Calling all perch experts...

Dr. Google has not produced any answers and I don't recall seeing anything on the board about this topic.

I noticed the other day, my pond perch seem to be less vibrantly colored than those pulled from the bottom of Lake Erie. By this I mean mostly the vertical bars do not appear to be as dark of a black and appear to fade quicker. First glance maybe look a bit more like a SMB than a YP.

Wondering if anyone else has noticed something like this? Or had any input on this coloration or lack of coloration?

Could it be diet? Amount of sunlight?

They fight hard, relative weights seem just fine and I am feeding Purina 2x day. The fish that I mention seem to be caught around the feeder area so I am assuming they are the feed-trained YP that I purchased as fingerlings and not those that have been spawned in my pond.

Any ideas? Just wondering if this is "normal".

Here's a few I caught this morning in my Missouri pond. These had been out of the water for a fairly long time, when pictured. Not sure how these compare to more of a "wild" perch.

Yes sr I see it all the time. The darker ones spend more time in the sun than the lighter ones. I will see if I can find some pictures of the lighter color ones.

Lately we are catching the lighter color ones more than the darker.

Cheers Don.

What is the water clarity? Water clarity often has a big effect on the intensity of coloration on fish. Turbid, murky water with visibilities of 12"-20" sometimes 24"-28" usually results in light colored fish.

Setterguy, the fish I mention are much more faded/muted/lighter than the ones in your picture. Is that a dog hiding under your fish table?

Don - I'd love to see some pictures of the lighter ones you refer to!

Bill - I have had turbid muddyish water for a couple years due to construction and waiting on vegetation growth of my runoff and surrounding areas.

It has cleared somewhat recently but I am also using aquashade so visibility is pretty low, I will test actual visibility tonight and report back.

Just waiting on my google drive. I have a few pictures on my phone I can show you.

Yep, a little Drathaar (German Wirehair Pointer). He's about 11 weeks now. A terror around the pond. He tackled every YP I caught this weekend. (24). The trash on the end of his nose, is probably part of a houseplant he was eating..