Perch made the 6:00 news!

[Cancatchbass]

There was a fairly lengthy news story on the Kingston news this evening dealing with perch.

They interviewed a couple of people in Prescott (one was, I believe, the head of the Grenville Fish and Game Club).

Apparently the perch stocks are in trouble there and the MNR is proposing setting a 50 fish limit. Both people interviewed felt this didn't go far enough and also wanted length limits put in place.

The size of perch being shown as typical of what can now be found in those famous perch waters was incredible- maybe 6" long

Thought this might interest some Hawk-Talkers. Does anybody perch fish that area that can add some info about St. Lawrence perch in the Prescott-Cornwall area? The perch fishing has been poor for years in the area of the River I'm in (near Gananoque) - lots of fish, but a 10 incher is a big fish and there are very few that size.

The Kingston television station wouldn't likely do a story on a 100 pound muskie, so I was surprised to see the time spent on a panfish.

Not expressing any personal views on this. Hopefully no need for mud-slinging.

CCB

[Jale]

Interesting story CCB..would like to hear more about it myself

Joe

[fishforfun]

CCB did they give any insight on what the reason for the decline may be IE recreational fishing, commercial fishing, or a baitfish decline?

[RJ]

My dad used to talk about the great jumbos out of that area......never did make it down.....

One thing I decided was that I won't be keeping anymore perch.....for a snack I'll stick to Bluegills or other panfish.....there just isn't enough meat on a decent sized perch to worthy me killin it.....

I'd challenge anyone to tell the difference between bluegill and perch......nice light batter...everyone I;ve given it to have loved the gills!

RJ

[slop]

I would stand in favour of a 50/100 catch/posession limit imposed by the MNR. I'm not sure if a slot/minimum/maximum measurement regulation would be the way to go on this one. I was down that way perchin' on sunday (more scouting and exploring than fishing) and did take notice of the amount of small fish that found their way into buckets. Any of the folks that i talked to from Prescott to Cardinal said the fishing was very slow. I think most of the people fishing were just happy to be out wetting a line even the guy that said "yuz shoulda bin here last week"....a true fisherman

I remember the extreme displeasure of local business owners around the shores of Lake Simcoe when they implemented a 50 fish limit on perch. It got real ugly for the tourists and businesses that directly benefited as a result of the new regs.............and the fish won.

[M.T. Livewell]

Cormorants perhaps

M.T. Livewell

[ganman]

CCB......I dunno. Yes the perch in the river are tiny BUT there are gazillions of them. In another month there everywhere.

I spent some time last year on Bob's Lake. Bob's has as big bluegills as you'll find anywhere around here. Why? Well when I was at Nordlaw lodge they told me 2,000 were taken out the week before.

Could it be possible that the reason bluegills are so big on Bob's is because they are being harvested?? Only playing devils advocate.....no experet here.

Perhaps in some areas the panfish are stunted because they need harvesting. Unlike downriver where perch have been heavily harvested, the river around us has very little pressure on panfish except on the US side. Where ironically they do get some jumbo perch off the municpal dock in Clayton. For years I ice fished Lake of the Isles and we caught huge crappie and bluegill..........much larger than our side.

again only playing devils advocate.

[Fishing Freak]

I use to fish the marina in J-town growing up. was very good for perch in #'s and size.

Now you'd be Lucky to catch a limit of 6"+ fish.

Now to point fingers, I honestLy beleive it is due to the FLoks in the CornwaLL area over harvesting these fish. They sell for $8.50 /lb or more. I've seen on more then 1 occasion, a herd of 10 to 15 guys from that area, keeping every perch they caught. I asked why they keep them so smalL, their response was, it aLl adds up. Now these same peopLe are starting to show up at some of the back Lakes that have a large amount of bigger fish. This is the main reason I don't Like mentioning the name of perch Lakes on the net. A few guy's here can vouch for the size of 1 Lake I fish perch on, it's not very big, but the perch fishing is awesome.

[JR]

Fishing freak, don't go blaming the folksin Cornwall. I'm one of them and take offence to your comments. I fish the marina in J-town and don't keep every ting. 8" or bigger only!. second point I don't sell fish, it's illegal unless you have a licence. I've fished there for more than 5 years and have never seen more than 10-12 guys in the ice and at leats 8 of them are locals fishing for pike. Please get your facts straight and don't blame people you don't know or only heard rumors about. People from Cornwall are probably more concerned about the perch numbers than most others. - Jason

[Cancatchbass]

fff- I believe overharvest was mentioned. No doubt cormorants play a part in this if there are large numbers in that area- I don't get down that way much.

As for anglers selling fish, I believe this was legal and still might be. Here's an excerpt from an undated report I saw dealing with changing the law for 2005:

The area, famous for yellow perch rolls served in restaurants, was the only part of the province where anglers could sell their catch. The tradition of perch dinners is expected to continue, says the MNR, using commercially netted fish.

CCB

[Fishing Freak]

Buckhunter

I never ment that alL peopLe from CornwaLl were to bLame, and I haven't fished J-town but 2x in the past 5 years. Whether selling them is LegaL or not , it is happening. There is a certain group of people from cornwall catching and seLling perch. these same people also keep more then their limit. This does have a major impact on the fisheries. My personaL thought, is seLling fish without a Lic. shouLd be iLLegal, if it already isn't.

I'm sorry for not making it more cLear that a certain group are doing this. I did not mean to offend you or anyone eLse.

[dana]

most of the perch i see caught and kept in the cornwall area are
not very big[6"] and i would pass on em...if'n i was a perch fisherman..
commercial fishing is a big whack on em...same with the crappie...
wat wat down in#'s
the perch from Simcoe make em look like minnows

CCB a newspaper would not do a story on a 100lb muskie but would do one on the perch because it is negative energy and that SELLS
df

[tr21chris]

upper Beverly+a"group" from Cornwall=depleted perch and crappie stocks! They fished it hard for 5 years in the winter. They didn't show up this winter, nor did the fish. And they do sell them!! illegal or not-FACT. Also they have had 10-15 of them at times, but usually 4-5 guysFACT. Been there, saw it, talked to them.....so on. If u are from Cornwall and not part of this....don't take it to heart....they are pretty popular up here......good luck fishing..

[ganman]

So those famous Lancaster perch are really Delta and Prescott perch

[BigSim]

My father's been perch fishing in Cardinal for a few years now, and I know he'd agree, its gone to the uh... crapper in the last few years.

He did mention getting a pint sized pike on the weekend, but very, very few perch. I think about 2 in two hours.

I have to say that a limit would be a reasonably good idea though, I love perch and fish them whenever I can, and I see alot of people tend to keep very small perch. I think maybe a size limit on such a small fish would be hard to enforce, but it might be something worth examining.