Keeper Perch

[amateurfishing]

just watched a video and saw em keeping perch bout same size as i threw back on monday, was wondering what would be decent size for eaters, the ones i C&R were 7-9 inches, looked like about a fish stick per side when catching em, but maybe i did not know how good i had it.

[Gordie]

Any size perch are good eaters and what I mean bybthat is I have seen people keep 5 inchers to 13 inchers and bigger

While in working in Wisconsin off of green bay we stopped and talked with a few fishermen and asked how they were doing they said they were getting some nice perchnand when they showed us I thought they were useing the perch in the bucket for bait .they were all of 5 inches and I said your joking right they said we must be from minnesota and wanted to know if we knew where lake winnibigosh was and then they said that those perch in that lake were monsters

[pushbutton]

Just depends what the lake can produce and sustain. On some lakes a 10/ 11 incher is a monster and the "keeper" size might be 7 to 9 inches; likewise, if the lake has an over abundance, it might not be a bad idea to keep these. Obviously these would be small on some of our better perch factories.

[Hoyt4]

We do not keep anything under 10 and I love perch fishing. Chase them all winter long.

[frazwood]

I prefer to keep small fish in general and small perch are some of my favorites.

A couple of years ago, I went out on a lake in the Twin Cities that I know has some nice bluegill and crappies in it. They weren't biting, but I was able to catch all of the small perch that I wanted. I now return to that lake hoping to catch small perch, not nice-sized bluegill and crappies.

[fivebucks]

For me it all comes down to how hungry I am for a meal of fresh fish. If all I am catching is 7-9" perch, I keep enough for a meal. If they are bigger I keep fewer of them or eat alot more fish

[TRZ II]

IF you keep them under 9" you are going to have a sore hand! Nothing under 9" for me.....

[Deitz Dittrich]

as said, all in the eye of the beholder.. I have kept 8" perch before and had a fantastic meal...

[carpshooterdeluxe]

8-10" perch here in SD can be FAT. Most of what we keep are 10+" fish, but 8-9" fish aren't automatic throwbacks either.

[Jim Uran]

Caught a lot of perch as a kid, and growing up and never ever thought about keeping any of them. Over the last couple of years I started keeping them in some cases and, yeah as you all know they are excellent in the pan.

The minute I start targeting perch though, I won't be able to find them

[Nutz4Crappie]

Keeping the Perch under 10 inches means you switch the way that you clean them. Over 10 inches and I will fillet the fish. Under 10 inches I will gut them, cut the backbone behind the head, and then peal the skin and fins off by grabbing the head and pulling it back towards the tail. This leaves all the bones in and gives you more meat. After you fry them up you call pull the bones out by the backbone in one motion. By doing this method you can get a lot more meat out of the small fish.

[amateurfishing]

thx all, the one thing i did notice is they were all solid and fat, no skinny minnie's amongst em, will definetely try & go back with my son for some fun & maybe think bout keeping a good handful next time.

[fishnfool]

On the bay of Green Bay where perch are gill netted by commercial fisherman the 8" fish get a higher price per pound than the larger perch. They taste so much better than the larger ones do. Also the bigger fish are the best breeding stock. The 12" are a blast to catch but I'd rather have a pan full of 8".

[tunrevir]

depending on the lake and the size structure a 7-8 inch fish can be a nice fat perch that gives up plenty of meaT. I kept a nice 8 inch perch this evening that had a big belly from a lake that has mostly stunted perch and got 2 nice fillets off of it. Like my friend Dietz mentioned and some others it depends on what you want to keep, what you are hungry for and if you feel it is a fish worthy of the knife:)

Tunrevir~

[reinhard1]

i have had more 8 to 9 inch perch to eat than bigger ones. that's because i catch more of those in general . but i have had the 12 and 13 inchers once here and there and those where good also. just not as many. good luck.

[FishinFools]

Fishinfool: Yikes! Sorry to snipe your handle!

Fishinfools

[Fredd]

9" standard for me unless I'm really hungry

[CITY LIMITS]

9' anything smaller is tuff to clean.

[MattL]

9" is my minimum as well. I don't target them, but do catch them on occasion and they are tasty. I fillet everything so it would be tough with anything smaller than that. If I scaled/gutted, I would not hesitate to keep smaller ones as many lakes almost seem overpopulated with them.

[maros91]

10". Everything else gets thrown back.

[nubbin]

nutz4crappie, is this how you do it?

[KrabbyPatties]

Do the smaller perch have fewer yellow grubs than the larger ones??