YELLOW PERCH (Perca flavescens)

THE FISH

Shape, Size, and Color

It's probable that anyone with a fishing rod has caught a perch or two and knows the species. Its body is elongated and somewhat compressed. Coloration may vary with habitat and feeding habits, but usually the sides are blackish or dark green on the back fading to olive green or golden brown on the sides. The belly is whitish or yellowish. Six to nine dark wide bars run vertically along its sides. During spring spawning runs, colors are more pronounced, especially in males. The head is rounded at the tip or nose. Even though it is related to walleye, the yellow perch has no canine teeth. The dorsal fin is dark and separated into a soft-rayed rear section and a spiny-rayed front section (all perkods have two distinct dorsal fins). Because of its stenoid scales, the perch is rough to the touch.

The average size of yellow perch ranges from four to ten inches, but a healthy adult may reach up to 15 inches. The average fish weighs somewhere around a pound. The record, set way back in 1865, is yet to be beaten by today's angler -- a four-pound, three-and-a-half-ounce lunker!

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