Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Help with Yellow Perch - small, small, small

I am also in Ohio, Western, near Dayton, and stocked 6-8" perch this spring as well ( From ATAC near Ceasers Creek Lake) and while I do see some of them hitting pellets, I do not see many and the ones i do see are the same size or even smaller then I remember seeing them going in, I am about to cast net a feeding session so i can get an accurate sample of sizes, weights and health of the mix I have of BG, BC, CC,Blue Cats,HBG and RES. I also need to get about 5-6 6" goldfish out of the mix, no one wants to clain where they came from, either Jones or ATAC, but ATAC only brought the Perch and I watched them go it so I suspect Jones. I just added some 3-5" HSB this week so they havent added to the mix yet. I have about 3 gazillion, ( yes, that many) FH's and GS in the pond so they should all be fat and healthy this winter. Ill try to get some pics for comparisons in the next couple of days. Lots of wood cutting to get caught up on from Ike.

Salmonid

Stunted YP should resume at least some growth and develop some plumpness if they are eating regularly.

Mark B says - "the ones i do see are the same size or even smaller then I remember seeing them going in". Since you have lots of soft rayed minnows present, it is possible the smaller perch you are seeing are some of this year's hatch - the YOY (young of year). Well fed YOY YP can be 5"-6" at this time of year. A sampling by angling with minnows might reveal that the original stockers are 8"-10".

OK guys heres a pic of another perch. I tried to get a close up to show the small black specs that some of the perch have. They kind of remind me of the black spots that a young channel cat has.
Do the black spots represent a young perch? I would guess that one out of ten have these spots.

The black spots are parasites called black spot disease caused by a trematode. Snails and fish eating birds, (herons, loons, etc) are two of the vectors. The black spots are an indication that there are too many snails in the pond.

Thanks Bill. Is this a common problem with YP? Should we remove the ones that we catch? We had initially stocked 50 redears, perhaps I should consider more? Never realized too many snails was a problem.

Some fish species are more vulnerable to the black spot disease that others. Typically the fish gets infected with black spot at a young age because the fish eats the tiny infecting organism "thinking" it is a zooplankter. Fish that are frequently feeding in the bottom areas near the snails I think enhances their chance of getting infected. Removing the infected fish probably has little long term impact on eliminating the disease in a moderately infected pond.

You maybe do not have too many snails but too many fish eating birds visiting the pond?. It is possible that the fish were infected when originally stocked.

A fish hatchery owner once told me that the black spot disease will eventually work itself out of fish in time; but I am not sure of that time frame. The encysted organism could complete or advance its life cycle and emerge from the fish. I am not sure about this. Maybe an experienced hatchery person with experience with this topic can provide an opinion.