Wildlife Watching Wednesday: A School of Yellow Perch

By: Tom Berg

One very popular fish in much of the United States is the yellow perch (Perca flavescens). They are easily recognized by their pale golden-yellow body color and the dark vertical stripes on their sides. Also called lake perch, striped perch and ringed perch, these tasty freshwater fish have been a favorite dinner entrée in local restaurants for decades. 

Perch will eat almost anything they can fit in their mouth. Baby perch feed on zooplankton, but as they grow larger they start eating small aquatic worms and insects, too. Adult perch eat minnows and other small fish, crayfish, freshwater shrimp and even other small perch. Fishermen usually use minnows or worms for bait when targeting them.

Yellow perch are a schooling fish, which means they often travel in large groups (or schools) of similar-sized fish, sometimes numbering in the thousands. Anglers pursue these popular sportfish all year long, during warmer open-water seasons and in the winter via icefishing. Look for weeds and underwater vegetation and fish near the bottom for the best chance of success. Be forewarned that perch are expert bait-stealers, though, so use light line to help detect their subtle bites.

Although most perch caught by fishermen measure between 7-12 inches long, they can grow to larger sizes when conditions are right. Fish in the 14-16 inch range are considered trophy size, and anything larger is really exceptional. The world record yellow perch was caught back in 1865 in New Jersey and weighed 4 pounds, 3 ounces (18 inches long). It remains the longest-standing freshwater fish record in North America.

Perch can be caught from many local inland waters, but some of the best lakes to catch them from are also the biggest.  Among the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan and Lake Erie are hard to beat for numbers of perch.  But there are plenty of other excellent lakes, too.  One of the best is Devil’s Lake in North Dakota.  It covers more than 160,000 acres and is known as the “Perch Capital of the World”.  Maybe it’s time for a yellow perch road trip!

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