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Willard Perch
#21
Love these kind of threads !! Rocky brought up a subject in his post that targets another issue, focus of the DWR. 20 years ago, I would have whole heartedly agreed with his assessment. Not so much today however. We have in the last decade, put some really fine warm water biologist's on the staff at DWR. We now have a warm water hatchery, our own Wiper and Tiger Musky programs, sterile walleye program, and an attempt to increase the warm water fisheries all over the state. True, a great deal of time and money is spent on the cold water fisheries, but I truly believe that the two programs benefit each other. I really respect the efforts of the warm water biologists at the DWR and support what they do.

In regards to managing the Perch fisheries. For the most part, our biggest problem is stunting and overpopulation, i.e. Pineview, Rockport, Echo, Jordanelle. Hence the use of Tiger Musky to help control the populations. Water quality is a HUGE problem as our lakes are being drawn down when the fry need protection and are forces out of the vegatation. Habatit is another problem. We do not have the rooted vegetation in most of our waters to provide the habitat that the YOY fry need. Pineview and Willard do have good habitat, Echo, Rockport, Jordanelle do not. The last issue is FOOD ! Perch feed on macro invertebrates and in most waters have to compete with the trout and Kokenee for the same food source. That competition is intense, especially in the colder waters. The fertility of our waters is marginal and the production of the zooplankton needed is limited.

Fisherman along with environmental factors do impact the Perch fisheries in Utah. I believe that we need to minimize our keeping of the Jumbo's, enjoy catching them, but learn to release them if possible. Learn to utilize the smaller, 6-10 inch perch. Watch the video's on cleaning a perch in 10 seconds on line. The product that technique produces allows you to utilize the smaller fish efficiently, almost without waste. I believe most people will change their processing techniques after they try it. You can cook those small fish almost the same as the larger filletable ones ! great fish taco's !! great steamed also !!

The situation is manageable, we just need to help the biologist's by being aware, practice selective harvest , and encourage others to do the same. By the way, most of the papers you read on Perch management are about the Great Lakes. They have one problem there that we do not, commercial fishing. Perch are a BIG commercial catch in the Great Lakes. Fresh perch fillets can be found in alot of grocery stores and restaurants in states bordering the Great Lakes. Try and manage that along with sportfishng, another headache for sure !!!
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#22
(11-27-2020, 07:18 PM)Therapist Wrote: In regards to managing the Perch fisheries.  For the most part, our biggest problem is stunting and overpopulation, i.e.  Pineview, Rockport, Echo, Jordanelle. 

You missed a major water body -- Fish Lake.
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#23
(11-27-2020, 07:18 PM)Therapist Wrote: By the way, most of the papers you read on Perch management are about the Great Lakes.  They have one problem there that we do not,  commercial fishing.  Perch are a BIG commercial catch in the Great Lakes.  Fresh perch fillets can be found in alot of grocery stores and restaurants in states bordering the Great Lakes.  Try and manage that along with sportfishng,  another headache for sure !!!
I'll have to disagree with you on that one.  I was born and raised in Michigan and lived there most of my life until I moved to Utah in 1977.  I still chat on a weekly basis with a friend back there who was a licensed fishing guide/boat captain on the big lake (Michigan). The commercial catch of perch in Lake Michigan died many years ago.  I suspect the same is true for Lake Huron.  Lake Superior never was a perch fishery of any value.  I can't vouch for Lakes Erie or Ontario.  Yellow Perch are non-existent in grocery stores in Michigan and have been for many, many years.  I know this first hand.  The last time I actually bought fresh perch in Michigan (about 12 years ago), it was at fast food burger joint in Lowell, MI that also specialized in perch baskets w/ fries and it was over $10/lb uncooked.

I agree with the rest of your post in that we have a very different environment to manage with respect to yellow perch than do the folks in the eastern USA.  With the increase in staffing and interest in warm water fisheries management in Utah, we may actually improve the perch population for those of us who know without a doubt that perch are the very best fresh water fish to eat - bar none.   Big Grin
Bob Hicks, from Utah
I'm 81 years young and going as hard as I can for as long as I can.
"Free men do not ask permission to bear arms."
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#24
DuBob, I was unaware of the change in Great Lakes commercial fishing. It was an issue in the past. In regards to the way DWR approaches warm water fisheries, there have been attempts as long ago as the late 70's early 80's to manage warm water fisheries here. Charlie Thompson was the Central Region fisheries manager back in the 70's and 80's. In the early 80's he had a young intern by the name of Doug Sakaguchi ( sorry Doug if I misspelled your last name !) who did some work on spawning perch in Deer Creek. Because of the lack of spawning habitat, perch have "sticky" eggs that they attach to vegetation in strings and clumps. Doug was placing mats under the ice to see if the perch would utilize them for spawning. The idea was to then move the mats to Yuba to enhance the perch population there. Charlie did several other projects on Deer Creek and Utah Lake, but he was hampered due to having to spend most of his time on Strawberry. Charlie was always a good friend to the warm water fishermen till he retired. He stuck his neck out several times and went against the bosses in SLC to help out his warm water fisheries. Doug moved on to other positions at DWR, not sure where he is now, may be retired. There were other's in the state, Wayne Gustaveson at Powell, and other's that I don't know personally, but the focus was always on the put and take trout fishery until about 10-12 years ago. The warm water fisheries never got the attention that they needed and deserved until then. As I have already pointed out, we now have a warm water hatchery, several dedicated warm water programs, and dedicated warm water biologists. They are trying, valiantly I would point out, to undo not years, but decades of neglect to the warm water fisheries in the state. I for one am VERY encouraged by what I see and feel that these guys and gals are doing a fantastic job. Do I want quicker results, sure, but I believe they are doing the best they can, as fast as they can. Keep up the good work guys/gals !!!!
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