Fishing Forum

I was ice fishing yesterday with two members of the Price Perch Posse. We had a brief discussion concerning terminology for describing the size of the perch we caught. If you think about it, personal opinion has alot to do with how we describe the perch and other panfish we pursue during the hard deck season.

I think we should consider a standard methodology in describing the bagged fish so everyone is on the same page when sizes are mentioned.

So, in the spirit of common interest in the ice fishing panfish pursuers, I offer the following information for consideration and discussion:

The term "dink" should refer to a perch that is big enough to be caught on a hook and line and yet be less than 6 inches in length.

"Keeper" is a perch that the diehards will take home and try to fillet successfully and still have something to put in a frying pan. These fish are 6 to 9.8 inches in length.

"Almost jumbo" is a perch that is uncommon in the waters you fish and you get excited when it hits the ice. Crowds gather around your location and ask what you are using and whether you would mind if they share your hole while you rebait your hook. These perch are 9.9 to 10.5 inches in length.

"Jumbo" is a perch that the guys in the International Space Station proclaim as the biggest they seen in years. The guys who gather around your location don't even ask to use your hole while you rebait. These perch are over 10.5 inches in length and just a few would provide a meal for two people. These perch exist in Utah in various waters we all fish during the winter. In the summer they are not as impressive because the females are not rotund with the hundreds of thousands of eggs they will release in March. In the summer at Starvation we call these fish "nice perch". We then wait for the ice to form so we can all go crazy again.

Let me know what you all think. In the meantime I will use the preceeding terminology during the remainder of this ice season.

The PPP is heading to Starvation next Thursday to catch many dinks, some keepers and hopefully, a few jumbos!

Mike



Oh, I forgot something:[]
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Works for me.[] Last year was a good perch year for me, this year, not so much but I've been with folks that are doing ok.
I'll start this off with a couple wiperslayer caught today that are almost jumbo category.
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I saw your post awhile ago and I agree your photo clearly shows two "Almost Jumbo" perch. Did anyone use your ice hole while you rebaited your hook? []

We caught about 80 "dinks", 14 "keepers" , 2 "Almost Jumbos" and 6 "Jumbos" yesterday. No photos and I am sworn not to ID the water which is in Utah south of I-70 and north of Loa. Wait a minute. We're talking about perch which cannot be hurt by fishing pressure. They are not even supposed to be in Forsyth Reservoir but thanks to the "Bucket Brigade Biologists" they are thriving in the lake. I would say they had an extremely successful spawn last year resulting in thousands of 3 to 4 inch bait thieves, a few "Keepers" and at least some "Jumbos". We also caught some Tiger trout and a few smaller Splake. Ice is over 28 inches thick in places and there is now 10 inches of snow on the ice.

Mike
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Here are a few that came out of Forsyth a few weeks ago. The perch I believe is a Jumbo.
I've never had anyone take my hole while I was fishing it, hopefully, I never will[].
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I remember the post and the photo. Photo shows a "Jumbo" perch, decent Tiger and a Kitten Tiger. We've got names for everything that swims. It's amazing what you do between hits while on the ice.

Mike
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Standard perch size terminology for Utah.

Imagine catching a hundred jumbo jumbos.

I remember fishing in Lake Michigan as a kid and catching a hundred over 14".

If you ever get a chance to fish the Great Lakes, jump on it.
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[cool][#0000ff]I can understand your ranguage. But I have never really adopted the term "Jumbo". That's a midwesterner term. Also conjures up images of something with big ears and a trunk.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]My terminologies:[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Dinkster: Deericulous. Suitable only for fishing whole...as minnows...where legal.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Bait size: 6" to 7". Ideal for turning into processed perch pieces (also PPP).[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Marginal: A fat 8".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Creeper: (Keeper) 9" to 10".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Underfooter: 10.5" to 11".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Footlong: 12"[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Teen Incher: Bigger than a footlong.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Now those all sound pretty exacting. But when the action is hot the lines often become blurred and it is possible to misidentify by size. Thus, on a day when dinksterism is rampant a 9 inch fish may be jubilantly proclaimed as being a footlong, etc.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There is also the well known phenomenon of ice shrinkage. It is common to keep a bucket full of Creepers to Footlongs only to discover that they are all two to three inches shorter at the fillet board. I hate it when that happens.[/#0000ff]
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I read somewhere that a perch bigger than a "jumbo", over 12 inches is called a jalopy. I think it was from In-fisherman, which may or may not exist in Utah, just like blue cats. Thanks for elucidating on the perch terminology. Hope you catch lots of jumbos and maybe a jalopy.
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Yes, we must limit our discussion to the perch we find in Utah. I have caught some perch over 13 inches in Utah but that was during the "boom" at Yuba many years ago.

I think a perch over 10.5 inches is still a "jumbo" to me in Utah. Anything over 12.5 inches in length, should they ever show up again in Utah, should be called a "Super Jumbo" just like the Airbus A380 is to the Boeing 747.

I'm hopeful that Starvation will still be ice fishable next Thursday when we are planning our next trip.

[#0000ff]TD[/#0000ff][#000000], there's still time to hit the ice one more time. Meet us next week, the tube can wait![/#000000]

Mike
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[quote TubeDude][cool]
[#0000ff]There is also the well known phenomenon of ice shrinkage.

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]1. Yeah, I hate that ice shrinkage thing. I've known perch to shrink 2 to 3 inches, easy.

2. We used to catch some pretty big perches at Yuba years ago, and they were called Jurassic perch (some were 14".) I thought that was a pretty good description, but I don't know if there really is such a thing. They were jumbo / supersized / huge-mongous !!!

3. The main thing with perch is that they be fat. I've caught some long ones that were so skinny they didn't amount to much after filleting. (Actually, I prefer skinning them whole.)

4. All this talk is making me want to go catch a mess of them.

5. BTW, I checked the Utah Lake harbors Friday to see if I could launch my little boat yet. Provo Harbor is still mostly iced over. So is A.F. (a couple of fishermen were on it, but fishing was pretty slow.) Lindon is now completely ice-free, so launching a boat there is possible.


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[cool][#0000ff]My ice fishing gear has been ceremoniously stored for this season...along with appropriate chanting and incense burning.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In the past 5 years I have caught several legitimate 14 inch perch from Starvation. Plenty of 13s and uncounted footlongs. I have lost a couple at the tube that were easily over 14. But the numbers of true toads has dropped in the past year.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Here's one from my first trip to Knight Hollow this past year. My biggest of the whole year.[/#0000ff]
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Let me guess, that ruler is the trick one you showed me with each inch actually being .75 inches. Nice 12 incher you had there! []

Mike
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Jumbo over 14", 9" and under is bait if out of bait..
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