# Perch search in a lurch



## Jedidiah (Oct 10, 2014)

Where are these tasty critters right now? I've gone through every post on this forum that has the word perch on it, and most of them on the Utah section of BFT. I've been on Jordanelle a couple times and I'd like to find them there, but if I hear Pineview is good I'll make the drive.


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## SIGthusiast (Jul 6, 2014)

Quantity would be Fish Lake, quality would be Mantua.


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

Its tough for perch this time of year and a lot of the perch lakes up here are at the low point of population cycles as well. The next best thing, crappie and bluegills will be coming on in a few weeks. 

Jordanelle has decent perch in it and I caught some real jumbos while bassin last year, but I don't usually get them until July.


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## massmanute (Apr 23, 2012)

I remember when perch were considered "trash fish" in Utah, and most people threw them on the bank to rot at places like Deer Creek Reservoir. Eventually people learned they are terrific eating, but by then they weren't as plentiful as they used to be.

It just goes to show you, people don't appreciate the good things until they are gone.


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## troller (Jun 27, 2013)

massmanute said:


> I remember when perch were considered "trash fish" in Utah, and most people threw them on the bank to rot at places like Deer Creek Reservoir. Eventually people learned they are terrific eating, but by then they weren't as plentiful as they used to be.
> 
> It just goes to show you, people don't appreciate the good things until they are gone.


 years and years ago me and my son woud go to deer creek just to catch Perch, would catch a lot and never bring any home, then ten years later, I heard they were good eating. I still have never ate one.


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## Packfish (Oct 30, 2007)

I will have to go thru some old photos- When Hyrum was the perch capital back in the 80's and there was myself and a buddy and a guy and his black lab that was from Michigan were the only people fishing for them- I have pictures of perch beside beer cans that U think the beer can is either fake or it's a salt shaker- To begin with we took quite a few to the old grocery store in Hyrum to weigh them- 2# was a nothing fish- quite a few were over the record- we would fill those wire mesh baskets in an hour and when U picked them up the metal handles would straighten out- pretty sure cleaning them caused my back operation (0:. There were 5" shiners minnows in there by the millions- two years later there were no minnows and perch started their downhill spiral- pretty tough to sustain a perch fishery in Utah unless you artificially do it.


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## Jedidiah (Oct 10, 2014)

This reminds me of this question I keep wondering to myself....why doesn't the DNR do some management of aquatic plant life? Cover is the main reason Strawberry Reservoir and Fish Lake are so good, why not drop some of the weeds from Strawberry into Deer Creek? Plus, what happens when the cover provided by the dead trees in Jordanelle disappears due to normal decay?


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

To maintain aquatic plant life, you'd need to maintain a water level. Most waters here fluctuate heavily, so establishing a weed base (close to shore) is nearly impossible.

Plus, plants don't need much help getting started if the water level is stable. In many cases, the plants go crazy and become a nuisance.

The good news, there's usually a fair amount of cover built-in to a reservoir. The dam. Bait fish do well in rocky areas too.


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## Jedidiah (Oct 10, 2014)

Thank you very much for the suggestions, I'll be checking those places out soon. So I got a little rubber dinghy (hah, "rubber dinghy") back in February and have been tooling around in it. I got on Rockport and rowed around with my fish finder in the water looking for concentrations on the bottom but didn't find any. Anyone know why perch can be caught easily through the ice during the winter but somehow it's tough to get them on the bottom in early spring? Is there warmer water at certain depths?


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