When and where do perch spawn?
Among the first fish of the northern spring: right after ice-out, at roughly 7–12 °C (45–54 °F), weeks before bass have even staged. Schools push into shallow bays, flooded vegetation, and river mouths and drape their eggs over submerged weeds, brush, and fallen branches in about 0.5–3 m (2–10 ft) of water, mostly at night and dawn. Timing is pure latitude: late March on the southern edge of the range, April into May across the Great Lakes and southern Canada, into June on the coldest northern waters. Water temperature calls it, not the calendar.
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More questions about Spawning
Same topic, other species
- What temperature do crappie spawn at — and is it one event? — Crappie
- At what water temperature do largemouth spawn? — Largemouth Bass
- When and where do muskie spawn? — Muskellunge (Muskie)
- Why do pike spawn in flooded marshes at ice-out? — Northern Pike
- Do smallmouth and largemouth hybridize in the wild? — Smallmouth Bass
- What is a redd, and why must I never wade through one? — Trout (Rainbow · Brook · Lake)
- When and where do walleye spawn? — Walleye