Perch limit

[crf250xtom]

What you guys think is 15 too many?

[Elkaholic523]

Absolutely not leave it alone

[huntsfurfish]

Think slots would help, gotta keep the ones between 6" and 16".

[browning375]

Think slots would help, gotta keep the ones between 6" and 16".

Awsome!:sHa_shakeshout:

[Hunter Trav]

Think slots would help, gotta keep the ones between 6" and 16".

Already practicing...:sHa_shakeshout:

[huntsfurfish]

Already practicing...:sHa_shakeshout:

Good fisherman, keep practicing.:)

[Hunter Trav]

Good fisherman, keep practicing.:)

I actually do one better, I only take the 8"-12" ones, as usually thats all I run into...:sHa_sarcasticlol:

[flyguyd]

It used to be 25

[brobinson]

I believe it's either 30 or 50 in ontario

[Mike_W]

It used to be 25

I think it was 30 up here

[Levy]

Would be nice if our fisheries could handle harvests like Ontarios regulations allow but we have 800 lakes in alberta, and I believe Ontario has 250 000 lakes. I wouldn't be surprised if alberta has the smallest amount of water per angler in the country. Even with the 15 perch limit we still manage to fish out lakes.

There are already a few lakes in alberta with slot sizes for perch, and limits of 5. I won't be surprised if down the road most of alberta's lakes have limits of 10 or less. It wouldn't bother me if the limit was cut down. I only take what i need when it comes to perch, and thats three perch per person I plan to feed.

[huntsfurfish]

Would be nice if our fisheries could handle harvests like Ontarios regulations allow but we have 800 lakes in alberta, and I believe Ontario has 250 000 lakes. I wouldn't be surprised if alberta has the smallest amount of water per angler in the country. Even with the 15 perch limit we still manage to fish out lakes.

There are already a few lakes in alberta with slot sizes for perch, and limits of 5. I won't be surprised if down the road most of alberta's lakes have limits of 10 or less. It wouldn't bother me if the limit was cut down. I only take what i need when it comes to perch, and thats three perch per person I plan to feed.

Really?

[Walleyes]

I believe and correct me of I am wrong but Perch are a much faster reproducing fish and quicker maturing fish than our other game species. I do believe this is why the generous limit on them. If perch get in trouble in a lake that can make a come back quickly..

I think the possession limit is fine where it is..

[moosehead7]

Not looking to start a fight here, but i think this is what happened years ago with the whitefish in gull lake, everyone said 10 was good which i thought was crazy, then it went down to 5 a year or two ago and now it is 3. Hopefully the perch stay heavily populated and not turn out like the whitefish in gull IMHO.

[FishingFrenzy]

Would be nice if our fisheries could handle harvests like Ontarios regulations allow but we have 800 lakes in alberta, and I believe Ontario has 250 000 lakes. I wouldn't be surprised if alberta has the smallest amount of water per angler in the country. Even with the 15 perch limit we still manage to fish out lakes.

There are already a few lakes in alberta with slot sizes for perch, and limits of 5. I won't be surprised if down the road most of alberta's lakes have limits of 10 or less. It wouldn't bother me if the limit was cut down. I only take what i need when it comes to perch, and thats three perch per person I plan to feed.

Alberta does have the smallest amount of water per angler in the country.

Leave the perch limit alone, but I do encourage people to keep them from waterbodies where they don't belong. Trout ponds infested with them are a better place to keep perch, than from a place where they are valuable to the eco-system. JMHO

[Bound2Fish]

15... it should have be up to an unlimited amount based on the water body and fishery.

[huntsfurfish]

Alberta does have the smallest amount of water per angler in the country.

Leave the perch limit alone, but I do encourage people to keep them from waterbodies where they don't belong. Trout ponds infested with them are a better place to keep perch, than from a place where they are valuable to the eco-system. JMHO

I believe, many/all trout ponds with perch infestations have a 0 limit on perch.

[Levy]

I believe these lakes have these regulations to preserve the perch fisheries for guiding outfits, and locals. I wonder how the perch fishing is in there compared to most other albeta perch fisheries? last i heard Kimowin was still producing nice fish. My guess is Cowper is doing better than Wiau, and its closer to McMurray.

NB4
Cowper Lake
 May 15 to Mar. 31 – Pike limit 3 over 63 cm; Perch limit 5 (of which
only 1 can be greater than 30 cm).
 Apr. 1 to May 14 – CLOSED

Kimowin (Hook) Lake
 May 15 to Mar. 31 – Pike limit 3 (no size limit); Perch limit 5 (of
which only 1 can be greater than 30 cm).
 Apr. 1 to May 14 – CLOSED

Your right Walleyes, and thats a good point they can make a quick comeback. I just want to bring up the other side of things. If their is an ecological shift because of overfishing and they no longer occupy their original niche, a population could collapse, and a new equilibrium could be established. Tucker lake is a prime example of this IMO. When i was a kid we would go there every other week and catch 25 perch up to 14 inches. Now you might fish the same spots a few days and catch 100 pike but no perch. They are still in there and there a some dandies but you need your horse shoes, rabbit feet, and lucky shorts to find them.

I also want to point out that i don't care how many fish the gov allows us to keep, as long as its sustainable, and in many cases I don't think the current 15 is. In all honestly though how many lakes are there left that you can go to and catch 15 nice 11 and 12 inch perch. Never mind 25 like we used to do regularly?

[FishingFrenzy]

I believe, many/all trout ponds with perch infestations have a 0 limit on perch.

Some of them do, but certainly not all of them.

Definately a good idea to check the regs before you head out, but there are quite a few trout holes where you can keep perch, my favorite of which I will keep quiet, but lets just say theres a few west of Stony Plain...:)

[fish gunner]

I believe and correct me of I am wrong but Perch are a much faster reproducing fish and quicker maturing fish than our other game species. I do believe this is why the generous limit on them. If perch get in trouble in a lake that can make a come back quickly..

I think the possession limit is fine where it is..

I think you will find perch get to 6" in a few yrs . 12" takes many yrs . There is a both at the sports man's shows, can't remember the group . They have a perch growth chart, that if I remember correctly suggested 12"+ takes upwards of ten yrs.

[BeeGuy]

I think you will find perch get to 6" in a few yrs . 12" takes many yrs . There is a both at the sports man's shows, can't remember the group . They have a perch growth chart, that if I remember correctly suggested 12"+ takes upwards of ten yrs.

Growth rates are lake (ecosystem) dependent, I think you could easily divide that 10 yr estimate by 2 and be pretty close.

[fish gunner]

Growth rates are lake (ecosystem) dependent, I think you could easily divide that 10 yr estimate by 2 and be pretty close.

Can't give any thing to suggest you are right or wrong .BG. I am more than willing to accept that environment is certainly a huge factor on growth rate .

[BeeGuy]

Can't give any thing to suggest you are right or wrong .BG. I am more than willing to accept that environment is certainly a huge factor on growth rate .

lots of research on yellow perch. google provides a quick answer.

Here's a cool paper. (http://www.k-state.edu/fisheries/reprints/FMEyepexploit.pdf)

[Mutter87]

I voted for 5. Should have 10" max.

[Kim473]

Went to N.Buck last weekend. They lowered the limit from 15 to 10 this year. What a joke. With the camera down, you could see at least 10 small perch all around the hook all day long. You think that people only keeping 10 - 10" or bigger perch is going to make a differance. N.Buck has a slote size on pike, release all pike between 63 and 100 cm. These are the heavy feeding pike, think that does nothing to the perch populations.

They need to stop promoting walleye as every where the walleye population grows, the perch get fewer. I like walleye and perch, don't get me wrong. Just think if they promote walleye in a lake then they need to stock said lake with millions of feeder fish to help keep the perch populations up. Rather than lower the limits on perch, close them completly for a couple years in said lake.
Walleye eat the small perch, fisherman/woman catch and keep 5 or 10 of the bigger ones = no perch in 10 years.

EG... Calling Lake, Pigeon Lake are good examples. Not good for whites either.
I still believe that if you want to improve a fishery then close the lake completely for a couple of years to anglers. Let nature do its own thing.

NO ! Commercial, netting, either.

[Don Andersen]

Depends,

On some lakes like Phyllis, Twin & Cow lake the limit is ONE pickup box full and you don't leave till the box is full.
On lakes where perch are naturally present, the limit should be predicated on each lakes ability to maintain a balanced fishery between all fish.

Don

[FishingMOM]

I believe it's either 30 or 50 in ontario

50 on a sport license
25 on a conservation license.

[pikeslayer22]

I believe, many/all trout ponds with perch infestations have a 0 limit on perch.
obviously you have not been to the Vegreville trout pond

[Hunter Trav]

I believe and correct me of I am wrong but Perch are a much faster reproducing fish and quicker maturing fish than our other game species. I do believe this is why the generous limit on them. If perch get in trouble in a lake that can make a come back quickly..

I think the possession limit is fine where it is..

Relatively speaking yes they do IMO. A lake gets fished out, people forget about it for a few years, suddenly its a new perch hotspot again. Don't fish it often enough, the perch get stunted, and then you have a bazillion little perch in the lake. The remote lakes that have a good balance of predators will swing naturally, some years will be good, others not so much, but that's how nature plays and keeps the balance...

[huntsfurfish]

obviously you have not been to the Vegreville trout pond

Nope.

[Raith]

I think it should be a limit that you can keep fish under 11" and that 10 or 15 could probably stay with this type of slot. Perch reproduce fast but don't grow that fast after they hit about ten inches plus a cap on length gives lots of lakes a chance to recover trophy sized fish. As well as leaving the big spawners helps to raise total population. And on a side note it would also help to preserve genes of the faster growing fish while weeding out the slow growers.

[AK47]

Where is an option for 25 ( like in SK ) or more? 15 limit is nothing when you need to drive 300km to even find lake with decent perch.
Perch is one of the best tasting fish, but they are relatively small. 15 perch is not even enough for family of 4 for normal dinner. And if I want to start the smoker I would rather have at least 50 of them...( thanks Sundance:))

[EZM]

Sundance, Hasse, and a few other lakes should have a daily limit of one million per angler.

Like with any general question - limits depend on that watershed.

Balance is what is the goal. Perch just don't play nice when left alone with no Walleye or Pike to keep them in check.

Within 48 hours the population goes from one mating pair to 4 zillion stunted minnow sized striped piranhas.

[keep6matt]

Went to N.Buck last weekend. They lowered the limit from 15 to 10 this year. What a joke. With the camera down, you could see at least 10 small perch all around the hook all day long. You think that people only keeping 10 - 10" or bigger perch is going to make a differance. N.Buck has a slote size on pike, release all pike between 63 and 100 cm. These are the heavy feeding pike, think that does nothing to the perch populations.

They need to stop promoting walleye as every where the walleye population grows, the perch get fewer. I like walleye and perch, don't get me wrong. Just think if they promote walleye in a lake then they need to stock said lake with millions of feeder fish to help keep the perch populations up. Rather than lower the limits on perch, close them completly for a couple years in said lake.
Walleye eat the small perch, fisherman/woman catch and keep 5 or 10 of the bigger ones = no perch in 10 years.

EG... Calling Lake, Pigeon Lake are good examples. Not good for whites either.
I still believe that if you want to improve a fishery then close the lake completely for a couple of years to anglers. Let nature do its own thing.

NO ! Commercial, netting, either.

I agree 100%