Perch die offs

[spokey9]

I was out at bill's boathouse sunday for a couple hours and saw a lot of dead perch float by the dock. There was too many to be from being caught and thrown back. A lot of them looked skinny for this time of year. Then yesterday i took the kid to lake stevens to play in the water and again saw a lot of dead perch being washed up on shore line. The american lake fish were on average between 8-12 inches, the ones at lake stevens were mostly under 6. I know earlier this year i was catching trout out of stevens that looked half starved.

I haven't seen so many dead perch around like i did on those 2 lakes, is this fairly normal or is there something else going on?

[Amx]

Happens most every year. Lack of oxygen, no food, too much competition for food.

[Ed J]

I was out at bill's boathouse sunday for a couple hours and saw a lot of dead perch float by the dock. There was too many to be from being caught and thrown back. A lot of them looked skinny for this time of year. Then yesterday i took the kid to lake stevens to play in the water and again saw a lot of dead perch being washed up on shore line. The american lake fish were on average between 8-12 inches, the ones at lake stevens were mostly under 6. I know earlier this year i was catching trout out of stevens that looked half starved.

I haven't seen so many dead perch around like i did on those 2 lakes, is this fairly normal or is there something else going on?

That sounds like what is happening at yale lake with a bunch of kokanee floating belly up.

[Onmygame]

Happens most every year. Lack of oxygen, no food, too much competition for food.

I was out at American yesterday and saw maybe a dozen or so perch belly up in the area I trolled.

The thing is - perch are a hearty fish compared to trout - so am not sure that they would be the first to go.

American lake is big - over 1,000 acres, and up to 90' deep, so low oxygen shouldn't be a thing - and there is ample forage in the lake for fish to feed on.

onmygame

[jd39]

It's perch spawning time isn't it? Maybe they spawned themselves out and used up too much energy to recover. Producing the next generation can take a lot out of you.
Hope a fish biologist will weigh in, I'm just speculating.

[Big-Fish91]

It's perch spawning time isn't it? Maybe they spawned themselves out and used up too much energy to recover. Producing the next generation can take a lot out of you.
Hope a fish biologist will weigh in, I'm just speculating.

x2

[countryboy87]

its wierd.. this time last year we were catching perch by the boatload on lk Cassidy and this year havent even seen a dead one.. wonder if they had a die off there as well??

[cobrar543]

I asked this same question last year and Fish and Game said its from Spawning. Common for lots to die afterwards from the stress of it. Glad that didnt happen to me. I have 7 kids LOL

[Toni]

After the spawn. Wonder if they were all female?

[Sideburns]

seems the belly up perch I saw in stevens were to small to spawn, 2-3 inches? Was pretty gruesome in some spots.

[FishingFool]

makes it tough for fishing IMO. Free dead food everywhere to compete against.

[cumminsbassguy]

Was out on the south end of cda back in the Joe and there were about 15 little perch about 3-5 inches all belly up. Like everyone else, I haven't seen anything like that before in years past

[spokey9]

I've seen some perch die offs from the spawn before and that may be cause. Just seems like I'm seeing quite a bit more than usual this year and got me concerned. I've sent an email to the dept bio to ask their thoughts but haven't gotten a reply yet.

[JV90]

I was out at American about a week and a half ago and a gentleman on a dock was talking to me about the fishing when I asked him what the deal was with all the dead perch everywhere. He seemed pretty confident that a lot of it is from the Eagles. I asked if the Eagles didn't like the perch and spit them out or what the deal was. He informed me that they catch them and eat things such as the eyes, guts, and other nutrient dense portions of the fish and let them go... Sure enough not 5 minutes later an Eagle drops a perch in the water from the tree right above me. I looked around and there seemed to be quite a few perch in that same spot so maybe that is at least part of the answer.