Yellow Perch

[wschmitt3 0]

I do like perch, I have eaten many pieces of fried battered perch that were very very good. I have not had any in quite some time though. I have eaten some very tasty rainbows and brook trout in the last few years. I try to avoid recently stocked fish but there are many two year hold over rainbows in my home river and a self propagating population of brookies upstream that are very good eating. I don't often harvest fish though. I would rather let them grow and catch them again most of the time.

 

With that said I have had good and bad tasting fish of most species. I have had carp that tasted better than some trout I've eaten, I find that fish can be highly variable in how it tastes depending on the environment it is caught in so this is a very difficult question.

 

My absolute favorite fish is atlantic cod fish and chips.

 

On the topic of white sucker. There is lots of white suckers and fall fish in the Connecticut River and I have heard that in the spring when the water is still below 55 degrees they both can be really good eating. A very nice flaky white meat is what I am told but as the water warms up it starts to take on a off putting flavor.

[tidewaterfly 0]

 

 

One of the perch oddities here is that big schools frequent Chesapeke Bay which is salt or brackish water and they only get caught in any numbers in the spring when they run up fresh water creeks to spawn in waves. You catch piles of them on the run, but, the rest of the year, you hardly hear of any being caught.

 

I'm in the same area, and agree. However I have caught them as incidental when fishing for bass or other panfish. Used to be the Yellow Perch were more readily caught in many of the rivers, but that has changed over the years. Not as many perch around now and some rivers are better than others for catching them. Actually MD placed a moratorium on them in some rivers for awhile to help replenish stocks, but still not like they used to be. There was recent discussion on another site about Severn Run, the upper reaches of the Severn River & how the perch spawned in the Run. The DNR still closes a section of the stream to protect the spawners, but there's not as many now. Development is being blamed and the resulting run-off as more silt & other things are washed directly into the streams now where as it was absorbed into the ground before it reached the streams before the development.

 

Tim, most any wet fly or streamer pattern will work for perch. When I was a kid I caught them on some of the flies already mentioned and on bright colored wet flies. A White Miller was a good fly in the spring.

 

I've posted these before and all are good flies for perch or any other panfish. Some are actually Shad flies. Tied on size 4 or 6 hooks. Yes, I do use the spinners with a fly rod!

 

 

 

[Tim Shovel 0]

Nice flies and thank you all for your help, definitely worth trying some of these flies.

 

[Tim Shovel 0]

Thank you Tidewater, just a side note, are your flies tide with flash-a-bou, if so where do you get it, I have trouble finding it at fly shops.

[tidewaterfly 0]

Tim, I used various flash materials in those flies. For perch, it's good to add some flash. Mostly I order it online. J Stockard is a good source for regular Flashabou & the holographic. I also like Polar Flash & some of those flies on the bottom are tied with a product called Hackle Flash. I get that from Stockard. The bodies on some are Diamond Braid. I get it locally from JoAnn Fabric, but it's under another name. Same stuff & cheaper price.

 

There's some Estaz or cactus chenille on the spinner fly bodies. Doesn't really matter what you use, as they're basically the same stuff.

 

Hackle Flash is a product of Cascade Crest (cascadecrest.com), while the other materials come from Hedron (hedroninc.com). You can order direct from both, but you'll pay the full suggested retail. Still, if you get in a pinch & need materials, it's still not that expensive.

[Fisherboy0301 0]

I didn't see very many patterns, but I'd like to pursue the "good to eat" debate. I don't know how, but if someone can start a new poll, I'd like to know which freshwater (U.S.) fish is best to eat... white crappie, bluegill, perch, walleye, smallmouth.... include whatever you want.

Redfish!

 

 

You're probably thinking: " I said freshwater!"

 

I caught it in a lake.

 

But technically the lake is connected to the ocean via mikes favorite river.

 

So my answer is big bull bluegill and large redbreast sunfish, especially when caught in spawning time in spring they are alm

[Fisherboy0301 0]

I didn't see very many patterns, but I'd like to pursue the "good to eat" debate. I don't know how, but if someone can start a new poll, I'd like to know which freshwater (U.S.) fish is best to eat... white crappie, bluegill, perch, walleye, smallmouth.... include whatever you want.

Redfish!

 

 

You're probably thinking: " I said freshwater!"

 

I caught it in a lake.

 

But technically the lake is connected to the ocean via mikes favorite river.

 

So my answer is big bull bluegill and large redbreast sunfish, especially when caught in spawning time in spring they are almost "sweet"

[Tim Shovel 0]

I agree, salmon and trout are very good, but still second to perch

[FlaFly 0]

I asked because, growing up in the south, I ate primarily bluegills and white crappie, and as good as BGs are, I think crappie are better. I've had black crappie once and didn't like it, though admittedly I got it from a eutrophic lake which may have influenced the taste. I also have to admit I've had rainbow trout (probably farm raised) several times and never had any I liked. I haven't yet had perch, walleye, smallmouth bass or other more exclusively northern species, but I've heard people rave about each of them. I had thought that a poll might have disclosed some degree of overall preference by members who've eaten all of them.

[mikechell 0]

Sunfishes ... any of that family of fish. Crappie and Walleye, too ... but I honestly can't tell much difference, so I'm sticking with all of the sunfishes.

[FlaFly 0]

Mike... not freshwater, but have you ever had yellowtail snappers? Used to catch them (actually spearfish) in the keys.

[mikechell 0]

The only time I eat salt water fish, these days, is when I am on the road, and a restaurant has it on the menu. Wife is so allergic to anything from the sea, I can't eat it when I am home. That's another reason I don't drive to the coast to salt water fish.

[Tim Shovel 0]

Tim, I used various flash materials in those flies. For perch, it's good to add some flash. Mostly I order it online. J Stockard is a good source for regular Flashabou & the holographic. I also like Polar Flash & some of those flies on the bottom are tied with a product called Hackle Flash. I get that from Stockard. The bodies on some are Diamond Braid. I get it locally from JoAnn Fabric, but it's under another name. Same stuff & cheaper price.

 

There's some Estaz or cactus chenille on the spinner fly bodies. Doesn't really matter what you use, as they're basically the same stuff.

 

Hackle Flash is a product of Cascade Crest (cascadecrest.com), while the other materials come from Hedron (hedroninc.com). You can order direct from both, but you'll pay the full suggested retail. Still, if you get in a pinch & need materials, it's still not that expensive.

[Tim Shovel 0]

Thanks tidewater

[Stevester 0]

My experience is similar to a couple of others, the water body really is a determining factor in a fishes taste. I grew up eating saltwater fish, not surprising since my grandfather owned the town fish market and this was only about an hour or so from NYC. Over the years I have eaten a lot more freshwater fish as I've lived around other parts of the country. Perch is good as is smallmouth if caught from a clean water lake. Much to my surprise catfish can be really good. I have never had walleye or carp for some reason. I am not a fan of hatchery trout but trout and whitefish from back country areas can be really good. Still, fresh ocean fish like cod or flounder are still my favorite.

 

Steve