Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose Can I add Yellow Perch ?

I am wondering if I could add YP to a 3.5 acre pond that currently has BG LMB and CC. Or would that be a mistake?

I don't believe the addition of YP will hurt your fishery however, with LMB present there is a pretty good chance you'll be wasting your time and money. They will hammer the YP and keep their population from thriving.

If I do add- how many per acre ? Fish will be 5-7" in length

More YP will survive predation if you stock 8"-10". A few survivors at a higher cost each is better than almost no surivors that cost less per fish. A 15"-16" LMB can easily eat a slender bodied 7" YP. Yum, Yum.

Id like to go back to this? So in central Illinois would YP last in the winter and Summers.. What do you need to make these fish thrive in a central illinois pond? And does anyone have some good pics of these fish?

Yes.



Same as other fish. Good water quality and food. Feed trained fish survive really good and grow rapidly if pellet fed. They aren't crazy about really high temps but will survive for the most part.




Yeah if you're willing to wait. Just got my computer back yesterday and haven't had time to set it up. What kind of pictures are you interested in?

Pictures of all different sizes. How big do these fish get..?

Cecil has provided the basics to your questions. YP in our latitude will survive in a pond of about any size and depth. At the extreme they can be raised and thrive well (spawn) in a pond as small as 0.2 ac and 6-7 ft deep. Contrary to common belief YP do not need deep cool water, although they will also thrive in that type of habitat. If you are going to do YP in a shallow pond in the north (extended snow cover) one has to prevent low DO and winterkill. Large old YP tend to become stressed as water temps get near or above 90F, but younger YP 2"-7" feed well and grow well in water 80-90F. In a relatively weed free pond I have found the biggest detriment to long term survial and recruitment is have LMB in with them. In all the ponds where I have guided pondowners about raising YP, the perch always do most poorly in ponds with LMB. All of these ponds are kept relatively weed free. Heavy dense cover will allow lots of forage fish including YP to survive to the point of the fish becoming over crowded and stunted. I have several well balanced ponds near me with just YP and numerous very successful YP ponds with non-reproducing or low reproducing predators such as HSB, walleye, SMB.

There are numerous pictures on our forum of YP. Your question points out the the moderators should put more pictures of the fish in the appropriate Common Pond Q&A Archive section.

"How big do these fish get?" Normally in well fed balanced communities, pond raised YP will occassionally get up to 16". All YP up to this size have a very similar body shape as a LMB. If done correctly, it is 'fairly easy' to get YP to 13"-14", but the population has to have lots of food and not be too crowded. A well fed YP at around 12" will weigh one pound similar to a LMB at 12". YP since they are fish eaters, grow fastest and best when fed high protein pellets. High protein (40%) pellets simulate the fish diet. I am planning a 3 to 4 part series of articles for Pond Boss Magazine about growing YP in ponds. I'm not sure it will be in 2011. I have an old 3 part series of articles that I wrote about YP in ponds for Farm Pond Harvest Magazine if anyone is seriously interested. Although, most of that information is already on this forum in various places under topics about yellow perch.

For a picture of a real big pond raised YP that Cecil Baird raised (jelopy as they are called, jelopy is bigger than a jumbo perch), see this archive topic - picture 7. Cecil the grower is in picture 8. Good job Cecil! http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92484#Post92484.

Bill i would definately be interested in that information you mentioned. To me it always seems easier to just ask for the pics rather than try to look through the forum with the search. The search is good but theres no way to differentiate threads with pics and threads without so i just ask. I also think we should have a section with every fish including, all the info on the fish and pictures of the fish from birth to full grown.. Also what kind of material do these fish perfer for spawning? (another thing i could find wiht the search lol). Also my pond does get alot of primrose in the summer months about half the pond gets it to almost 12' out.. I do have a healthy LMB stock in my pond theyve done a great job of keeping the bluegill in check. I just like the idea of having a diverse fish population ive got BG CC LMB RES CSBG. I will be feeding next year i already have the feeder just not set up. I also have aeration to setup for spring.. I think these are cool looking fish and ive never caught one so i think itd be neat to have buddies out and catch a fish theyve never seen..

Where could one find YP of at least 6" to buy?

What would be the smallet LMB that could eat a 6" YP?

I would think any LMB around 18" and over would enjoy a 6" YP as a meal.

Since YP have a fusiform shape, even larger YP are vulnerable to LMB predation. Thus the YP is vulnerable for a longer period of time compared to the same length of sunfish/BG. Generally when a fish has a fusiform body shape a large mouthed predator has to be at or slightly more than twice the length of the fusiform prey to swallow it. For verification a 6" YP has a normal body depth of 34mm. A 12 LMB has a mouth gape of close to 48-50mm. Thus a 12"LMB is capable of eating 6" perch, although IMO LM of 11"-13" are probably eating more YP in the 3"-5" range because the smaller ones are usually more numerous and 'easier' to catch. By my quick calculations a LMB of 18" is capable of swallowing a 9.5"-10"YP.

The other important feature for this topic is handling time for the predator to swallow the prey and not have it stolen by another predator. Thus it is adventageous for a predator to quickly swallow a prey item which probably provides incentive for them to eat smaller items than the biggest ones the predator could swallow. Fish predation is a complex topic which has been extensively studied and reported in the literature.

Not sure if I mentioned this in an other post, but I found out why Bass Pro Shops prefers to buy yellow perch from me as large as possible. Seems many become forage in their northern stores that have musky and northern pike!

Talk about expensive forage fish!!!