ARW 11/29 Perch - Would You Eat?

Perch fishing was very good today, low, low tide. One foot of water at the launch, paddled out about 30 feet from end of ramp before I could slide pedals in.

Went to my favorite perch hole this afternoon with pileworms, very nice 11-12" fish. Tide was just starting to come in, fish were active. Fished for about 90 minutes, no one else on the water.

Have never kept any bay perch before, was going to bring home these three but at last minute decided to let them go, all swam away.

Question is, would you eat perch from the bay especially around the old Alameda naval station?

nice catch! what kind of perch are those?

If you are wondering if they are safe to eat then that's a sign that you prolly shouldnt eat them.... still fun to catch at least....

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The short answer is no, don't eat perch out of the bay.

http://oehha.ca.gov/fish/nor_cal/2011SFbay.html

Nice job on the perch.
As far as eating goes, I don't know.
I do know they're on the list for dietary limits.
Probably be ok if it's just once in awhile.

"OEHHA recommends that you fish in different places in case the spot where you usually fish is more contaminated."

This is what I am going to tell my wife "Honey, I am just following State of California guidelines!"

Thanks for the input, I see a lot of people keep the perch they catch along the rockwall.

The white perch I used to catch on the Chesapeake Bay are one of my favorites to eat, although they are related to striped bass.

Interesting that the OEHHA chart says brown rockfish are okay but perch are not, I catch them in the same place. Wonder what the difference is?

Speaking of not eating fish, I have a friend who is a specialist in catfish, he recommends never eating a catfish over 16" long, they eat anything when they get that big.

Surf perch are good eating. Drive to the coast and fish them from shore. Dillon is my favorite, but you can catch barred SP on pretty much any beach. Alien wrote an article on the technique. The season is January - May as far as when to target them. Just watch out for those sneaker waves.

Thanks for the input, I see a lot of people keep the perch they catch along the rockwall.

Yeah, but have you seen those guys? Not exactly poster boys of health. Lol. 

I would never eat anything out of the bay.  Raw sewage gets dumped into there every single day due to the old sewer system.  The infrastructure is crap, and that is what gets dumped in every single day.

The short answer is no, don't eat perch out of the bay.

http://oehha.ca.gov/fish/nor_cal/2011SFbay.html

I read this thread because I had a similar question about a striper I got from Sherman island (near Antioch) going by your link... Ok for adult males no good for females under 45... Do you know if this is also true of fish caught in the delta? Assuming so since he came from the bay originally?

No f*cking way! I wouldn't eat anything out of the bay and perch are on the top of the list.

Perch from the bay are bad news.  Like Scott said, go to any beach from now until April and surf fish.  The eating is fabulous either grilled, fried, or steamed.  The meat is delicate and light/fluffy. 

ARW 11/29 Perch - Would You Eat? 


Not now.

ARW 11/29 Perch - Would You Eat? 


Not now.

Now THAT, was funny.