What's New?
A big smallmouth late in the day helped lift Steve Martin and Floyd Wolkins to the Tackle Shack Fall Brawl title on the St. Joseph River at 6 Span Bridge Saturday.
The sixth annual Joe Johnson Memorial Youth Pheasant Hunt will be Nov. 2 at the Gordon GuyerAgusta Creek State Wildlife Area in northern Kalamazoo County.
New Gear
Fishing apparel company Striker announces the addition of the new Shield Float Vest. This versatile and lightweight piece can be worn as an outer layer or insulating mid-layer and gives consumers increased peace of mind and comfort around open water or ice.
| Crews Tip: How to Rig the Hover Rig |
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Yellow Perch Record Shattered in Lake Michigan; More Giants Out There
- Details
By Louie Stout
Blas Lara of Highland, Ind. with Record Yellow Perch
There are jumbo yellow perch in Lake Michigan…and then there’s this monster.
If you thought 12- inch perch were jumbos, Blas Lara of Highland, Ind. blows those away. His nearly 17 incher also blew away the Indiana’s state record with the 3.135 pounder caught during the Mayor McDermott’s Fishing Derby last weekend.
Lara’s yellow perch, caught from shore, broke the old record of 2 pounds, 8 ounces set in 1981 from a southern Indiana gravel pit.
He caught his giant while fishing a golden roach livebait under a bobber while actually fishing for smallmouth in the Hammond Marina. The fish was weighed at the Strack & VanTil Food Market.
Interestingly, that store sells yellow perch by the pound in its seafood section. If someone were to buy that record fish for dinner, it would cost him $53.26.
Yellow perch have begun their spawning run in Lake Michigan so that likely contributed to the weight. However, there are likely more giants like it swimming out there. Several 15 and 16 inchers were caught in northwest Indiana by boat anglers last winter.
Lake Michigan DNR Biologist Ben Dickinson said earlier this year that the growth rate among yellow perch has been astounding.
“We’re seeing 12- and 14-inch perch that are 6 to 8 years old,” Dickinson said. “In previous years, those fish were 10 to 14 years old.”
Why the rapid growth? Either there is more food to go around or, due to lower perch numbers over the past several years, there is less competition for food.
“When we began seeing the rapid growth numbers, we thought maybe something was off in our data, but Illinois biologists tell us that they are seeing the same thing.”
Indiana Confirms First Case of Chronic Wasting Disease in LaGrange County Deer
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IDNR Report
The Indiana DNR has confirmed Indiana’s first positive case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in LaGrange County. CWD is a neurological disease that affects white-tailed deer, resulting in their eventual death.
This positive case is adjacent to a region where CWD had previously been detected in Michigan. CWD has been detected in wild deer in 33 states, including all states bordering Indiana.
“CWD has been in our region for many years with positive cases in all of our surrounding states,” said Joe Caudell, Indiana DNR deer biologist. “The public can help by reporting sightings of sick or dead deer to the DNR, as well as submitting harvested deer for testing during deer hunting season. Through increased awareness and testing, we can work to monitor CWD within Indiana’s deer population.”
Because CWD had previously been detected in Michigan near the Indiana border, finding it in this area of Indiana was highly likely, Caudell said, and DNR will continue monitoring the area for CWD.
There have been no reported cases of CWD infection in humans.
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