Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations perch ??

Where is the best place to anchor branches for perch to lay their eggs on> )north, south, east, or west side) How deep below the water surface is too deep if at all?

My YP spawning branches are temporary with the base sections lying back on the bank and twigs in the water. Sometimes I need to lay thin cement or a brick on them to hold them down. I pull the branches 2-4 wks after the spawn. I also remove almost all the eggs to minimize chances of overpopulation - population control - management technique. Branch tips are rarely ever as deep as 3 ft in my pond. YP will spawn as deep as 8-12 ft. YP seem to prefer branches with finer twigs. I like dogwood or something similar. Finely divided branches will not last very long and rot up quickly if in the water continuously - life span is not more than 2-3 yrs and smaller twigs are gone.

YP are not consistant as to which shoreline they prefer for egg laying. Mine use mostly the east shore. IN other ponds it is north or west shores. Lay a couple branches on each shore and let the YP tell you which shore they prefer in your pond. Then put most of the branches on that shore in the future.

It would be cool to see pic's of your pond's and setup.

"I also remove almost all the eggs to minimize chances of overpopulation - population control - management technique" Bill, how do you decide which perch eggs to throw out and which to keep and let hatch. Is there a size correlation or is it just random selection? Also how many eggs sacks are too many to leave per acre? Are perch teratorial, how far apart do you place your branch structures.

Just a note...I do not have to worry about YP overpopulation given my predator species and density. My BCP, Adult YP, SMB, and HSB keep the population controlled - even too much for my liking. Egg strand removal may be necessary depending on your fishery balance. I think Bill has some ponds dedicated solely to YP or other panfish and has to be careful regarding overpopulation and that's one method he developed for egg strand control. Ingenius design IMO. Never thought of collecting then removing strands by using branches. Golden advice.

Answers to questions below:

Keep in mind that answers to the questions will depend on the goals for the fishery, habitat types, current population structure, and predators present.
1. ..""how do you decide which perch eggs to throw out and which to keep and let hatch""? Generally I remove all eggs that I find. When I remove all eggs there have always been some I missed, such as those laid deeper. One strand will provide enough fish for a 1 ac pond - depending. Depending is based on how much predaton will occur from fry to an 8" YP. Plus how many new YP are needed to feed preators and you. Personally I would not care if the YP did not have any recruitment. No recruitment gives me more population control so if I harvest 50 each year I will add 50-60 new hand picked premium pellet trained fish. Generally the more crowded the fish become in a pond the slower they tend to grow. Even too many forage fish can cause water quality issues for forage and the predators.

2. ""Is there a size correlation or is it just random selection?"" When I choose to leave specific strands in for hatching it is generally the first or two strands laid.

3.""Also how many eggs sacks are too many to leave per acre?"" this will depend on predation of the eggs, fry through harvestable fish. When I see that few YOY YP survived the spring hatch then I may leave one extra eggg strand the nest spring. My water is always clear so I get high hatch rate of all egg strands. Again I would not care if I get no survival from eggs. I don't have lots of predators that rely on YOY perch as a food source. Amount of weed growth will affect fry survival and dense weeds can easily lead to an overpoplation of a relatively few hatched fish. Lack of zooplankton at hatching will also limit fry survival. Competition slows growth of resulting crowded fingerlings. Slower growing fingerlings stay smaller and become easy prey for older perch or young predators. Some are reporting that bullfrog tadpoles will eat YP eggs. I have seen what appears to be evidence of BF tadpole predation. YP do not eat bullfrog tadpoles thus they can become very abundant in ponds dominated by YP.

4. ""Are perch teratorial, how far apart do you place your branch structures?"" Eggs are laid and abandonded. I place branches 2-3ft apart.

I try to keep as many YP on pellets as much as possible in my pond thus minnows are not heavily preyed upon compared to a pond with YP surviving on primalily fish. With good weedcover I have lots of minnows that I hand feed to monitor their density and composition especially their prespawn composition and numbers to verify that I still have good brood stock for the new spawning season that starts mid-May and ends late August. Minnows are primarily supplimental forage for the YP not on pellets and during winter when regular pellet feeding has stopped. With natural recruitment there will always be some adult YP that do not train to pellets. I will feed some hydrated pellets during ice cover on slow activity days. Often I will just go out and feed pellets instead of ice fishing. I use a depth finder to watch fish activiy to make sure pellets are being eaten.