A few years ago, while fishing with my kids on the backwaters of the Mississippi River near Winona, Minnesota, my dad and I came across a tangle of huge yellow perch. After an hour of jumbo madness, I asked, “Where did all these perch come from?”
Fishing the Mississippi in the 1980s, my buddies and I caught walleye, northern pike and catfish, in that order. Panfish was not a priority and I rarely recall seeing bass on the Mississippi or in its backwaters.
With improved water clarity and more vegetation, something amazing happened. The perch bounced back, great.
