04-10-2014, 12:55 PM
I don't think it's over harvest. CJ has a massive number of small perch at the moment. They're everywhere.
According to perch growth rate charts, a 5-6" perch is 2-3 years old. Remember what a cold, nasty spring we had in 2012? Cold muddy water pouring down the rivers because of a couple of 80 degree days in late April? Back to back cold fronts beginning right after that and lasting six weeks? Bass and crappie still in pre-spawn patterns in late May?
Perch spawn earlier than other panfish, so I think what happened was the baby perch hatched that year had little to no competition because the bass and crappie spawn was so poor and the murky water made it hard for predators to find them. So now their numbers have exploded.
There are bigger ones in CJ. I saw one around 14" caught a couple of weeks ago. It's just hard to keep the little ones off long enough to catch them.
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According to perch growth rate charts, a 5-6" perch is 2-3 years old. Remember what a cold, nasty spring we had in 2012? Cold muddy water pouring down the rivers because of a couple of 80 degree days in late April? Back to back cold fronts beginning right after that and lasting six weeks? Bass and crappie still in pre-spawn patterns in late May?
Perch spawn earlier than other panfish, so I think what happened was the baby perch hatched that year had little to no competition because the bass and crappie spawn was so poor and the murky water made it hard for predators to find them. So now their numbers have exploded.
There are bigger ones in CJ. I saw one around 14" caught a couple of weeks ago. It's just hard to keep the little ones off long enough to catch them.
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