Where Is Everybody?

[powerdive]

Luke, down here bluegills are called "perch" by the locals. If they're talking about actual perch, they say "yellow perch." One never does quite get used to it. Bull Shoals does have some "yellow perch" in it...they're a fairly recent, probably accidental addition. But they're doing well and becoming more common.

NXS, perch spawn shortly after the walleyes do, in early spring. Usually in mid to late April in southern WI, so probably late March/early April here.

Remember Billy Boy? He swore walleyes spawned in fall too, because of finding bloody eggs in November. I don't know of any evidence that would support that, though it wouldn't really surprise me. Pardon the pun, but nature doesn't seem to like putting all her eggs in one basket. Maybe bfishn will have some insight.

[bfishn]

It's not uncommon for walleye around here to not spawn, especially those than run in the tailwaters. If they don't get the right conditions at the right time, they just go on about their business like normal, either absorbing the eggs or eventually losing them.

Spawning is a hormone thing, and it takes a DNA-programmed set of conditions (day-length, temperature, etc, etc) to trigger the release of the hormones that make them spawn. Once that trigger happens, it's only a matter of hours to a couple days before they do it. The hormone injections the MDC/AGFC use for taking eggs does exactly the same thing, often for fish that wouldn't have spawned naturally that year.

That said, I've never seen eggs in a walleye around here past June.They should start developing new ones in the next month, but they'll be very small sacs to begin with.

[Luke918]

Thanks for clearing that up PD. Being stationed around the country, around the world for that matter, I love being new to an area and having to figure out the new nicknames for fish.

As far as eggs, the last two trips I kept one bass each trip for the dinner table and both had eggs sac's with small eggs -- have seen this in a lot of fish throughout the years during the fall going into winter. I am no fisheries biologist but bfishn makes a good point and I am guessing they are just developing eggs for spring or the hormones kicked in and they'll be absorbing these eggs. Both fish were healthy and fat by the way, both had crawdads in their bellies, one caught by the dam had small partially digested small rainbow he spit out in my livewell.

As far as yellow perch... fished for them a lot outside of Spokane Washington and also when in Virginia Beach. Upper Bull Shoals seems like great yellow perch habitat and walleye love and get fat on yellow perch -- not to mention yellow perch is arguably right behind walleye of the best eating freshwater fish. I will definitely be making a couple trips to try to catch some yellow perch.

[nxs]

My fault I forget about all the various names. Growing up we lumped all those feisty little critters in a pot and called them perch. The first was in fact the yellow perch that migrated here for the milder weather and the last were Bluegill. We found them in about 10' of water on a muddy point just up from Beaver Creek Ramp. They'd hit a jig on the bottom. We had some about the size of your hand and they're pretty good to eat. The yellow perch was in 22' of water also on the bottom and is the only one I've ever caught. We were just kinda surprised to find bloody eggs this early.

The one thing we've noticed is that we are not catching any fish where we use to. Those waters seem to have some kind blight to them. So last couple of trips have been kinda spent relearning what we should have known in the first place. Mainly it's a lot easier to go fishing than to catch fish.

So while I'm asking questions why were so many of the bass covered with very red places along their undersides from belly to tail. Ralph had one that I thought was bleeding when he first got it out of the water but it was just red streaks.

[Fish24/7]

nxs,

could be parasites,red sore disease, necrosis, a virus, who knows.

I've seen this about everywhere I've fished for bass, and they seem to tolerate it well. It's just something that comes and goes during their whole life.

For example a bass can eat a small fish that had ate a "bad bug" and then it gets passed on to the bass and the bass gets "sick".

[nxs]

thanks. Works for me, bet we caught at least a doz or so like that over a long stretch of water.

[Fish24/7]

If my memory serves me correctly Fall/Winter is when you see a lot of the belly redness. They (black bass) also will start getting those black spots and blotches more in colder water during the prespawn.

I've not been on the lake for a while. I'm ready for some Fall frenzy feeding!!