Posted By: esshup Re: Yellow perch fingerlings? - 10/03/14 07:41 PM
Bill, when I throw out AM600, I notice a few pellets sinking almost right away. Have you noticed that too? (dry - as it comes from the bag)

I wonder if that helps the bottom oriented YP know the food is there on the surface?
Posted By: Bill Cody Re: Yellow perch fingerlings? - 10/04/14 01:02 AM
A few AM pellets may not have enough air in them for the pellet to float thus a few will sink, but this will vary depending on each production batch of pellets. There is IMO an unacceptable amount of variation among the AM batches of pellets.
Posted By: esshup Re: Yellow perch fingerlings? - 10/04/14 03:57 AM
Originally Posted By: Bill Cody
A few AM pellets may not have enough air in them for the pellet to float thus a few will sink, but this will vary depending on each production batch of pellets. There is IMO an unacceptable amount of variation among the AM batches of pellets.


There you go bringing up the air in the pellet thing again! wink laugh

For what it's worth, that is what I think too.
Posted By: DonoBBD Re: Yellow perch fingerlings? - 10/04/14 12:02 PM
Last year we had more floating pellets then sinking and they stayed on the feed longer but hot mid summer the perch were gone. This summer it was not quite as hot but we used more sinking feed with higher fat content and the fish have totally disappeared. Like they are not even there.

The next time we clean some up I will take some pictures of their fat content. It to me is quite high and may explain their lack of feeding. They just don't need to.

Cheers Don.
Posted By: Bill Cody Re: Yellow perch fingerlings? - 10/04/14 03:46 PM
Don - Great idea of taking pictures of the fat in the fish you clean. Try to see if you can get a picture of their livers to show color and consistency. Info will be very helpful. We can start to do some comparisons with food brands.
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