perch growth rates

[Mat Hillman]

Anyone know how fast perch grow?

 

The pit I fished last winter produced a lot of perch around 1lb to 1.5lb. they all seemed to be young fish in very good condition, the water is a small fairly shallow gravel pit that is weedy and appeared quite rich in food - I'm wondering if some of them might have made it to the 2lb mark in a year, or if I should try exploring a different water this year and come back to that one in another 2/3 years time??

 

any ideas

Mat

[Phone]

Mat,

 

We have a different species on this side of the pond. However, I would think the dynamics of growth would probably be quite similar. Our perch in the 4 to 6 year range start feeding on fish, at which point growth becomes more rapid due to the much higher protein content in this fish-based diet. Our perch are quite cannibalistic so if they are all about the same size in any given water they almost always grow quit slowly. Big - little - - big - little are our most healthy fisheries.

Phone

Much like carp perch can overwhelm smaller ponds. Also, our perch don't handle extended periods of low dissolved oxygen so they don't do very well in the southern states.

[RUDD]

Anyone know how fast perch grow?

 

The pit I fished last winter produced a lot of perch around 1lb to 1.5lb. they all seemed to be young fish in very good condition, the water is a small fairly shallow gravel pit that is weedy and appeared quite rich in food - I'm wondering if some of them might have made it to the 2lb mark in a year, or if I should try exploring a different water this year and come back to that one in another 2/3 years time??

 

any ideas

Mat

They must have some bigger parents?

Live baits or 2 inch + Perch pattern shads may attract mama

[Steve Walker]

Perch populations tend to be cyclic, with weak and strong year classes (because predation from the strong year classes suppresses recruitment for a while by cannibalism and competition) so the bigger parent year class may be a lot more scarce than the fish Mat is catching.

[lutra]

Perch populations tend to be cyclic, with weak and strong year classes (because predation from the strong year classes suppresses recruitment for a while by cannibalism and competition) so the bigger parent year class may be a lot more scarce than the fish Mat is catching.

So going by that, if you have a year class showing prolifically would that not suggest it may be a good time to fish for a scarce but well feed bruiser of a parent perch?

[Steve Walker]

Quite possibly. But the presence of a strong and fast growing year class at the moment doesn't necessarily mean that there are good numbers of big fish left from previous year classes - it's not like you have a reliable pyramid shaped age structure. So I don't think catching lots of decent perch is as good an indicator of the chances of catching some really big ones as it might be with other species. Still, it's not a *bad* sign!

[Phone]

Lutra,

 

Our bigger perch move farther out on the flats when insect activity goes bonkers . Much of the year they have such a different diet than smaller perch. They travel in smaller packs, eat at different restaurants, march to a different drum beat. Does that mean you can catch them without interference? NO

 

Phone

Edit: If things get to bad you might have to fish for bigger perch in the middle of the day. They ain't scared.

Edited November 7, 2016 by Phone

[jaa]

Mat,

 

Why not fish it this year and see how big they are?

[Mat Hillman]

 

Mat,

 

Why not fish it this year and see how big they are?

Thats looking like the plan, but as someone with very limited fishing time available I'd rather try elsewhere if it was a definite no to them being significantly bigger this year

 

Livebaiting is banned on the water in question, my best results came from lobs and red maggot last year. had a few on prawns too.

 

I had heard rumours of several 3lb+ fish taken from the pit, which was what caught my interest in the first place, by the end of last season I was starting to suspect its one or two large fish mixed in with lots of average ones!

 

Mat

Edited November 9, 2016 by Mat Hillman

[Martin56]

Maybe spinning with an ABU Droppen type lure (especially one of the larger sizes) Might pick out some of the bigger fish.

 

They're available in varying coloured blade patterns as well as weights.

 

Tipping the above pattern with worms on the treble is an added attraction.

 

Light conditions may dictate the blade colour selection but It's the vibration thing that really does it.

Edited November 9, 2016 by Martin56