Yellow Perch stories

Perch were stocked upstream in the Hiawassee Drainage in North Carolina and Georgia years ago

I'm betting that is how they are found in the Hiwassee in TN

anyone know of a good place to catch perch in Mid-Michigan? I need a few for my 125 gallon.

anyone know of a good place to catch perch in Mid-Michigan? I need a few for my 125 gallon.

i would say go out on Lake Michigan, but u'd probably just catch those damned golbies

yeah those gobies have been a real problem

I know this is a billion years late, but here goes (paraphrased from Etnier and Starnes, Fishes of Tennessee): perch are not native to TN in historical times, but there are some Pleistocene (12-16,000 year old) fossils from a cave near Columbia (Duck River drainage). They showed up in the Hiwassee River in the 1950's, possibly as an accidental inclusion with stocked walleye. They now occur throughout the Tennessee mainstem and in some tributaries, but are not common except in the Hiwassee.

Yellow Perch, a very pretty fish. I have seen them in North Chickamauga, Little Sequatchie, Hiwassee and a spring creek run east of Mont Eagle. They have to have cold water around in this region. All 4 of these sites have cold dam water or cold water springs feeding them. Yellow Perch often travel in schools and make a nice visual while snorkeling. I was fortunate to catch one with a dipnet in the Little Sequatchie, seems an amazing feast considering their size and behaviour, but i think the critter was a little stunned or perhaps ill. It was about 5" long. It lived in the cement pond for a season but eventually disappeared i suspect to the summer temps. Beautiful fish and the favorite for many fish eaters.

A beautiful fish with lots of personality. Fun to watch, fun to snorkle with, a delicious sweet white meat as good as any ocean fish, and an absolute favorite ice fishing quarry.
I got this one last weekend on the lite jigging rod. A trophy, if I do say...
And no, although that fish would have been a dream to fillet, a prime breeder like that gets a pass every time.