Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Monster Perch at buybass.com

I was cruising the forum when I found the link to Schultz's Fish Hatchery, buybass.com. I followed the link out of curiosity and was shocked to see the following statements:

"Our yellow perch have proven to be quite remarkable, growing to 7 inches in length in 6 months."

"Because this is our new breed of yellow perch we do not yet know its maximum growth, however there are indications that it will grow to over 20 inches."

20" would truly be a Jumbo yellow Perch! Has anyone ever tried these before?

Here's the link:

http://www.buybass.com/yellow_perch.html

...and here's the quote.


Our yellow perch have proven to be quite remarkable, growing to 7 inches in length in 6 months. Normally a hatchery will grow yellow perch to an average size of 4 to 5 inches in one season and this is considered excellent. Schultz's hatchery is redefining the standard of length to be considered excellent growth for yellow perch. We do not attribute this fast growth to the way we raise our yellow perch. Instead, we attribute this fast growth to the genetics of our yellow perch. Part of the genetic makeup of our yellow perch comes from the same waters where the largest yellow perch in the world was caught. Because this is our new breed of yellow perch we do not yet know its maximum growth, however there are indications that it will grow to over 20 inches.

Yellow perch can be stocked in the spring or fall. Usually the smaller sizes are available late spring/early summer. And of course larger yellow perch are available in the late fall. We would suggest stocking larger size yellow perch in the fall (6 to 8 inches), these would then be well acclimated to the water and ready to spawn the following spring. So, if you want to build a population of yellow perch, it would be best to stock in the fall.



I was shocked by this statement.

Interesting find, Bender.

Time will tell. I'm always cautious when a vendor says that nobody else can do it because only they have the genetics or the secret formula or.....

Notice that they say it's not how they raise them. That indicates that you can't do it without spending money with them. They might be right.

What is the world record for Yellow Perch?

20" is pretty darn big for YP.

Sunil -- I had a hard time finding lengths for the record yellow perch. It looks like a New Jersey fish in 1865 weighed 4 pounds, 3 ounces? I found a Maryland state record fish, 3 lb 5 oz and 16.25 inches, that was supposedly fourth largest in world.

We have some nice perch in SD. We consider a true 14 incher to be a great trophy, and a fish that actually reaches 15 inches on a measuring board is a rare commodity indeed. 2 1/2 pounds or so.

I think a 20 inch female in good body condition would beat the world record with a pound to spare. In my mind, and throughout my readings, I think there are very few people in the world who've witnessed what a 16 incher looks like, and they reside on this forum.

I'll check with a Michigan friend that says their state record was 21 inches but I don't believe it was world record size. Can't remember how much it weighed.

The more I grew out perch after that 2.81 lb. 16.25 inch fish that came out of my pond, the more I think it was a fluke, and all the right things had to come together as is typically the case with record fish. I'm not even convinced it was feeding on pellets. I've grown out some 15 inchers but not that many. Most top out in the 14 inch range. So to say it was all artificial feeding as my IDNR maintains is horse hockey IMHO. But I see their delemna.

I'm really glad I caught the fish, although it was controversial and I met some really jealous hateful people. However, if I would have caught her in April instead of February, her ovaries would have been peak size and I believe she would have easily gone 3 lbs.

I almost can't look at that fish. The only word I can think of to describe it is "otherworldly".

Agreed. We've been watching bad B&W Japanese SF movies at home lately; Cecil's big YP is shaped like many of the space ships in them. Put it on a wire and make it trail smoke and you'd be in business.

Wish I had YP in our pond! I dont think any of the fisheries around here even offer them.

The Michigan Record for Yellow Perch listed at http://www.michigandnr.com/MASTERANGLER/MasterAngler.asp is

YELLOW PERCH Marquette Lake Independence 1947 current 3.75 21.00 George E. Slutter

Although I looked through the master angler entries since 1994 and the closest they had was a 17.5" from Lake Michigan. Most of the Master Angler entries averaged 14-15".

IL Longhorn, here is a list of fisheries in IL. There are several fisheries that sell Yellow Perch.

http://dnr.state.il.us/fish/PrivateDealers03.htm

Someone with experience in the region might be able to recommend one for you.

Keystone hatcheries in IL has a website at http://www.keystonehatcheries.com

check out the 4th largest perch caught in the world. It was listed as 16.25" as well. Got the pic from MD dnr at the following link link: http://www.dnr.state.md.us/dnrnews/pressrelease2006/031606a.html

Hmmm maybe my perch would have weighed that much if I had waited?

Your perch was a lot better looking.

His perch looks like it's been in and out of the freezer several times.

Hey Bruce. When Bill Cody and I come down I'll bring the mount which is in a glass case. Pictures of the mount don't do it justice.

Wooo Hooooo!!!

I'll betcha Lusk might accidentally stop by if we give him enough notice.

I wonder if the larger YP they want to sell in the fall (for real $) are really age 1 (almost 18 mths old)? A neat trick to pull on folks unless they can age the fish.

Does anyone in PA have any experience with how well his perch grow?

I'd bring it to the spring meeting but since I'm flying I doubt I could carry it on. I think they'd frown at the glass on the plane, but I could be wrong. Shipping can be a disaster as I ship mounted fish all the time and regardless of what I do to prevent them from being damaged, they still get damaged sometimes. Glass would be a nightmare to ship.

Have any PBoss members purchased any fish from BuyBass hatchery-farm?

Bill, the biggest YP I've caught in my pond was maybe 9-10". Certainly no monster YP being grown in my pond.

But keep in mind that I don't do any regular pellet feeding, and my YP have to compete for their food along with many other species of fish.

Cecil considers transport of his award winning fish mount under glass:
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I'm not a world traveler, but I spend enough time going thru airports every year. I would have to smile pretty wide when the TSA agent asked the guy in front of me to open the box and remove the contents before putting on the X-ray conveyor. Right when you think you saw it all, out comes a whopper YP that is so fat it's GOT to be filled with more than air and preservative. Nothing personal Cecil, but if I saw you sitting at my gate with a potential IEDYP, I would consider switching flights.

If these perch grow as advertised, it might be worth the 12 hr drive to pick them up.

I've gotten the impression that if they grow as advertised :rolleyes: , they could also fly to your pond overnight if you gave good directions.