Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Corrective stocking Bill Cody's Perch Pond

Flatlander - It's hard to believe that every hatchery in Maine has only salmon & trout. What do other small pond/lake owners do for fish? They all stock trout and salmon? I'd get tired eating those all the time. Trout are okay but I consider them "almost" junk fish. I can't figure out what all the fuss is about trout. I've raised both of them (trout and salmon) graduate school, in cages and caught them in the wild in MI. Supposedly they indicate "clean" water. But during cold temps in spring and fall in Michigan, I've seen them live in streams receiving city sewage effluent when there's enough oxygen. All they need is high DO and cold water. Not that great eating either.
I've read about the great SMB fishing in Maine. Can't believe no hatchery in ME produces them. Sounds like a good state not to raise fish in.
Anyway if you can get young yellow perch 3-5" and put them in a cage or net pen they can be trained to eat food fairly easily, however they are skitish & pretty stupid as fish go. You may have to feed them chopped worms to tame them down and get them eating something dropping in from above. Once you get them on feed or keep plenty of forage in front of them you should be able to grow them, even in ME's cool summer, to 5-7" or maybe a few to 8" in one summer (before freeze up). They feed well under the ice and even put on weight with egg development for the early spring spawn (when temp hits 50-52 deg). Those same fish will grow to 6-8" w/ few to 9" in the 2nd summer. females grow faster than males. We get faster growth with a longer growing season farther south.
I have two neighbors who raise perch only in their ponds (with my guidence); at least for the first 5-6yrs. Perch are on feed and up to 13-15" long. They have to always keep an eye on reproduction and prevent overpopulation w/ thining; using traps or fishing w/ selective harvest. They sell the surplus fish.
Come back if you have more questions.