Giving Perch a try

[Tom OBrien]

After having some bad luck with the second batch of trout, I decided to give yellow perch a try. This is going to be a much longer project because the fish are smaller (3-5") and don't grow as fast, but the perch are doing well after the first few weeks. They ate very little for the first couple days, but now they are feeding eagerly. Some of the smaller ones looked like they couldn't handle the pellet size, so I broke some of them up and that seems to be doing the trick. Wish me luck!

[Keith Rowan]

try to get an average weight (i use a bucket that i weigh, add fish, and weigh again, divide by number of fish), feed up to 5% for fingerlings.. closer to 2% for larger fish

[Tom OBrien]

I have been feeding them once a day. I stop putting in pellets when they lose interest, but it seems like they will go after the worms no matter how much they've already eaten.

[Tom OBrien]

I am feeding a high protein (45%) food and supplementing with some worms. I am not real sure how much I should feed though. How did you judge the amount of food?

[Keith Rowan]

make sure you are using a good quality food, high protein - game fish food (42% -45%)
the starter food is i think 52% protein..
i supplement a base diet of aquamax (a mix of sizes/types) with minnows, worms and crayfish

[Tom OBrien]

Thanks for the feedback Keith. I was a little hesitant to try them, so it's good to hear that yp can be raised successfully and be table size in around 12 months.

[Keith Rowan]

you'll be suprised by their growth, my 3" yp from last spring are, for the most part at harvest size, but i'm letting them go for a bit until i decide what my next round will be..