Rockport fat perch

[fishing4thehog]

Fished the rock today and ended up with 9 bows and 2 nice perch[cool].. Jumped all over the lake for the bows.. No taged fish [pirate].. The perch were landed on the south east side in 15 ft of water..
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[Crimson]

Good goin' finding the nice perch! Thanks for the report.

I haven't had much luck this year for perch at Rockport, but maybe I'll give it another try.

Tight lines.
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[CoyoteSpinner]

I know there's folks out there that aren't too excited by panfish, but in MY book - those are some HOGS!
Sounds like the bows kept you pretty busy too!

I don't think there are, or ever were any tagged fish. That's just a myth to drum up business at that little store....[crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][sly][pirate][fishin]

[perchound]

[crazy]That's kinda my opinion on the tagged fish thing. For as hard as that lake has been pounded since the beginning of Jan. surely someone would of caught one by now. Does anyone even now what kind of tag is suppose to be in them, what it even looks like, where it's located on the fish? Maybe the tagged fish all swam up the river lol, does anyone know who put the tagged fish in. Just my thoughts on this, seems kinda fishy too me.
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[perchound]

[]Nice perch you got there, haven't had much luck on getting them to bite for me at rockport, did they hit what you were using for the trout? The last time I was up I marked a few but was never able to get them to bite and tried several baits, I'd rather catch the perch any day.

Great job.[cool][cool][cool]
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[dubob]

[quote CoyoteSpinner]I don't think there are, or ever were any tagged fish. That's just a myth to drum up business at that little store....[crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][crazy][sly][pirate][fishin][/quote][size 3][font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]Oh kon trare CS. It has already been stated unequivocally by the Twinsters that 2 – count ‘em – 2 have already been caught.[/#800000][/font][/size]
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[PACKFAN]

Got to let it go Bob, I have too much respect for you to get wound up in that again.[:/] How did your trip go Friday, weren't you suppose to meet up with K2[cool]? By the way nice perch on the first post of this thread. I haven't been able to catch any biguns this year.[frown]
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[wiperhunter2]

[quote perchound][crazy]That's kinda my opinion on the tagged fish thing. For as hard as that lake has been pounded since the beginning of Jan. surely someone would of caught one by now. Does anyone even now what kind of tag is suppose to be in them, what it even looks like, where it's located on the fish? Maybe the tagged fish all swam up the river lol, does anyone know who put the tagged fish in. Just my thoughts on this, seems kinda fishy too me.[/quote]
I too believe that first group of tagged trout died after being released. The tag was a small metal tag, I think made of alumium or tin, it was put by the dorsel fin. The DNR put the tag in the fish and they also planted them. Adam Eakle was there and saw them plant the fish and saw them swim away, he said none of them died at the release site. When I talked to him about this very thing, he told me they even had the water temp in the truck, that held the fish, within a few degrees of the lakes water temp. I figured that trout die so easily that it is likely that they swam off, only to die from shock a few minutes later. I also told Adam that and later I heard that the last group they planted, not sure of the exact number, was caught at the lake, tagged and release down the same hole. So unless this last part isn't true or it is the metal tags that killed the fish, there are at least 7 maybe more of those tagged fish still in the lake. If none of these tagged fish show up by the end of the contest, I think they need to rethink this whole deal about planting tagged trout in the winter. Maybe summer would be better or using a different type of tag[:/].

fishing4thehog- By the way David, nice perch and thanks for letting us know there are a few left in there. Was the bigger one 11" or bigger?
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[skeeterfishn1]

Seven left?? I would imagine that trying to catch one of seven fish in a lake that size would be a challange through the ice. Mare tagged fish with more return to fisherman would help the cause for the future.

I'm not sure where you got that only seven were left but the video link to Youtube shows how they tagged that last group of trout and what the tags look like, for those that were wondering. The first group came from a stocking truck and I believe that most of those did not survive. The Video shows, the DWR caught them, tagged them and released them on site. I suspect those fish are still in the lake but I was saying there was at least seven, could have been more. But according to Adam Eakle the first 30 tagged fish came from a stocking truck, I'm not sure how many were in the second group but from that video they say a total of 47 have been put in the lake.
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[dubob]

[quote PACKFAN]How did your trip go Friday, weren't you suppose to meet up with K2[cool]?[/quote][font "Times New Roman"][size 3][/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]Six of us hit the ice on Friday from the Port Ramp. I ended up with 8 perch for the day. Kim is going to post a report sometime today and I might add some pictures to it after she puts it up.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[fishing4thehog]

[quote perchound] did they hit what you were using for the trout? .[/quote]
I was using a silver sweedish pimple with a red trout magnet dropper tipped with a crawler.. Thats what the trout would hit also.. perch on the bottom and trout 5 to 10' down.. Hunt for trout and land perch.. go figure[crazy]
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[FIFITA]

[quote perchound][crazy Does anyone even now what kind of tag is suppose to be in them, what it even looks like, where it's located on the fish? [/quote]
Found this on youtube... hope it helps

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=673udrFBMpI
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[perchound]

[]Thanks for the video of proof, I feel better about the whole tagged thing now. Kinda funny that the last time I was up there I caught a fish that had a rip in it's dorsal fin in the exact spot they were putting the tags, it looked to be in the healing stage but was definitely a recent wound.
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[The_Red_Leaker]

My brother caught one with a tear in the same spot as well. We joked about it at the time but in the back of my mind I can't help but wonder. I have probably seen close to 200 fish caught there this year between all of my trips and the various people with me on those trips. It's hard to believe that nobody has reeled in a tag yet. I fell in love with Rockport last year. Good fishing and not a ton of people. This year started out good and has declined dramatically in both areas. I hope they never do this sort of stunt again unless it is to manage biology. This contest has ruined the ice fishing this year at that lake and for one reason.....build the coffers.

I feel very strongly that in most areas the DWR needs to refocus there efforts from running a business, to managing wildlife.
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[Troll]

Nice fish!

I was up at the Rock this weekend with a group of scouts. We stayed in the Yurts and did some fishing and sleeding.
2 nice trout were caught by the boys and a good time was had at all.

While the crouds were thick on Sat, nothing like I used to see when we were hauling in 15 fish like the fat toads above every day. I can understand the frustration of some to see the crowds but every paying customer supports Rockport state park. I would also like to throw in a plug for the concessionaire at Rockport.

The concessions are operated by a local guy named Kevin and he has my business for as long as he is there. He was outstanding in making our reservations, having our Yurts ready and warmed up and making us feel welcome. He even came out on the ice with his snowmobile and power auger and drilled a bunch of holes for the scouts to icefish.
We had origionally tried to make our trip to East Canyon, but Reserve America wanted $200 damage deposit for each yurt, to be paid in October and held until after our trip. Yes, they wanted the scout troop to let them hold $600 of the boys money for 4 months.
Kevin, a local, wanted no such exorborant loan to hold our reservation.

Buy Local.
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[fishing4thehog]

[quote fishing4thehog- By the way David, nice perch and thanks for letting us know there are a few left in there. Was the bigger one 11" or bigger?[/quote]

You know i never put a tape to either one..[:/] But after you asked.. I looked at the photo and went and got my pole.. I put a tape on my pole.. Its looks to me like the perch is 11 to 12 inches.. I guess that was a very nice fish..[cool] the egges were fine last sat.. Im headed the tomorrow.. Will post tomorrow night..
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[wiperhunter2]

I'll be up there tomorrow as well, maybe I'll see you there. Yea, 11 or 12" is a good perch, a dozen perch that size would make a few good meals.
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[fishing4thehog]

Im headed back to the spot where i landed them perch.. 1st parking area on the state park side..
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[fishing4thehog]

[quote perchound] Kinda funny that the last time I was up there I caught a fish that had a rip in it's dorsal fin in the exact spot they were putting the tags, it looked to be in the healing stage but was definitely a recent wound.[/quote]

I also caught one with a recent wound in that exact spot also.. I kept looking for a string tag or any small tag.. this was before i watched the video of hem tagging the fish.. Now i know what to look for..
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[Jazzperch1]

nice perch man, i love gettin in to them on the ice like that, especially when every one in there is 11 inches +. maybe ill go up after them one more time this year.


tightlines
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