Yellow perch…

P

Pez Vela

Life of the Party
I talked to Mike (WDFW) about all the yellow perch in Quincy.. and he said apparently someone has dumped them into Quincy and Burke lakes. And… they have no plans to rotenone the lakes, because no one is making powdered rotenone anymore. Also.. the survival and growth of Rainbow Trout in Burke and Quincy would be poor due to the fact that they found Bullhead in Burke Lake in summer 2025.
Both lakes were scheduled to receive 1,500 1-pound Rainbow Trout from Trout Lodge before opening day, but their hatchery truck broke down and they were unable to stock the lakes. Aaaaargh…!
I suspect this may be the end to good trout fishing in those lakes.. there use to be some big rainbows to be found there…

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Pez Vela said:
I talked to Mike (WDFW) about all the yellow perch in Quincy.. and he said apparently someone has dumped them into Quincy and Burke lakes. And… they have no plans to rotenone the lakes, because no one is making powdered rotenone anymore. Also.. the survival and growth of Rainbow Trout in Burke and Quincy would be poor due to the fact that they found Bullhead in Burke Lake in summer 2025.
Both lakes were scheduled to receive 1,500 1-pound Rainbow Trout from Trout Lodge before opening day, but their hatchery truck broke down and they were unable to stock the lakes. Aaaaargh…!
I suspect this may be the end to good trout fishing in those lakes.. there use to be some big rainbows to be found there…

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Those are good eater size perch.
 
Wanative said:
Those are good eater size perch.
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Agreed, but unfortunately it's only a matter of time before they overpopulate and there's nothing but dinks.
Maybe the bucket bio's could throw in some Tiger Muskies or Pike. :unsure:
 
Options for “just trout” lakes in central WA with no special regs are dwindling. If you have a favorite, treasure it. The contrast with the BC interior is stark.

I do enjoy spinyrays for what they are but it’s harder to keep positive when a quality trout fishery is lost.
 
Pez Vela said:
I talked to Mike (WDFW) about all the yellow perch in Quincy.. and he said apparently someone has dumped them into Quincy and Burke lakes. And… they have no plans to rotenone the lakes, because no one is making powdered rotenone anymore. Also.. the survival and growth of Rainbow Trout in Burke and Quincy would be poor due to the fact that they found Bullhead in Burke Lake in summer 2025.
Both lakes were scheduled to receive 1,500 1-pound Rainbow Trout from Trout Lodge before opening day, but their hatchery truck broke down and they were unable to stock the lakes. Aaaaargh…!
I suspect this may be the end to good trout fishing in those lakes.. there use to be some big rainbows to be found there…

View attachment 179638View attachment 179631View attachment 179632View attachment 179633View attachment 179634
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I see that the boys fishing the Lenice/Nunnally chain are catching perch there as well. Does this signal an end to this treasured fishery or will WDFW plant catchables? (I think that's all they have done there for a number of years.) Blue and Park lakes have become quite the perch and smallmouth fisheries; WDFW has ceased planting fry in those two lakes, instead they plant catchables. Maybe there's a lunker or two in Blue or Park but last fall they certainly eluded me.

Nice perch, Steve!
 
Buzzy said:
I see that the boys fishing the Lenice/Nunnally chain are catching perch there as well. Does this signal an end to this treasured fishery or will WDFW plant catchables? (I think that's all they have done there for a number of years.) Blue and Park lakes have become quite the perch and smallmouth fisheries; WDFW has ceased planting fry in those two lakes, instead they plant catchables. Maybe there's a lunker or two in Blue or Park but last fall they certainly eluded me.

Nice perch, Steve!
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I really hate catchable lakes. At least with fry lakes some jumbos get through every now and then and grow large.
 
Bonneville or Lahontan Cutthroat would love to munch on those trash fish..just saying..
 
SilverFly said:
Hammer those tasty bastards hard to keep them in check!
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Need to organize a PNWFF fish fry! Set up a camp kitchen at Quincy, then everybody goes out, gets as many fat perch as possible and have a deep fried feast.
 
Harvest all the perch you want, they are excellent table fare!

That said there is no way that the recreation fleet can keep them in check to the point they don't hind the trout survival. Even a switch to catchables is not fool proof solution. Catchables will keep the fishery going though they will not produce as many "nice" fish.

curt
 
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What would the best flies / methods be if one were to intentionally target perch in the basin lakes?

I’m thinking a small jig type minnow imitation under and indicator, twitched back? Or maybe a similar minnow imitation on a clear intermediate (or deeper sink) stripped back.

Are these incidental perch getting picked up on chronomids?

Edit: I shoulda researched a bit first, found this thread from 2 years ago answers most of my questions:

SteelHeadDave

Thread 'Yellow Perch on the Fly'

Inspired by @SRCbum and the crappie/bluegill thread. I’ve never caught a yellow perch on the fly and I’m not sure I’ve ever caught one period. I often dream of having a panko panfish fish fry. This yearning pulls at me this time of year when I happen to catch the bulk of my spiny rays, though I have yet to commit to keeping any for the table.

That being said I really want to pursue yellow perch on the fly if possible. I’ve considered going the light gear route but I don’t think that would entertain me as much as a 3wt. I know people get them on chiros sometimes and I’m thinking...
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Merle said:
What would the best flies / methods be if one were to intentionally target perch in the basin lakes?

I’m thinking a small jig type minnow imitation under and indicator, twitched back? Or maybe a similar minnow imitation on a clear intermediate (or deeper sink) stripped back.

Are these incidental perch getting picked up on chronomids?
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They will happily eat your trout flies. Leeches are a good place to start.
 
Have done well with small woolly buggers fished on full sinking lines. Favorite color combination was a olive body with brown hackle and tail but have also done well with whites and yellows.

Early in the season (and it looks like those fish in the pictures have not yet spawned) typically find the perch in tight schools along the shoreline on 4-to-8-foot flats. They tend to be in tight schools with the males found shallower than the females. It may take some exploring to schools but once found they will often be in the same locations annually. Once the fish spawn (soon) they scatter and tend to found along bottom structure and edges of weed beds. The best fishing will often be mid-day and perch unlike many of our spiny rays are not active at night with the bite shutting down around dusk.

By far the best time of the year to catch a nice mess of perch is in the fall where once again they form large schools as the water temperature begins to drop. The schools show up on the depth finders as large stacks of fish and will move deeper as the water cools. The fish tend to school by size. When those schools are shallow fishing multiple flies (balance leeches, "mids", etc.) can be successful (adding a small piece of perch meat to the hook will not hurt). Once the fish move deeper fishing the same flies on a full sinking line cast out and allowed to swing through the school can be affective. Surprising give the abundance of perch in some of our lakes it takes more experimentation to get dial into a successful pattern than with trout. That said devoting the time need can result in the makings for a nice fish fry

Curt
 
Merle said:
What would the best flies / methods be if one were to intentionally target perch in the basin lakes?

I’m thinking a small jig type minnow imitation under and indicator, twitched back? Or maybe a similar minnow imitation on a clear intermediate (or deeper sink) stripped back.

Are these incidental perch getting picked up on chronomids?

Edit: I shoulda researched a bit first, found this thread from 2 years ago answers most of my questions:

SteelHeadDave

Thread 'Yellow Perch on the Fly'

Inspired by @SRCbum and the crappie/bluegill thread. I’ve never caught a yellow perch on the fly and I’m not sure I’ve ever caught one period. I often dream of having a panko panfish fish fry. This yearning pulls at me this time of year when I happen to catch the bulk of my spiny rays, though I have yet to commit to keeping any for the table.

That being said I really want to pursue yellow perch on the fly if possible. I’ve considered going the light gear route but I don’t think that would entertain me as much as a 3wt. I know people get them on chiros sometimes and I’m thinking...
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My best perch fly is a small yellow Clouser minnow.
 
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