With the exception of KY Lake, in what seems like scattered and limited quantities, there is nowhere around here to catch the yellow perch.
I have caught two in my life, both about 4" long while bream fishing on KY Lake.
I see where TWRA stocks bass and sometimes shad in lakes around the area.
Would stocking Yellow Perch in, for example the TWRA family fishing lakes be something that might happen?
Would they survive in those types of lakes?
As for stocking, the bigger question is how successful biologists could be at raising them in hatcheries? I'm told by my biologist friends that walleye are fairly easy to rear and raise in a hatchery environment. However for some reason, their close cousins, sauger, are extremely difficult to raise in a hatchery environment. I have no idea how hard yellow perch are to raise, but I do find several sources online where you can buy them for stocking, so apparently it's possible. However, in my Googling I also found this on a couple of fish management web pages: "Being a very prolific fish with few spawning substrate requirements, perch can cause serious stunting problems in nearly any lake or pond."
I cannot let this old, but resurrected thread pass by, however, without pointing out that my guide partner, Capt. Scott Lillie, SLAYS huge yellow perch when fishing Chilhowee Reservoir in the mountains of East Tennessee. See:
for just one example.
To book a trip call me.