Weekend Fishing

[illwalley]

Fished out of the k dock area for 10 - 12 hrs a day for the last 4 days, that didn't suck. The fishing was not bad either fished 25-45 fow and pulled a tottal of 7 nice 18-24" eyes. All fat and hungry. We trolled gold spinner blades with 1 1/2oz bottom bouncers and they we bitting shinners 2 to 1 over crawlers right on the drop offs from 25 to 45 fow. Most fish were pulled in when the harness was dropping off the shelf. Lake temp dropped from 77.9 deg on thursday morning to 73.5 today (sunday)at 11 am. My father in law also caught a 13" yellow perch that he will be regestering as a master angler, we did catch about 20 perch on the trip as well most of them were out of the Barker hole area but small.

[Martin]

Nice report illwalley ! You'd better check that 13 inch yellow perch. It MAY be a new state record. I think the lastest state record is still considerbly less then 2 pounds. (don't bet your life on that, but it's what I remember)..

[Sam]

I caught an 11 inch yellow perch near K Dock this spring. That's pretty small for eating, but it's the biggest one I've caught and I've heard how good they are, so I kept it. The filets were real good all right, right up there with walleye.

13 inches is bigger than any I've seen. I hope yellow perch will get more established in Bull Shoals and ones that size will become common. They'd be a real good panfish to go for if that happens.

[illwalley]

the record is alittle over 1 lb. I wish we would have known that, i could tell you what the fellets weight when i cook them, dose that count? Same thing happened to me with a drum, i kicked a South Dakota state record drum off my boat after my fishing "buddys" measured it calling me the " little drummer boy", the old state record was 36 lbs, my was 42#,we found that out later as the ribbing continued, the game warden i talked to said bass pro or cabelas would have probally paid around $50000 to have it.I didnt know the perch was an angler or it would still be swimming, gotta return the big ones!

[crawfly]

Yellow perch is the crappie of the north. When folks want to have a fish fry they go out to catch a mess of perch. They taste so good because they are in the same family as the walleye. It was also the preferred live bait for big pike and muskie. I'm glad they are stocking them. Very tasty fish!

[Sam]

I'm glad they are stocking them.

I haven't heard that anyone is stocking yellow perch - maybe at some time in the distant past, because they got in Bull Shoals somehow. Upper Bull Shoals is the only lake around here where I've caught yellow perch, and they're real scarce there. In 20 years of fishing it, I've averaged maybe one yellow perch per year, usually about 7" long. That 11-incher this spring was a "record" for me. I'm not catching any more of them now than I ever did, and as much as I crappie fish if there were many yellow perch around I think I'd catch them more often.

Wish there was some way Conservation could replace the weight-per-acre of gar in Upper B.S. with the same amount of yellow perch. Then we'd have a bunch of them!

[rangerman]

Its weird, a couple of times this summer, while pulling crawler harnesses, I caught 4 or 5 in one spot then go awhile with nothing then catch a few again. They are pretty scattered around the lake. I caught my biggest one up around Swan Creek in Febuary (11 1/2 inches). I did notice a couple of eyes during the summer I brought up to the boat puke up a couple of small perch (3 inchers).

[MstStudent10]

Dang that stinks finding out that the State Record is only a little over 1 pound. I caught a yellow perch this spring that was 12-13 inches long and was FAT!!! Only yellow perch I've caught down here and I prolly ate the State Record. Haha.

[Hunter91]

My partner had the state record yellow perch that was 14.1 inches and 1.14lbs. He caught it while we were bottom bouncing minnows around the Barker Hole. It was broken last year by one about 1.5lb I believe.

[packersooner]

Its weird, a couple of times this summer, while pulling crawler harnesses, I caught 4 or 5 in one spot then go awhile with nothing then catch a few again. They are pretty scattered around the lake. I caught my biggest one up around Swan Creek in Febuary (11 1/2 inches). I did notice a couple of eyes during the summer I brought up to the boat puke up a couple of small perch (3 inchers).

Growing up in Wisconsin, my grandfather always told me "Wherever there is a perch, there is a walleye". Yellow perch are an easy meal for game fish. They are relatively soft and do not have a really spiney dorsal fin. They are great in the frying pan too. Wouldn't mind seeing them flourish at all.

Jason