Official 2013 Lake Sundance Perch Removal Thread

[Sundancefisher]

The ice is off and the water is warming

Soon there will be lots of baby perch a swarming

And so guess how many and place your bets

As to how many perch will be in the fyke nets


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I have set 4 nets and can work this a few ways. Depending upon my schedule I will pull nets likely this Wed, Fri at 6 pm and Sun morning at 10 am. If a family group want a pile of perch or a group of friends I need at least 6-7 people. 3 in the boat pulling nets and a few on shore bonking and counting.

I can also do as before with a generic call out for interested volunteers wanting some to share and take home. I won't take a share.

There are thousands in the shallows right now and spawning will occur soon if it keeps warming. I am expecting thousands in the first net pulls.

All perch must go. If you don't know what this is about please feel free to search past threads on lake sundance in Calgary. Quick summary is our lake was vandalized with illegal introduction of perch. They breed out of control, quickly over populate, take over space and food resources and are not eaten by trout as Pike and walleye evolved to eat the spiny water rats...rather than trout. Therefore we are artificially acting like predators. There are so many that angling is not enough. They also stunt such that the largest perch will soon oh be 5 inches making it a useless fishery.

Watch here for further info if interested.

Sun

P.S. don't transport live fish...it is a disaster for recreational sport fishing.

[Northern Yaker]

Are you allowed to net them??

[Sundancefisher]

Lots of AOF members have come out making these bettongs a fun social gathering. You can see how netting is done. The benefit of a giant pail of perch to take home is a big plus also.

Perch counters and bonkers needed on shore. Some day we should solicit people to bring deep fryers, catch a mess if perch, clean and make it a family fish an chip and beach day!

[Sundancefisher]

Are you allowed to net them??

Pretty sure I can.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWettAsz22I

[MtnGiant]

Put them in a segregted pond....Perch Only.

[Sundancefisher]

Put them in a segregted pond....Perch Only.

Careful. People say you are perchist... Don't prove em right.

[Sundancefisher]

Took a look at one trap and I see a bunch of perch in it all ready.

[HuyFishin]

Drop 20 pike in there and call it a day lol the pik can have a feast lol

[Sundancefisher]

Thursday at 6 pm will be the first net pulls of the season. Please post if you want to come and give it a try.

63 Suncrest Way SE Calgary, AB T2X 1T9

6 pm.

I can use 3 people with waders or shorts that are not afraid of a little cool water.

I can use a number of people on shore bonking perch, counting and sorting. All perch need to go so bring buckets or heavy duty bags.

I am anticipating a lot of perch tomorrow.

After this Spring's netting I will invite volunteers and their families back for a nice warm sunny summer beach day. A bonus on top of the perch people will be eating.

The big spawning females should be starting to migrate to the shallows now.

[catchandeat]

My dad and I helped out last year in the boat with the nets... we'd definitely love to come again this year! If you need some people helping with the nets tomorrow, we can most likely come!

[Sundancefisher]

My dad and I helped out last year in the boat with the nets... we'd definitely love to come again this year! If you need some people helping with the nets tomorrow, we can most likely come!

Come on out. Look forward to seeing you both again.

:sHa_shakeshout:

[walking buffalo]

You can count me in for tomorrow, willing to swim for my dinner.

Thanks Sun.

[Sundancefisher]

You can count me in for tomorrow, willing to swim for my dinner.

Thanks Sun.

Awesome!

[BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES]

SundanceFisher you have done one hell of a job cleaning that lake up , well done buddy . If I wasn't so far away id come down and help out in a heart beat . Looking to forward to see the difference in size this spring . I bet there shall be some nice perch in there now .

[baitfisher83]

If I could get there I would be interested, been a while since I've been to one of these things, missing my perch fixes..lol

[Sundancefisher]

SundanceFisher you have done one hell of a job cleaning that lake up , well done buddy . If I wasn't so far away id come down and help out in a heart beat . Looking to forward to see the difference in size this spring . I bet there shall be some nice perch in there now .

Sometimes I feel like a little Dutch boy standing in front of a cracking dam full of perch with a little aquarium net in hand.

While numbers do not appear to be shrinking... I could argue perch are bigger. What I need is a beach seine and a sign up sheet. Then invite anyone in Calgary to fill their freezer with perch and release trout. I wonder if that would work.

[Sundancefisher]

Depending upon catch rates I may pull nets again on Saturday afternoon and/or Sunday morning.

[Sundancefisher]

Perch removal day. I am expecting a record haul.

[goflamesgo]

Hi Sundancefisher,

I was wondering if you were looking for more volunteers tonight. There's 2 of us that have been interested the last couple of years but keep forgetting until the pictures get posted.

[dvers749]

hey sundance ill come by tonight to see if you guys need a hand, would be pretty fun to do this. ill bring my waders and stuff too.

[walking buffalo]

Perch removal day. I am expecting a record haul.

Prophetic. :scared:

[Sundancefisher]

Prophetic. :scared:

It far exceeded my definition of "record".

[walking buffalo]

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/yy10/keetspics/20130509_185720.jpg (http://s772.photobucket.com/user/keetspics/media/20130509_185720.jpg.html)

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/yy10/keetspics/20130509_183926.jpg (http://s772.photobucket.com/user/keetspics/media/20130509_183926.jpg.html)



About half of the haul.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/yy10/keetspics/20130509_195901.jpg (http://s772.photobucket.com/user/keetspics/media/20130509_195901.jpg.html)

[Sundancefisher]

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/yy10/keetspics/20130509_185720.jpg (http://s772.photobucket.com/user/keetspics/media/20130509_185720.jpg.html)

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/yy10/keetspics/20130509_183926.jpg (http://s772.photobucket.com/user/keetspics/media/20130509_183926.jpg.html)



About half of the haul.

http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/yy10/keetspics/20130509_195901.jpg (http://s772.photobucket.com/user/keetspics/media/20130509_195901.jpg.html)

Yup...caught almost as many perch in 1 day that 6 weeks of netting the first year.

Sign. Great life lesson for outdoorsmen.

People...don't stock perch in trout lakes. It is an unmitigated disaster as proven here.

[SCHOOCH]

That is absolutely unbelievable how it went from probably 10 being introduced to a million...........when did you 1st start noticing that perch were put into the lake by the way?????

[BeeGuy]

Brutal.

Throw a couple pike in there...

[Sundancefisher]

That is absolutely unbelievable how it went from probably 10 being introduced to a million...........when did you 1st start noticing that perch were put into the lake by the way?????

about 14 years ago there were lots...not this many but big ones. Now tons but much smaller on average. We seemed to get the sizes up but now experiencing a boom of small males.

[Sundancefisher]

Saturday May 11, 2013 netting will go again. No need to PM me...you can just show up. If we get a ton again there are lots to go around. Hopefully we will see some large females show up in the net. They should be looking to spawn right now.

Bring lots of buckets to take fish home with!

[Mark]

That's incredible. Who's ever initially responsible for dumping the perch should be hung up by his short hairs!

[Sundancefisher]

That's incredible. Who's ever initially responsible for dumping the perch should be hung up by his short hairs!

Yup...just under 30,000 perch removed from 4 nets after a 3 day set.

[BeeGuy]

30k?

Man oh man.

[FishingMOM]

Lots of AOF members have come out making these bettongs a fun social gathering. You can see how netting is done. The benefit of a giant pail of perch to take home is a big plus also.

Perch counters and bonkers needed on shore. Some day we should solicit people to bring deep fryers, catch a mess if perch, clean and make it a family fish an chip and beach day!

Remember 2 springs ago some of us did bring food and the kids and I did BBQ perch on the spot and the kids did eat :sHa_shakeshout::sHa_shakeshout::sHa_shakeshout:

[Sundancefisher]

I hope people can come out tomorrow at 2 pm and pull 3 traps and share in the bounty. I am hoping the big females are coming in the next batch!

[catchandeat]

Was definitely a great time had by all. Definitely worth going out, it's a blast! Hopefully you guys get a ton more out to prevent more stunting, cause it was stupid how many we caught. My dad and I will definitely be back out in the future sometime. :sHa_shakeshout:

[Daceminnow]

Yup...just under 30,000 perch removed from 4 nets after a 3 day set.


Sun. Incredible and very sad. You know I've helped you out in the past few years pulling nets, so don't get me wrong here. I agree with your efforts and realize what a disaster an evasive introduction can do. I need to ask. You've done you're part here at attempting to control this mess for several years. Are you spinning your wheels? You may have mentioned this before, but I can't remember your reasoning against a complete kill of the lake and a fresh start. Was is the cost? Looking at the pictures posted here of this first pull of the year, you'd think no one has done the immense amount of work and effort you've put into this lake. Why not wipe the slate clean? The newly stocked rainbows will grow again. At this rate it's just a maintenance program. Control the numbers without ever bringing the lake back to the trout only fishery it was intended to be.

Dace

[walking buffalo]

Dace,

IIRC, Sun has campaigned a fresh start to this fishery, but has been unsuccessful in getting community approval to use retenone. Many people just don't understand the effects when perch are introduced to such an ecosystem and refuse to accept the solution.

I wish that I took pictures of the trout that were trapped. Hopefully someone helping out tomorrow will do so. A couple of years ago these trout were fat. That was not the case with the majority of the trout I saw yesterday.

Sun, perhaps it is time to let the perch win, for now. Sometimes the problem has to get intolerable before the majority of people will take action. When the trout become so skinny and cannot grow, then the community as a whole may finally accept it is time to start over.

[Sundancefisher]

I am pulling the traps at 2 pm today. Maybe for the last time this year. Time will tell. Still it is interesting and fun to see how this works.

Maybe what we need is a commercial processor that will cover the cost of hiring someone to harvest all year?

There has to be a market for baby salt and pepper perch on rice or pech cakes or deep fried perch on a stick.

[catchandeat]

Wish I would have got a picture of the big trout we caught in the net that got a free haircut! Those perch fins are nasty. I can't honestly believe how the trout aren't starving to death.
I'll see if I cant get some of the crappy ipod quality pictures I took uploaded.

[Sundancefisher]

at 2 pm we are netting again today. Hope to see many out there wanting perch to take home. If you have waders bring them. The beach is right by where we process the fish so bringing the wife and kids is OK by me.

Cheers

Sun

[Badback]

A couple more photos from Thursday...

http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww61/Badback60/0081024x768640x480_zpscc67f98e.jpg


http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww61/Badback60/0091024x758640x473_zpsd35b53c1.jpg


http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww61/Badback60/0141024x851640x532_zps69445705.jpg


http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww61/Badback60/0251024x768640x480_zps1a6ae2a6.jpg

[Sundancefisher]

5400 more perch today and I pulled the traps. Over 35000 caught in 5 days.

[the local angler]

dammit i wish i new about it wish i was there. serves me right for being on the golf coarse lol hopefully i will see the next one man thats a ton of perch

[Sundancefisher]

dammit i wish i new about it wish i was there. serves me right for being on the golf coarse lol hopefully i will see the next one man thats a ton of perch

If anyone wants a boat load of perch to take away I would be willing to help them out.

[Garry B]

A couple more photos from Thursday...

http://i706.photobucket.com/albums/ww61/Badback60/0251024x768640x480_zps1a6ae2a6.jpg

That's incredible. So many and they all look about the same size. What year class do you think these are? Maybe 2-3 years olds?

[angrybeaver]

Hi Sundancefisher,

Not sure if all the perch are gone yet. If you still have a bunch, I'll take some off your hands. Just PM me as I'll be working in the south end of Calgary this week. I'll send you my cell number if there are no more takers.

[the local angler]

x2 for me as well i am free after 4pm ish

[BeeGuy]

Those pics just have me shaking my head.

Brutal.

On the bright side, maybe you got them all in one go...

[baitfisher83]

I wish I could have been there for this, I don't think the numbers ever hit that high when I have come for it. Any lunkers in the spread?

[Logan]

I would love to get some perch back in Chestermere Lake, by legal means obviously but I would be scared something like this may happen.

It's unreal that a single person or small group of people can cause this much damage to an ecosystem.

[baitfisher83]

I would love to get some perch back in Chestermere Lake, by legal means obviously but I would be scared something like this may happen.

It's unreal that a single person or small group of people can cause this much damage to an ecosystem.

People keep saying there are still perch in there, I've never seen anyone reel one in though