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I had no idea we have native Yellow Perch! I've caught them in Lake Lanier in GA and the tail-waters of the Hooch but never in our state.

Then this popped up showing FWC shocking them in the Dead Lakes!
Pair of perches by FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, on Flickr

More here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/myfwc/set ... 9532315502

Anyone ever caught one there?

Caught some in seminole a few years back. Wish there were more.

Just joined the forum and saw this....That's Me!! lol

I work for FWC and I am currently doing a little side project looking at the Yellow Perch population in the Dead Lakes. It's the southern most known population in the US. The population in the Dead Lakes is not very big, but you can go and target them. The most concentrated areas I have found are west of the bridge in the west arm of the dead lakes. I recommend using a jig/small hook tipped with minnows or small crayfish.

Judging by the size of those mitts, those yellow perch had to be a pretty decent size . Welcome to the forum...

Welcome to the forum and hope you will educate us some more. I've never seen a fish like that before and had no idea they lived in Florida. Thanks for the report.

sbisping wrote:Just joined the forum and saw this....That's Me!! lol

Very cool and WELCOME!!!
Have you tried eating any of them? From cold water they are delicious!! I wonder how their flavor changes in warmer water.

Any muskies or pumpkin seeds ?

bman wrote:

sbisping wrote:Just joined the forum and saw this....That's Me!! lol

Very cool and WELCOME!!!
Have you tried eating any of them? From cold water they are delicious!! I wonder how their flavor changes in warmer water.

They are just as good!! I personally think they taste the same.

woopty wrote:Any muskies or pumpkin seeds ?

I wish we had muskies down here!! we are stuck chasing the puny pickeral cousin! No Pumpkinseeds, but they do have some awesome hand painted bluegills there!!

When I was a kid, I caught one near a dam on some lake near Albany Ga. On a yellow Snagless Sally. This was the mid 1960s. My dad was stumped and we looked it up in a library and identified it as a Yellow Perch. People would never believe it when I told about it. Eventually I thought we had been wrong. Maybe not.

If you want muskies, we got some purty-nice sized garfish you can chase!