Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Yellow Perch Spawn 2020

Please report here when you first see YP ribbons in 2020. Give location (state or applicable area of state) and date and any surrounding circumstance you think helpful.

With the mild winter and warming March temperatures the yellow perch will spawn early this year. Ice cover has been off more than on all winter for those ponds in NW Ohio. With some warm weather there could be YP eggs in central and southern Ohio the second or third week of March this year.

Hello.

March 7, it starts to warm up, but I still have 90% of the pond under the ice, but it is melting quickly.
Near the edge I can see a lots of small (3-5 inches) Yellow Perch.

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1st ribbon today, 3/7/2020. Setting in the top of some branches I almost missed it.
My WT at 6" depth is 48 degs, strong warming trend the last week.
Photo period 11:36 today. 39.3508 N, 101.7102 W. 3600ft elevation.
This is on south side of pond as well.

I saw the first perch ribbon of 2020 this morning here in Central Indiana. It was on the west side of the pond on some branches I set out for them earlier this year.

Did not see any yesterday but will check again today. Hope you are doing well Gary!

wow, exciting! thanks to all taking the time to record and share this data. I am thinking we will be about exactly 2 weeks early here in MI. If that is the case, then the photoperiod is NOT what triggers ribbons to appear? Is it strictly water temps then? Or is it the exact number of days (or nights since they lay eggs at night only) since ice out that controls it?

I saw a good number of ribbons yesterday mostly very shallow on south side.
Just stocked YP for the first time last fall. I stocked 300 8-11” fish but have only seen about 10 ribbons so far. Normal or will more be popping up soon?

Ice already coming off...... You lucky dogs!!!

Yes! we have 2 perch ribbons spotted! Saw them Sunday, they may have been there Saturday. South and South East corner of pond. One is deeper and draped in some branches, one is shallow, right on a bed of oak leaves. Due to having a few more predator mouths to feed this season I may keep all the egg ribbons in this year. Depends on how many I see.
It is interesting that not all female YP above 6" lay eggs every year. I wonder what controls that since they all produce the eggs every spring?

if we have ribbons and are almost the same day as those quite a bit south of us, I wonder what the trigger is? Water temp? Maybe just a certain number of days past ice out? Or first full moon after ice out?

I have had four ribbons thus far, on on gravel shallow. Two beneath willow trees. And one on a piece of brush about 2ft deep.

First ribbon last night 3-15-20 laid on south-east shore - northwest Ohio. Water temp 48F. Mar 13-14 water was 46F. The south east shore always gets the first perch ribbons in my pond. This year's 1st ribbon is around 3 to 7 days earlier than normal. The earliest that I have seen YP eggs in the last 19 years has been Mar 12 when the water temperature was 47.5F. .

Total perch ribbon count as of Friday Mar 20 is 12. Cooling temps will slow the spawn period.

One for me since the 7th Bill.. Same as last year which was 2 and then the warm up seems to bring the craws out and stirs the water enough I can't see the ends of my branches anymore. 4ft vis to 10-12" in about a week.

I have seen 8 ribbons since 3/13. Yesterday it was nice and warm here and I found 3 new ones this morning. I am wondering with the cold front that came through last night, will the Perch that have not laid their eggs hold off for a few days until it warms up again?

Spawning delay after a cold front will depend on how quickly and how much the water cools. If the water temp drops below 48F expect a noticeable delay. I have always noticed not all gravid females will release their eggs. Sometimes a significant number of females will reabsorb the eggs. Big females with large masses of eggs that do not release them will often die soon after the spawn period.

Saw my first ribbon yesterday. Had a bad angle with the glare. Spotted 3/21 in Northeast Missouri. It seems a bit wider than previous ribbons. Hope I haven’t misidentified it. Snowing right now. Low 30s the last few nights.

Perch ribbon is wider because it is from a large female.

First ribbons were noticed on 3/18/20. Do raccoons eat perch ribbons?

Thank you Bill. Hope to see a few others.

I haven't spotted a single ribbon so far. Water temp has been there for a couple weeks, but we have had ridiculous amounts of rainfall which has resulted in very limited visibility into the water. The ground is so muddy I can't get to my pond hopper boat without creating a landscaping project, so much of the submerged brush is unchecked.

I've pretty much resigned myself to sampling during the summer to determine if they managed a spawn this spring.

Muddy water soon post hatch will reduce the amount of zooplankton and number of fry that survive will be reduced. Fry need to eat tiny things besides clay and tiny silt particles.

I moved to Minnesota for a job, but I have my family checking on the perch and reporting back to me.

Our pond is in southcentral PA, and today Mom saw the first ribbons. She could make out 4 ribbons for sure: 2 big ones in the branches on the northeastern side of the dam (shown in attached picture), 1 in the branches on the north/northwest side of the dam, and 1 on the south side near the inlet (shallow end). There's a chance they were laid before today, but this is the first we've seen them.

That is awesome Drew! Glad you have them. You can see nice still water with good clarity. Hopefully you will have a good crop of young YP this season

Hello.

March 30, 40 kilometers south of Montréal.

This morning there is no more ice on the pond, the water is at 3c (38F).

I started to put branches in the water.
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