I called and talked to Zetts Fish Farm today and asked if their yellow perch will survive in my pond here is Southeast Texas. They said if it is not too shallow.
My pond is 1/3 acre with a 600' long ditch system for breeding. The main pond is over 25' deep in the center.
Does anybody have yellow perch in their central Texas ponds?

Cody Note: IMO Zetts will tell you anything to sell you fish. IMO YP will struggle and do it very poorly during the summer heat of SE Texas. The younger YP and those less than 9" can tolerate 90F water but I am not sure for how many days or weeks. Many old large YP 9"+ struggle to survive when the water gets above 84F-86F. IMO your best chance of getting YP to survive in Texas ponds is to obtain your broodstock from one of the TX waters that has yellow perch. These individuals have adapted to the TX climate.

Below is information from the link:
https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu...checklist.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y
Check these waters in Texas where YP have been stocked and reportedly occur for obtaining the broodstock YP. YP stocker individuals from other states might be a poor investment?
""In Texas, this introduced species (YP) has established breeding populations only in the Rio Grande near El Paso, in Meredith Reservoir on the Canadian River, and Greenbelt Reservoir on the Salt Fork of the Red River, despite being introduced into many other waters in the state.""

Wow, that is strange. I have never seen a response that was added to my post instead of being a separate post from someone.... Not sure how to respond...
Thanks I guess???

Bill has special privileges and a special role on the forum. I forget his exact title but he is like the 'knower of truth, bringer of clarity, editor of posts, and spends a lot of time as the layer of memories and assembler of archives' He does a great job bringing people answers by dredging up old posts, linking to archival posts, and often finds it useful to do that within your post.

He also has helped me a lot with my YP adventure. I would agree with him that fish with origins/genetics in the midwest will not do well in hot weather where the water temps start to approach 90 and above as many TX pond owners describe in their posts.

Having a cold water refuge might get you through the texas summer but I'm not sure how you make sure the thermocline in your 25' deep pond never falls apart and the water mixes. Certainly if you do any aeration you are running the risk of losing the thermocline.

Perhaps if you replaced a large percentage of the pond water with cold water from a deep ground source and aerated that water before you sent it in your pond that would work out too.

But it would be a cool thing to learn more about Rio Grande perch and get them in your pond. Keep us posted if you do!

Bill is a moderator and they/we can edit or delete any post.
IMO YP will not work well in SE TX ponds. HSB would be a better option.

As an aside. Bill has forgotten more information about Yellow Perch than a lot of us (if not all) have learned.

I was thinking yellow perch would not do well. That is why I called and asked Zetts if they would survive.
I guess I was talking to a fish salesman instead of a fish expert!

I am in the process of building out a Camper Van to go fish hunting. It will have an aerated fish tank in it.
I will go with my original plan to collect fish myself for my pond. I am going to start being a "Life Lister" and log all my fish caught online on Rough Fish.

My fist trip is scheduled for mid May. I am heading to the Florida Panhandle with Canoe and fishing gear.
I am hunting the Spotted Bullhead Catfish for my aquarium. I may put them in my pond as bass food. They only reach about 10"
I think they are the prettiest American Catfish by far!

Bill's well-earned, exalted title is "Dr. Perca."

P.S. Genuflect when you say that.

Johnny,

Good luck on the van build and the quest for Spotted Bullheads!

You are correct, that is a pretty catfish.

Johnny - When in the FL panhandle try to catch some yellow perch. Use several as stockers; these ones should tolerate your SE Texas summers. Google YP in FL and it will tell you where YP are in a lake in the panhandle. Or google state record Yellow perch in Florida. I added my comments to your first post instead of making mine a new distracting post so readers could see and read your part of the post first as an active post.

Okay here you go: in Florida, these fish (YP) only exist in limited populations in the Apalachicola River watershed and are mostly unknown to anglers throughout the rest of the state. FL state record 1.47lbs 2005 Dead Lake, Gulf County FL.

Here is a survey list of fish you might catch in the Apalachicola River system in the panhandle of FL. The authors thought the YP probably came from YP stockings in Georgia and the perch migrated downstream south to Florida. Anglers catch YP occasionally.
https://palmm.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/uf%3A97942#page/22/mode/1up

Bill, what is it about the yellow perch that limits them geographically?