Rockport Perch..Good and Bad

[MrShane]

And there are species specific parasites and viruses that sometimes take out large portions of a fish population.  This happened both at Jordanelle and a couple of years later at Starvation.  Huge dieoffs under the ice with only a few fish left for anglers the following spring. 

So it is great to be able to harvest lots of perch when they are available.  But even the heaviest angler pressure is not likely to affect the population as much as drought and water management practices.

I would add to the die off list, Rockport at the end of the last time it was amazing like this, Pineview, and possibly Echo.  It is never a popular opinion to give on forums like this, but I greatly fear spring die offs far more in our perch populations than I do stunting, overharvest, predator management, and whatever else folks wring their hands over or think humans have control over.  

I have been up to Rockport twice and noticed something unusual with the perch.  Normally, perch will orient towards the bottom on the hard deck.  However, both times, sizable numbers of perch were coming through about 10-15 ft off the bottom in a well defined "zone".  In targeting these fish, I have been able to "high grade" a little and keep the best fish and release smaller ones.   None of these fish have been the super dinks others are complaining about elsewhere, but all the 8-11 inch fish that are preferred.  When I have filleted and prepped them, they have been full of zooplankton and basically nothing else.  I suspect that "zone" is where the zooplankton are.   I have no idea if this is good, bad, or indifferent, but I hope it isn't a sign of trouble this spring.

I was catching Perch last fall with Salmon dodgers and squids running 40’ deep over 90’ deep of water.
Better keep full limits at RP, and if you lose a few to trauma, it is a small price to pay (I can’t believe I just said that. I would have NEVER said that a few years ago).