- Length:6 to 10 inches
- Weight:6 to 16 ounces
- Coloring: bright green to olive to
golden brown on back; yellow-green, yellow on sides; grey to milk-white below
- Common Names: perch, lake perch,
American perch
- Found in Lakes: Michigan, Huron,
Ontario, Erie and Superior
Though capable of adapting to a
variety of habitats and water temperatures, yellow perch school near shore, usually at
depths less than 30 feet. 
They feed in the morning and
evening, rest on the bottom at night and continue feeding year-round -- to the
gratification of ice fishermen.
Perch are not scrappy adversaries like trout,
but these full-bodied, large-finned panfish are a favorite and relatively easy target for
breakwater anglers. Perch are especially esteemed for their "inner qualities" --
a flesh that is white, flakey and delicious.
These native fish have also been a mainstay
of the lower Great Lakes commercial fishery, particularly on Lake Erie, where 11.3 million
pounds of perch were landed in Ohio waters alone in 1981 But they have never figured
highly in Lake Superior's commercial catch. In Lake Michigan, the perch catch averaged a
respectable 2.4 million pounds a year from the time the first records were kept in 1889
through 1970.
But Lake Michigan's yellow perch numbers
appear to have decreased 80 percent since 1990. The states surrounding the lake have put
new regulations on yellow perch fishing. Wisconsin banned commercial fishing for yellow
perch in Lake Michigan and cut the daily bag limit to five, beginning Jan. 1, 1997.
Sea Grant-sponsored field research last
summer found that the populations of yellow perch in Lake Michigan have risen slightly,
but the popular fish remains relatively scarce. See our news release and fact sheet for the latest information.
