Yellow perch

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Yellow Perch

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Osteichthyes
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Percidae
Genus:	Perca
Species:	P. flavescens

Binomial name

Perca flavescens
Mitchill, 1814

The yellow perch (Perca flavescens) is a species of perch found in the United States and Canada, where it is often referred to by the shortform perch. Yellow perch look similar to the European perch but are paler and more yellowish, with less red in the fins. They have 6-8 dark vertical bars on their sides. The yellow perch is in the same family as the walleye and sauger, but in a different family from the white perch.

Yellow perch size can vary greatly between bodies of water, but adults are usually between 4-10 inches (10-25.5 cm) in length and weigh about 5.29 oz (150 g) on average. The perch can live for up to 11 years, and older perch are often much larger than average; the maximum recorded length is 21.0 inches (53.3 cm) and the largest recorded weight is 4.2 lb (1.91 kg). Large yellow perch are often called "jumbo perch."

The perch reach sexual maturity at one to three years of age for males and two to three years of age for females. Spawning occurs at the end of April or beginning of May, depositing 5,000 to 100,000 eggs upon weeds, or the branches of trees or shrubs that have become immersed in the water. After fertalization the eggs hatch in 11 to 27 days depending on temperature and other weather conditions.

Yellow Perch are one of the finest flavored of all panfish, and this has led to misuse of their name in the restaurant industry. Menus will sometimes list "White Perch", "Rock Perch" or simply "Perch" that are actually other species, usually panfish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family.

[edit] Fishing

The best time for fishing for perch is from June to November in Canada and the best time for fishing them in the United States is perhaps September to February, though they bite reasonably well all year and are readily taken through the ice. They haunt the neighborhood of heavy deep eddies, camp sheathings, beds of weeds, with sharp streams near trees or bushes growing in or overhanging the water.

Yellow perch, Perca flavescens

The best baits for perch are minnows, earthworms, shrimp and artificial lures.^{[citation needed]} The tackle should be light. If fishing off the shore, one can use the simple but effective bobber and bait technique, or just cast and slowly retrieve. If fishing from a boat, tie on a snap swivel to your line then add a small 60 g (2 oz.) swivel weight to it along with a #5 snelled hook. Bait the hook with a whole earthworm and drop the line directly below the boat. Let the bait sink all the way down to the bottom, and when reaching the bottom, reel in a couple hundred notches to keep it suspended above the bottom higher than a couple feet. Keep the line curvy and tense or you won't feel the Perch's bite. Perch have an uncanny way of biting on the bait without the angler knowing it. Also, be aware that Rainbow Trout, Bluegill, and various other fishes may strike the line, so be prepared for a tense fight if using heavier pound test line. Perch, unlike fish of prey, are gregarious. In the winter months, when the frosts and floods have destroyed and carried away the beds of weeds, they congregate together in the pools and eddies. They may be angled with the greatest success starting at about one a.m. until two a.m, but they can be very elusive.