Perch Slot Size

[Kim473]

Would you support a slot size on Perch if it would give us a better fishery?
I think a slot size on them would be a good idea as small ones would be taken and the mid sized ones would be allowed to grow to a larger size then harvested. Its my understanding that perch only survive about 10 years and then they go to the large canning plant in the sky, or dinner for a large pike.

[BeeGuy]

You would have to be more specific, because the food web ecology of perch baring lakes is not equal.

Some lakes can grow large perch, some cannot.

Overall I'm not sure perch fishery management would lead to people being able to catch a limit of jumbo's more easily than they can now.

[fish gunner]

hay great idea, think the size limit mite need changed not every lake is the same. but you are on the right track, one solution I can sugesst would be a perch tag like walleye tag but the tag would allow the use of chum eg: euro match fishing style on lakes that stunt with the use of a. keep net to control fish # s and introduced food to grow bigger perch just an idea

[OttCan]

Why put a slot size on perch when most people won't abide by the law, on a good day?

I grew up in Eastern Ontario, where going out and catching 100's of perch in a matter of hours and of sizes into the 15" realm. There's no slot size in Ontario for perch, actually they are grouped in with bluegills and crappie, on most lakes, in the panfish group of our regulations. Usually with a limit of 15, give or take a few.

Out there the perch are in every body of water, and are always a blast to catch on ultra light gear, as well as with kids. Perch never seem to die off or lose the size or population of them, from year to year, they may move to a new spot on that particular lake. I've found the perch aren't picky when it comes to who they hang out with, whether it be crappie or bass or carp or walleye or pike, even though the latter two would love to eat them. Lol.

Since I've moved out here I'm still learning a lot of new regulations and such, as well as why perch are so hard to find, I'll give a few tips, find a shallow weed edge, drop down a genz bug, Frostee jig, hexi fly, anything really, tip it with a pinhead minnow, gulp maggots, fishfry, honey worm, etc. this is where a flasher can really come in handy too, as you lower your bait, let it fall right to the bottom, then slowly jig it up and hold it just about the decaying Vegetation and wiggle it a bit, it's like a secret code to perch...they will come in as a pack of wolves and fight over your bait!

Youll notice that it may take a few tries to get the first one, but once you do, your sonar will look like a Christmas tree. And when that happens, it will be time to hone your perch slaying skills!

Well looks as though I got things a little off topic, oops, but in the end I don't think you need to put slot sizes on perch, it just doesn't seem worth it to me. Instead, take that money and put it into more CO's or F&W, and put a presence on the water, launches, etc. that's the only way people will understand that the laws aren't just there for the sake of having, but that they actually serve a purpose!!

Sorry for the long post,

C.

[fish gunner]

Why put a slot size on perch when most people won't abide by the law, on a good day?

I grew up in Eastern Ontario, where going out and catching 100's of perch in a matter of hours and of sizes into the 15" realm. There's no slot size in Ontario for perch, actually they are grouped in with bluegills and crappie, on most lakes, in the panfish group of our regulations. Usually with a limit of 15, give or take a few.

Out there the perch are in every body of water, and are always a blast to catch on ultra light gear, as well as with kids. Perch never seem to die off or lose the size or population of them, from year to year, they may move to a new spot on that particular lake. I've found the perch aren't picky when it comes to who they hang out with, whether it be crappie or bass or carp or walleye or pike, even though the latter two would love to eat them. Lol.

Since I've moved out here I'm still learning a lot of new regulations and such, as well as why perch are so hard to find, I'll give a few tips, find a shallow weed edge, drop down a genz bug, Frostee jig, hexi fly, anything really, tip it with a pinhead minnow, gulp maggots, fishfry, honey worm, etc. this is where a flasher can really come in handy too, as you lower your bait, let it fall right to the bottom, then slowly jig it up and hold it just about the decaying Vegetation and wiggle it a bit, it's like a secret code to perch...they will come in as a pack of wolves and fight over your bait!

Youll notice that it may take a few tries to get the first one, but once you do, your sonar will look like a Christmas tree. And when that happens, it will be time to hone your perch slaying skills!

Well looks as though I got things a little off topic, oops, but in the end I don't think you need to put slot sizes on perch, it just doesn't seem worth it to me. Instead, take that money and put it into more CO's or F&W, and put a presence on the water, launches, etc. that's the only way people will understand that the laws aren't just there for the sake of having, but that they actually serve a purpose!!

Sorry for the long post,

C.

well said more CO's can never be a bad thing .thing I dont get why their budget being cut again ,what we out of money. I feel Albertas DFO has serious issues. and as we can see on this thread anglers are very divided. I just know something in way out of whack in albertas fisheries

[Garry B]

I am not a biologist so please bear that in mind. I start with some basic information.

- Perch are prolific breeders.
- Perch will overpopulate and stunt in the absence of predation.
- Big perch are highly sought and not easy to find in Alberta.
- Perch are yummy and I want to catch and eat them.

So, in the absence of pike or walleye (I've watched a heron or something eat lots too) perch will stunt, and in lakes with an observed stunted condition humans should be encouraged to catch the h**l out of them (play role of pike) in hopes - maybe futile hopes - of bringing their numbers down to a point where there are fewer and the ones that remain could grow to a decent size after which the catch limits would be reduced. Once a lake stunts there should be no limit to the numbers of perch that can be kept and people should actually be encouraged to not return any caught fish to the water.

Are there problems with the above? Yes - it's easy to point them out, but the fact is the only way to get them to grow is to thin them out. Even with such a policy it may not even be possible to do so by angling alone.

Personally, knowing the state of Alberta's lake and the ratio of fishers to lakes I would not feel good about keeping 15 jumbos. Would I like to? Yes, it would be heaven. But I realize it's not possible for many people to do that for very long before the big ones are gone and then no one can do it anymore. So I don't need to catch jumbos to be happy.

Can't pack up and move to Ontario just for perch fishing. Rats! :(

[mulecrazy]

Can anyone say trickle down effect? If you screw up the predators you screw up the prey, very very simple. Fix the mess our pike fishery has become and you will fix the perch problem. In lakes without pike, good luck with that. unless you can convince everyone to keep 40 3" perch, it is tough to bring the size up.

[highwood]

It really depends on the body of water. Some places just can't grow large perch, regardless of predation. Others can be all out perch factories. Just ask anyone that fished Missawawi in the eighties....

[OttCan]

I think that if perch were introduced to some smaller lakes that only have a few species in them, that are a predatory species, I think it would improve the fishery, angler success, etc.. Then again, I'm relatively new to Alberta.

[stinkynuts]

My thoughts are the SRD does an ok job but they have very limited resoures and man power we have to LIMIT OUR SELFS we can not go out and catch the limits set for for us by the SRD and expect fishing to sustanie and or get better if we as outoors pepole keep it our young will have very little to look forward to even a fish speices like perch have to be monitored very closely or sorry boys all you are going to catchis 6in perch all day long . we you go fishing you should keep 1 good meal for your family and practice catch and relise untill that meal is gone . and like i said before just becuse you leave the lake with or under your limit does not me you are not poaching if you have fish in the frezzer that would add up to put you over your posseion limt what's in your freezer counts toward your possenion limit .

[fish gunner]

the reason I pointed out a euro style match fishing . we fish for a set time 2-4-6 hrs then at the end of that time you get your weight useing huge keep nets .if we change the format a little. sort out the good size fish and return them. we can remove hundreds even thousands of pounds of uesless fish, all the while feeding the lake hundereds of pounds of high protein food. I once seen a match won by a dutch fellow 30 lbs in 4 hrs mostly perch under 6" second place had five 5lbs carp! oh the look on his face lol

[horsetrader]

My thoughts are the SRD does an ok job but they have very limited resoures and man power we have to LIMIT OUR SELFS we can not go out and catch the limits set for for us by the SRD and expect fishing to sustanie and or get better if we as outoors pepole keep it our young will have very little to look forward to even a fish speices like perch have to be monitored very closely or sorry boys all you are going to catchis 6in perch all day long . we you go fishing you should keep 1 good meal for your family and practice catch and relise untill that meal is gone . and like i said before just becuse you leave the lake with or under your limit does not me you are not poaching if you have fish in the frezzer that would add up to put you over your posseion limt what's in your freezer counts toward your possenion limit .

I don't think limiting the amount of perch you take home will reduce the stunting of the perch. There are other provinces that have limits of 50 and they still produce fantastic size perch because the numbers are kept down.
The waters can only sustain a certain number at a certain size.

[fish gunner]

I don't think limiting the amount of perch you take home will reduce the stunting of the perch. There are other provinces that have limits of 50 and they still produce fantastic size perch because the numbers are kept down.
The waters can only sustain a certain number at a certain size.

think out side the box, if I used match tactics on open water eg putting in a pint of maggots per hr just to keep fish in front of my spot and if one uses a canal pole dont even cast just feed and pull out untold lbs of perch that you can kull,sort out larger 1% to release and I put thousands of calories of food in the lake presto, super perch.it is done all over europe but not usually to kull and control.they have suckers that would embarrass a trout, perhaps not as jumpy.but almost every body of water there is managed just a differnt way. of doing things that we dont see every day.

[horsetrader]

think out side the box, if I used match tactics on open water eg putting in a pint of maggots per hr just to keep fish in front of my spot and if one uses a canal pole dont even cast just feed and pull out untold lbs of perch that you can kull,sort out larger 1% to release and I put thousands of calories of food in the lake presto, super perch.it is done all over europe but not usually to kull and control.they have suckers that would embarrass a trout, perhaps not as jumpy.but almost every body of water there is managed just a differnt way. of doing things that we dont see every day.

What dose this have to do with the limiting or not limiting the number of perch one should be able to take. Its ok to post but it should be in contented with the thread.

[slough shark]

perch limits are very lake dependent, some can take the harvest, some can't, some lakes get stunted and in these lakes there ought to be no limit, others ought to be limited even more, this would be much better than the blanket approach that they use on most of the lakes.

[Kim473]

Just coureous as to why most do not agree with the slot size? You would still be able to catch your fish while allowing the perch to get bigger and thining out the smaller ones.

[crownb]

Every lake would have to have different rules and that just doesn't work.I am also tired of all of this managing and then one day you wake up and the lake is winter killed,such a waste.

[mulecrazy]

Just coureous as to why most do not agree with the slot size? You would still be able to catch your fish while allowing the perch to get bigger and thining out the smaller ones.

Because it won't work... period. there are many more reasons for stunted perch, and adding more legislation will not do a darn thing.

[fish gunner]

I feel you slot size is a fantastic idea with a little fine tuning, it works well on many other bodies of water on many different species and as so is used successfuly every where. if we look at previous post we see a resistance to change. this short sighted approach perhaps is why or perch fishery is in a dismal way. in my opinion a well managed mixed fishery is the goal we could aim for these, exist all over the world and with a little effort and forthought would be possible in a short period of time on most if not all of albertas bodies of water.I am sure I may have over looked some factors but if one looked the problem we missed is being overcome by some one some where. I would begin by netting and studing each lake after netting use match tactics to remove fish that missed the nets. small opening nets would in sure low mortality the fish can then be placed in pens by species. and returned as required to start a balanced ecosystem capable of producing a great sport fisher for all. oh one more thing we can now use the pen stocks of fish to seed empty bodies of water throughout the province and remember we are the richest 1% on the planet so now we just need to be smart

[mapleleafman3]

Slot limit on perch??? Really. Measuring in millimeters? not very practical. I moved up from Minnesota and the perch in Alberta are minnows. I'm used to the average being 10-12 inches I have yet to see one over 10 inches in southern AB. Not sure about around Edmonton but Red Deer south there are hardly any decent perch to be found. Everything I have caught has been release because it was to small to bother trying to fillet. Where are the good perch?

[fish gunner]

in ma belly. yes you are correct there is a lot of work for little reward south of red deer . mention has been made of a private lake? down south reputed to hold what you would call keepers. I know sylvan also has a few but its a lot of work,1 over 11" in a half dozen trips. may the flavens be with you

[AK47]

Why we even have a limit on Perch? There is no way you can fish them out, just ask Sundancefisher how no limit and netting working in Sundance lake.
I say increase limits to 30 at least, now limits like 5 in Burnstick make me scratch my head, why would I drive 2 hr to catch 100-200 perch to only keep 5?

[fish gunner]

I under stand your frustration .burnstick is my home water for perch. for my group of friends we pool our limits and send one person home with with a limit of the largest fish. this seem to work everybody in turn gets a decent feed once in a while and no one seems to mind. and you can still take home a limit if you are not to picky.we all take a limit of tiny fish.to do our part at getting small fish out of the lake. how we work it is we fish till there is a limit 5 nine inch fish on the ice then we keep one spare limit empty as every one fishes out the day we then start filling limits of the smallest fish. no fish are wasted to my knowledge. and we do our bit to manage the lake 5 good fish taken for 20 + small fish out if every group worked this way our lakes would be better off in my opinion. it is the lack of responsible anglers in our province that has caused these issues in the first place.at one time burnstick produced monster perch. then the perch were hammered by anglers producing the marginal fishery we have there now. no one to blame but our selves.

[horsetrader]

I feel you slot size is a fantastic idea with a little fine tuning, it works well on many other bodies of water on many different species and as so is used successfuly every where. if we look at previous post we see a resistance to change. this short sighted approach perhaps is why or perch fishery is in a dismal way. in my opinion a well managed mixed fishery is the goal we could aim for these, exist all over the world and with a little effort and forthought would be possible in a short period of time on most if not all of albertas bodies of water.I am sure I may have over looked some factors but if one looked the problem we missed is being overcome by some one some where. I would begin by netting and studing each lake after netting use match tactics to remove fish that missed the nets. small opening nets would in sure low mortality the fish can then be placed in pens by species. and returned as required to start a balanced ecosystem capable of producing a great sport fisher for all. oh one more thing we can now use the pen stocks of fish to seed empty bodies of water throughout the province and remember we are the richest 1% on the planet so now we just need to be smart

And where do you expect to get all the money to do all this netting and studying when there is barely enough money to employ officers to patrol the waters as it is..........

[fish gunner]

And where do you expect to get all the money to do all this netting and studying when there is barely enough money to employ officers to patrol the waters as it is..........

you have a very good point. I feel this shows the general state of mind by out province. one suggestion money from fines associated to offences by sport fishermen. another, charity derbys held on lakes prior to the introduction of my system.huge fines and I mean millions from industrial offences such as the bird incident at the tar sands or any oil spill in our province and that is off the top of my head

[horsetrader]

you have a very good point. I feel this shows the general state of mind by out province. one suggestion money from fines associated to offences by sport fishermen. another, charity derbys held on lakes prior to the introduction of my system.huge fines and I mean millions from industrial offences such as the bird incident at the tar sands or any oil spill in our province and that is off the top of my head

People for years have been trying to access that money to help offset projects and increase field agents and it has never worked.....

[fish gunner]

yes you are right this shows the general state of our provincial goverments views on sports fishing as whole and their lack of intrest in water shed management policy sad really. but you and I are prime example how difficult it is to bring stake holders in to agreement on this issue. thank you for this civil conversation on this thread