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#461699 01/09/17 09:16 PM
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I have a pond that is used for water storage that has no fish in it now. The pond is around 3 acres full with plenty of structure for the perch to spawn. Depth is between 4-8' and satys relatively cool. Id like to be able to put YP in it and hopefully have them spawn so I would have enough fry & fingerlings to stock another pond with. Its impossible to find YP fingerlings anywhere around me and feel like this will be my best course.

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With no predators, you could put in 50-100 perch in and in 2 years could have 10-20,000 fingerlings providing there was a food pyramid for them to survive on. Bill will tell you how many eggs each mama perch lays and how many could survive!

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There should be plenty of invertebrates for a few adult fish, and plenty of stuff for the fry to feed on as well. This pond is drained yearly to supply water to another below it that is irrigated from so hopefully id be able to net some out when the water gets lower. If I got 20-25 males & females (that are still swollen with eggs)and put them in within the next few weeks, do you think that would be enough for them to spawn? I have zero experience with YP.

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Great idea but female yp require water temps to 49 f for egg development. Any clue if you reach that during winter?


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Im pretty sure the temp drops to 49. I brought this topic up about a year ago and never got a chance to do it so im revisiting the idea now. No one fishes for them and actually have a reputation as a trash fish. They are in almost every lake some of the slow rivers as well that receive no cold tailrace water. There are pictures of some caught in Lake Seminole on the FL/AL/GA border. If these places drop to 49, then im sure our lakes do too.

Last edited by LAT88; 01/10/17 01:06 AM.
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I think I've read about YP that far South before, wow, never would have guessed!

F YP will dump eggs anywhere when it's time, even in tanks. If you want to raise YP I'd recommend stocking FHM in suitable numbers for rolling spawns - the FHM fry will serve as good forage for the YOY YP until they can begin hitting larger FHM. Whenever growing out YOY fish always a good idea to encourage invertebrates and zooplankton. Sooner you fill the sooner the invertebrates can get established many fertilize grow out ponds to create a constant planktonic algae bloom which is followed by zooplankton.

I'd consider caging your YP and allowing them fertilize eggs strands, remove strands and gently hang on woody branches in your pond. You get the benefit of YOY YP without the adults hammering their offspring all season.


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The pond is fertile (agricultural run off) & It filled last weekend. If I kept a few pairs in a 285 gallon tank, will the they spawn & is it possible the eggs will be fertilized?

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Lat88,

IIRC there is a southern strain of YP that is more tolerant of the higher temps. They might work better for you if you can find a source.


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I'd have to start with wild stock to begin with. I spent a while trying to source fingerlings last year. There is no hatchery anywhere near me that has YP. Hopefully I will have luck with getting some to spawn. I'll run the fish through a algae & parasite treatment before I start releasing fish to be on the safe side.

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Where are you looking to get some wild ones?

I might have missed it but where in GA is your pond?


Last edited by BobbyRice; 01/10/17 11:57 AM.

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Originally Posted By: LAT88
The pond is fertile (agricultural run off) & It filled last weekend. If I kept a few pairs in a 285 gallon tank, will the they spawn & is it possible the eggs will be fertilized?


When I cage spawned my YP I believe Bill recommended a 5:1 m/f ratio, but he can qualify this. For successful project I'd recommend at least 10 f and 50 m just to hedge your bets.

My cage spawning worked ok - YP spawned and laid fertlized eggs on woody debris spread across the bottom of the cage. YP hatched and swam out of cage into the grow out pond, then I brought in cages and returned the adult YP to the main pond cages. I believe I used a 5:1 ratio m/f.

I neglected to fertilize the pond so fry survival was lower than I'd hoped due to lack of forage [zooplankton]. I've since addressed this issue for growing out other species of fish - alfalfa pellets or cottonseed meal are cheap and keep a good bloom going all Spring and early Summer and then I allow the FHM to feed the growing fish.


Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau

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LAT88 - There is another option for YP (see below). Although your idea of native stock is very feasable. Providing you an catch some brood stock soon. don't delay measuring water temperatures and angling or you could easily miss the 2017 spawn of YP. Maybe check with local anglers or bait shops for when yellow perch spawn in your area. On-line anglers in the FL Lake Seminole area may provide some info. All Local wildlife officers should know about your local YP spawn times. If they don't they are way over paid.

The other option is to contact Rainman (Private Message) on the Forum and see if he can bring you some midwest YP that are gravid. Rainman comes to AL-GA area for his blue tilapia. He could have some YP (gravid or spent) on the truck for you rather than drive there empty. He could drop them off or you meet him and pick up 30-100 perch (4"-8"). If it is post spawn at least you would have some breeder YP for next year.

You ask: ""a few pairs in a 285 gallon tank, will the they spawn & is it possible the eggs will be fertilized?
YES - assuming the YP are fully gravid and close to spawn temperature. Mature males that you catch should be oozing milt and females will have obviously swollen bellies if they are close to spawning or currently spawning. Fat gravid females will be close to spawning +- 6-12 days. It is best to have 2-3 males for every female to insure ok egg fertilization. More 5males : 1female provides best fertilization. At 55F-60F egg ribbons will deteriorate and hatch in 10-12days. At 65F hatch is a copuple days sooner.

To help insure success:
A. do not over crowd them in your 285g tank so it maintains good water quality (2-3 females with males will be plenty);
B. aerate the water or use a small flow through volume or a water change each day to keep the tank better water quality;
C. Add some finely divided twiggy branches in the tank. Weighted near the bottom is okay. Often the eggs will be laid on or laced in the branches; sometimes the eggs will fall off the branches and look like toilet paper in the bottom of the tank.
E. I would cover at least 1/2 of the tank to keep it in subdued light yet let it be able to receive some day-night light cycle.
D. IMO do your best to get some small forage fish(2-3dozen) in the tank preferably 1"-1.5" fatheads or small bait shop shiners in the tank as food. YP may need to be in the tank up to 14 days before they drop their eggs so some food will keep them healthy. One or two fertilized YP egg ribbons(8"fish) that fully hatch can easily provide 10000-20000fry. If the pond has good zooplankton,,, high fry survival will occur.
E. As soon as eggs are laid in the tank, dip them out and put at least two of the ribbons draped on branches in the pond and at least one, in a mesh basket similar to a laundry basket in the shallow part of the pond to cut your accidental losses & keep the egg ribbon just in case of animal - bird damage. YP eggs are not very palatable so very few critters including ducks and geese will eat the unprotected YP eggs.

YP will be spawning locally in your area soon. Monitor the water temperatures for determining the spawn. Your first homework is to go out and measure your current water temps. YP normally spawn in most areas above the latitude of 36-37 degrees at water temps of 50F. Southern acclimatized YP below the latitude of 35 degrees may spawn at a different temperature than 50F. Latitude of 35 degrees is just above the MS, AL, GA line. I look forward to hearing results of your project to provide some very good and much needed information about yellow perch in your southern part of the country. Go man Go. I look forward to hearing more about your project regardless of the outcome. It will all be very useful information.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 01/10/17 03:37 PM.

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Awesome Bill, thank you!!!


Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau

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They don't call him Dr. Perca for nothing.

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I will keep everyone updated. I caught a few females last year in March that were absolutely full of eggs. I didn't notice the males oozing with milt though. We have a pond that is roughly 9 acres with a gravel/ sand bottom with 2-6' boulders & rock piles throughout the bottom. The pond is pumped from a well and spring fed during the summer and is very clear & cold year round. We have been managing the LMB for about 10 years now and have them under control and are very healthy. I'm tempted to start introducing SMB while continuing to manage the LMB and start putting YP in as they are grow large enough not to be eaten by the LMB.

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LAT88 says "I caught a few females last year in March that were absolutely full of eggs. I didn't notice the males oozing with milt though." -- Okay you know where to get some YP locally. That is a big plus for achieving your goals!. Males will definitely have oozing milt at that time of year. Turn over slender bodied perch and gently push backward on their belly. Note the females may be a more aggressive bite due to developing eggs. Try fishing a little deeper, shallower or a different time of day for males (maybe earlier in the morning?).

IMO do not be hesitant to start fishing early especially if you are going to stock some of them in the pond just as brood stock spawners. Males may bite better pre-spawn and males start oozing milt a few weeks pre-spawn. Most any fairly, skinny, non-plump, fish (5"-6"+) pre-spawn is a male. Try to get a few pictures of your YP catches for us (especially me). As the spawn progresses and females are literally bulging save the ripest ones for your tank. Keep in mind that once the 1st egg ribbons are laid the YP spawning season usually lasts for only 10-12 days.

For your southern area that far south it surprises me that the spawn is in March. Here in mid-Ohio the 1st egg ribbons usually appear in 2nd or 3rd week of March. Then 90 miles north spawn starts last week of March and is basically done Apr 10.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 01/10/17 07:56 PM.

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I figured they would have spawned as well by then. March 6th was when I fished them and they were still full of eggs. I have some pics of the fish & eggs, but I'm not sure how to tell how far along the development is on them (nor do I know how to post a pic in a reply).

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There is a more thorough write up on posting pictures but I'd love to help you learn the ropes.

1. Under the post box is a button that that says 'switch to full reply screen' You want to post in there when you know that you intend to embed pictures in the post or to attach them as files.

2. Under full reply screen start typing as you normally would and when you are ready to insert a picture there is a little icon above the composing box that if you click will allow to add a media item like a youtube or you can add a picture and embed it in the composing box.

3. if you choose to embed a picture it asks you for a link. The link has to come from a picture hosting site that keeps the link alive for that picture. Most people use a free account through photobucket to 'host' their pictures. But some post via a facebook account though those links tend to change or get blocked by internet filters and then you get a broken link on the forum. THere are probably a few other free imaging hosting services online too.

4. You upload pictures to your free hosting account. On PHotobucket there is a little shortcut link to the right of the pictures that allows you to click on 'direct link' which automatically copies that link to your clipboard. You browse your photo library and grab the 'link' THen you go to the Pondboss page, click the photo icon, paste the address into that box and it will embed the link into your post.

Each time you have to embed the pictures through that process. I always hit 'preview' button to see if the pictures are loading properly.

5. The other way would be to use the 'attach file' option but it takes storage space for the forum and also requires every user to reload the picture over and over when they go to read the post.

Hope that helps.

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Do y'all think it would be possible to get adult YP to eat pellets?

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Getting adult wild untrained YP to eat pellets will be a real challenge. It might be possible. I think it might even be harder than pellet training wild older bass. I have never accomplished pellet training wild, non-fish farm perch. Here is the "rub". Perch are very bottom oriented fish compared to bass that usually inhabit mid-water and will instinctively feed at the surface. Not yellow perch. So one has to overcome the adult strong habit of staying close to the bottom especially if you are using floating pellets. If you use sinking pellets how do we know the perch are eating them??? Pellet training small fingerling or large fry perch would be a much easier and more successful project.

If anyone can consistently pellet train wild adult perch I would really like to hear about the method. I always buy my pellet trained perch from a perch farmer that grows YP that have been domesticated since 1981. These fish and their offspring now train quickly at high percentages to eat pellets.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 01/11/17 01:14 PM.

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I know it seems there's an echo in here, but thanks again Bill for all your direction!


Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau

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I appreciate all yalls help. YP are not popular down here and Iv never had any experience with managing them. I ended up ordering a 12' diameter above ground pool with a pump (I'll take the filter out) to circulate some water. I'm going to try both methods, put some breeding stock in the pond and keep a few in the pool to see if they will spawn. Im going to try my luck at catching the fish Sunday. I figure the more time they have to acclimate to the new environment the better my odds. I plan on feeding them scuds, crawfish, & gambusia. Anything else I should add for them? My neighbors are going to think Iv gone crazy.

Last edited by LAT88; 01/11/17 04:17 PM.
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when your eggs hatch perhaps just a bubbler and air stone to move the water so the fry don't get chopped up in the pump moter...Just a thought


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If figured I'd stop circulating water when they the eggs are laid and just use an aerator. I wouldn't want to take a chance of chopping them up.

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Post pictures of the YP you catch please! or of the perch you caught int he past? You catch them in Georgia near you this time of year? How do you catch them? Is there any skin of ice on the pond/lakes where you go? Do they look much like the northern strains of YP?

I know when our YP are kept in a fish tank they really don't like light and will hide in any dark corner, under or behind plants or any structure in the tank and try never to be seen. If you have a big pool that is well lit you may want to include some 'cover' or maybe some some plastic containers that they can swim into where it is dark and feels 'safe'. They probably don't like constant daylight or artificial light either.

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