02-12-2009, 02:39 AM
Hi Kevin,
Accoding to Fish and Game Mud Lake winter- killed but they said not all of the perch are lost.
A little biology might help you get a picture of the condition Mud Lake is probably in right now. Here goes:
Perch broadcast there eggs over plant material or other structure in floating egg masses in April. Of course like most fish fry that hatch of many species, they seek cover in dense plant material (weeds underwater is an example) for safety from predators. Red Leech mentioned the weeds are absent and so this would leave any fry hatched out spring of 2007 in an easy state to be consumed by predators. This is good and bad. Winter kill helps to act as a natural controlling factor in keeping perch numbers down so the remaining perch have more food in order to grow faster and attain a larger size. The downside is it might take awhile for the perch population to bounce back, two to four years.
Yellow perch as a species is very popular in eastern and south central Idaho and northern Utah. Because of this it is found in a number of the reservoirs in the region. The following bodies of water to my knowledge contain yellow perch to be caught: Magic reservoir, Carey Lake, Mud Lake, Ririe reservoir, Blackfoot reservoir, American Falls and Walcott reservoirs, Alexander reservoir, Oneida Narrows res., Weston reservoir, Glendale, Johnson, Lamont, Winder and Twin Lakes reservoirs.
Populations of perch within a specific body of water are cyclic, meaning the total amount of perch in a body of water rises and falls throughout the years. This can be due to winterkill, predation from predators such as the walleye species of fish or unfavorable weather or other conditions that limit the success of spawning in a given year. This in turn translates into low numbers of catchable fish of a desirable size four or five years after a particular year class is spawned. If there is a very successful spawn and all goes well, there will be larger numbers of bigger fish down the road. If you are really interested in pursuing yellow perch say in the 7 to 12 inch range and are willing to travel a ways to fish for them, keep an ear out as to where one or two particular bodies of water are producing fish of that size in good numbers.
It seems almost every year one or two lakes in the area produces well for one or two years and then they fall off and another reservoir picks up where they left off.
Let me illustrate or give real examples in the area:
Year Reservoir Size
early 50's Am Falls res. 12" common, some 14"
1974 Carey Lake 7-9" avg.
1980 Roberts Gravel Pond 7-9" avg
1989 Am Falls reservoir 8-9" some 12"
1990 Johnson reservoir 7-10"
1992 Nash reservoir 8-10" reported
1993 Stone reservoir 8" avg.
1993 Weston reservoir 8"
1994 Lamont res. a few 10-12" perch
1994 Winder res. 8-9"
1994 Weston res. 8-10", some 12"
1995 Ririe reservoir 8-10" avg.
1995 St. Johns res. 8" avg.
1995 Weston res. 8" avg.
1996 Weston res. 8-10" avg. some 12"
1996 Ririe res. 7-8 " avg.
1996 Lamont res. some 10-12"
1996 Carey Lake 7-8" avg., some 10"
1997 Weston res. 11-12" very few tho.
1998 Weston res. 8-9" avg., occassinal 12"
2003 Magic res. 8-10" perch
2004 Magic res. 8-10" perch common
2005 Magic res. 8-12" common, occasional 14" perch.
2006 Mud Lake 8-10" perch, some 12" winter killed Jan. 2007
2007 Twin Lakes res. 8-10", some 12 perch
2007 Alexander res. 7" perch common.
2008 Ririe res. 7-8 " avg., some 10-12"
2008 Aleander res. 7" avg., some bigger.
As you can see a person has to look around and keep an eye and ear out for where the bigger perch are being caught as it varies widely from year to year.
A few years ago I talked to an Idaho fisheries biologist about how come yellow perch never seemed to over populate in Westion reservoir in the Malad area and Johnson reservoir in the Preston area. He said they believe it was due to periodic winter kill that kept the perch numbers down to a reasonale level.
Hope I have been helpful. Ririe seems to be a moderate producer this year and Roberts Gravel pond is teaming with 3-5" fish with some in the 6" range. Good luck fishing for perch.
DeeCee
I fish not because I like the cold, but because it is the only time I can impress my wife, by walking on water.
[signature]
Accoding to Fish and Game Mud Lake winter- killed but they said not all of the perch are lost.
A little biology might help you get a picture of the condition Mud Lake is probably in right now. Here goes:
Perch broadcast there eggs over plant material or other structure in floating egg masses in April. Of course like most fish fry that hatch of many species, they seek cover in dense plant material (weeds underwater is an example) for safety from predators. Red Leech mentioned the weeds are absent and so this would leave any fry hatched out spring of 2007 in an easy state to be consumed by predators. This is good and bad. Winter kill helps to act as a natural controlling factor in keeping perch numbers down so the remaining perch have more food in order to grow faster and attain a larger size. The downside is it might take awhile for the perch population to bounce back, two to four years.
Yellow perch as a species is very popular in eastern and south central Idaho and northern Utah. Because of this it is found in a number of the reservoirs in the region. The following bodies of water to my knowledge contain yellow perch to be caught: Magic reservoir, Carey Lake, Mud Lake, Ririe reservoir, Blackfoot reservoir, American Falls and Walcott reservoirs, Alexander reservoir, Oneida Narrows res., Weston reservoir, Glendale, Johnson, Lamont, Winder and Twin Lakes reservoirs.
Populations of perch within a specific body of water are cyclic, meaning the total amount of perch in a body of water rises and falls throughout the years. This can be due to winterkill, predation from predators such as the walleye species of fish or unfavorable weather or other conditions that limit the success of spawning in a given year. This in turn translates into low numbers of catchable fish of a desirable size four or five years after a particular year class is spawned. If there is a very successful spawn and all goes well, there will be larger numbers of bigger fish down the road. If you are really interested in pursuing yellow perch say in the 7 to 12 inch range and are willing to travel a ways to fish for them, keep an ear out as to where one or two particular bodies of water are producing fish of that size in good numbers.
It seems almost every year one or two lakes in the area produces well for one or two years and then they fall off and another reservoir picks up where they left off.
Let me illustrate or give real examples in the area:
Year Reservoir Size
early 50's Am Falls res. 12" common, some 14"
1974 Carey Lake 7-9" avg.
1980 Roberts Gravel Pond 7-9" avg
1989 Am Falls reservoir 8-9" some 12"
1990 Johnson reservoir 7-10"
1992 Nash reservoir 8-10" reported
1993 Stone reservoir 8" avg.
1993 Weston reservoir 8"
1994 Lamont res. a few 10-12" perch
1994 Winder res. 8-9"
1994 Weston res. 8-10", some 12"
1995 Ririe reservoir 8-10" avg.
1995 St. Johns res. 8" avg.
1995 Weston res. 8" avg.
1996 Weston res. 8-10" avg. some 12"
1996 Ririe res. 7-8 " avg.
1996 Lamont res. some 10-12"
1996 Carey Lake 7-8" avg., some 10"
1997 Weston res. 11-12" very few tho.
1998 Weston res. 8-9" avg., occassinal 12"
2003 Magic res. 8-10" perch
2004 Magic res. 8-10" perch common
2005 Magic res. 8-12" common, occasional 14" perch.
2006 Mud Lake 8-10" perch, some 12" winter killed Jan. 2007
2007 Twin Lakes res. 8-10", some 12 perch
2007 Alexander res. 7" perch common.
2008 Ririe res. 7-8 " avg., some 10-12"
2008 Aleander res. 7" avg., some bigger.
As you can see a person has to look around and keep an eye and ear out for where the bigger perch are being caught as it varies widely from year to year.
A few years ago I talked to an Idaho fisheries biologist about how come yellow perch never seemed to over populate in Westion reservoir in the Malad area and Johnson reservoir in the Preston area. He said they believe it was due to periodic winter kill that kept the perch numbers down to a reasonale level.
Hope I have been helpful. Ririe seems to be a moderate producer this year and Roberts Gravel pond is teaming with 3-5" fish with some in the 6" range. Good luck fishing for perch.
DeeCee
I fish not because I like the cold, but because it is the only time I can impress my wife, by walking on water.
[signature]