is it good to release perch?

[jr8fish]

is it ok to release perch? i have heard they dont release well being brought up 20 ft or so.

jr8fish
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[IceFishingGod]

They stand a much better chance of survival in the lake then they do on the filet table.
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[fishinfool]

That is true but I think its more like 30ft,if your catching your perch deep in the winter keep your limit or what you can eat,they will die because there swim bladder will over inflate on the way up and they have no way to realease the air that quickly.

later,FNF
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[ocean]

I dont know about perch but when i used to fish in the ocean if you brought a fish up slowly it had a great chance of survival. I dont know if the same theory applies to fish that are brought up from deep lakes.
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[Gumbo]

Lake Trout have the ability to purge their air bladder. So bring them up slowly until you see the tell-tale bubbles. But perch, walleye, trout, and most other freshwater gamefish can't adjust. So the air in their air bladder expands, damaging their internal organs.

Read the reg's in the proclamation. It discusses this. And a responsible angler needs to know the reg's in order to stay within them. But basically, this time of year, plan on only keeping what you intend to eat. Then stop fishing or target another species.

[Fin-S-Fish]

Sorry but chances are your perch will die even if they seem to swim back. Not only is the popped up airbladder problematic, but blood chemistry changes will kill the fish after a few hours. That is why at Deer Creek the regs. call for no releasing of perch in the winter months when they are in deep water. It's like a scubadiving accident when the victim needs to be placed into a decompression chamber to recover. Unfortunately no such treatment for fish yet. Trout are okay to release though.
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