Posted: 4/20/2005 9:16:54 AM EDT
I put 200 perch in our pond saturday, are they called panfish?? when looking for baits they dont say anything about perch but do say panfish? how many will make it the pond its spring fed and 30 foot deep @ deepest part. It's loaded with bass and blue gill and few pike I was trying to get something to thin out the blue gill.
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Bluegill and perch are both of the "panfish" category, but I'm not sure they are in the same family of fish. As far as I know, they will tend to stay near the bottom, but you should find them at different depths. They will not always be in the deepest part of the pond. I would think that the pike would keep the gill population under control fairly decent. Have you considered netting the pond to clean out some bluegill? |
In the south, we have speckled perch(aka crappie). Not so long or thin as what is in the above picture. Blue gill is something different, I can't remember the collective name for fish of their type, but they include bluegill (those are Bream down here) and redear sunfish (shellcrackers) as well as many others. ETA: Bream and shellcracker and other similar are also known as panfish as well, for their somewhat round shape when viewed from the side.(I think that's why they're called that) |
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You will have very little perch by the end of the summer. You will have several fat Pike. They are super predators and they eat any other fish thats not bigger then itself. If you dont take the perch out they will. We have 2 large Pike in out pond. At least 28-30 inches long. We had a lot of bill gills but not anymore. We also put in a whole bunch of brookies and they all go slaughtered. |
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Lake Perch live on the bottom. Don't know if these are the same things you catch in Lake Erie. Wouldn't the Pike eat the Perch? Them bastads are tough and get big. Lake Erie is about 60 feet at it's deepest, on average... so your pond sounds kind of comparable. How large is it? Sounds like a great place. How bout a pic? |
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I doubt your perch will do anything to the bluegills at all. The pike....they'll be all over both the perch and b/gs. When I was living up in MI, we used to catch lake perch with live minnows in around 30' of water. Smaller lakes/ponds, worms should work well. FWIW, bluegills fried up in garlic and butter are DELICIOUS...just a PITA to clean |
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Yellow perch are not as aggressive (or as big) as white perch, which is actually a type of bass. I don't know if this means more or less will survive the bass and pike, but I don't think they'll thin your blue gill population too much. (any more than bass/pike would) |
I don't know how they recommend you handle bluegill/panfish populations up north, but everywhere south of a pike zone you either have to net them like NotMrWizard said, or you poison/shock them if their populations get ahead of you. Usually bass will eat them, but crappie and bluegill reproduce fast. What usually happens in a small pond if you don't catch and kill them on a regular basis is they start to overrun the bass and other predators. They start eating most of the bass fry. Then the panfish population gets really out of control and they don't grow properly. You're pond ends up having just a few large bass and/or catfish and lots of stunted, bait-picking panfish. I don't recall what the ideal population profile looks like, but your DNR should be able to help you. It's something that requires ongoing management in small ponds. ETA: Be careful about how many of the predators you take out. Your fishing and their hunting are what keeps the panfish in check. |
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perch will go after a glob of spit spit into the water if it holds together. there used to be a ton of perch and blue gill around the docks where my parents kept their boat. worms will work for both, as will fake worms, and jigs. oh, they'll also go after chewed gum |
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Most of the replys above are correct. Perch (which are "panfish") are in the Now as far a catching perch (we don't have them down here in South Florida but I'll give it a shot anyway), worms, crickets, small artificials (like crappie jigs and beetle spins), and minnows are what I've seen most people use for them. For bluegills, get them used to eating very small breadballs, and you will catch them all day on them. They will also eat the same things mentioned above for perch as well as very small topwater baits and poppers, flys, andother small live baits. Some people down here treat them like game fish (which is how they are classified by out Wldlife Officials) and only fish them with artificial baits. I can tell you that I've probably caught many thousands of them in my life so far, mostly on bread (even in the Evergaldes). Good luck with the pond and if you need any other help let me know. Also, if you were in Florida, my recommendation would be... Son, just go get ya a 'gator!!  Shoot n Fish eta: changed perch to correct family...lost my mind for a second...sorry 'bout that |
Perch taste better. |
Walleye and Northers are more fun to catch, but neither tastes as nice as pan-fried yellow perch. |
Bullshit Yellow Perch are a member of the Perch family which includes Walleye, Sauger, and Yellow Perch. White Perch ae a member of the Temperate or True Bass Family which includes White Perch, White Bass, and Stripped Bass Black Bass (Largemouth, Smallmouth, Spotted, Redeye), Bluegill, B/W Crappie, Green Sunfish, Redear Sunfish, Orangespotted Sunfish, Pumkinseed, Longear sunfish, Rock bass, Warmouth, and Sacremento Perch, are all apart of the Sunfish family. |
You are correct. Perch are in the Perch/Walleye/Sauger family. Forgot my aqua-bio for a second.  I also forgot about walleyes. If they will live in the habitat, they are also great predators and taste really good (had one for the first time in Minnesota this past summer). SnF |