Upper Michigan's Lake Gogebic is another top destination for obese perch, which locals fondly call "teeter pigs." As in Devils Lake, Gogebic perch wax fat on invertebrates, though in this case we're talking juvenile mayflies, or wigglers. This helps buffer mortality due to natural predators and fishing pressure because perch aren't concentrated in one spot." "We see schools of jumbo perch roaming mudflats in the main-lake basins, rooting out invertebrates.
"They're widespread and there are plenty in habitats preferred by perch so fish don't have to wander far to find a meal," he says. In Devils Lake, Hiltner says you find shrimp virtually top to bottom, shore to shore. "Perch eat other invertebrates such as water boatmen, too, but their primary focus is freshwater shrimp." "The shrimp are only an inch or less in length, but when you get enough of them you have a lot of energy available and good growth rates," Hiltner explains. This all-you-can-eat shrimp feast helps Devils Lake perch reach the 10-inch mark in around 5 years.
The spectacular perch population in this 160,000-acre plains paradise is propelled largely by massive amounts of tasty invertebrates, including bite-sized amphipods commonly called scuds or freshwater shrimp. "Diet is certainly one of the major variables contributing to perch size," says Randy Hiltner, North Dakota Game and Fish fishery supervisor for the state's northeast fisheries district, which includes legendary Devils Lake. Of these, the food factor is a driving force in how fast fish grow and where they're located at any given time. Anglers who understand what it takes to fuel a rising tide of jumbo perch can improve their odds of putting portly perch on ice - as well as figure out where to find perch in a particular lake.įactors affecting perch size and abundance include fishing pressure, year-class strength, seasonal die-offs, predation, and forage abundance. Due to a number of factors, perch abundance may boom in one fishery and bottom out in another. Yet not all lakes hold equal populations of these finned footballs. Sweet-tasting yellow perch of jumbo proportions are coveted catches across the Ice Belt.
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