Idaho P_____?

If given the title of this article as a clue in a game you were playing, what would be your answer? Potato pops to mind. Idaho Parks? Idaho Powerball - Idaho places? Probably not Idaho panfish and certainly not Idaho perch. Idaho is well known for potatoes, interesting places but until this information came across my desk, I’d never thought of Idaho as a winter perch destination.

However, if you are like me, a person with a lifelong case of wanderlust. If you are a Midwestern ice fisherman wondering if there is any going to be any local hard-water fishing available this winter, this is a story to peak your imagination.

Panfish fishermen love to catch fish that are as big or bigger than some gamefish. Bluegills that are over a foot long is one such fish, but how about yellow perch that weigh-in larger than many walleyes? Jumbo perch are one thing, “gi-normous” perch are something else.

If you dream about catching a truly spectacular yellow perch, let your dreams take you to Lake Cascade in the state of Idaho. What is documented is Lake Cascade produced three perch last year topping a state record that had stood for 38 years and a world's record for largest perch ever caught on a tip-up rig. Others, maybe even larger, surely just traveled home and ended up in family fish fries.

Tia Wiese of Eagle, Idaho currently owns both Idaho's state record and a world's-record with a 15.5-inch, 2-pound, 11.68-ounce whopper she caught last March. Several other anglers, including her father, Gary Wiese, landed similar-sized perch.

This isn't a history lesson. Bigger perch are likely swimming in Lake Cascade right now based on fall surveys done by Idaho Fish and Game biologists; and unlike here, ice fishing has gotten an early start thanks to a late-November cold spell.

In October, Fish and Game crews netted 15 areas of the lake and alternated between nets set on bottom and near the surface to monitor Cascade's fish population.

The results? About 27 percent of the perch caught were over 12 inches, and 8 percent were over 14 inches. The largest perch they netted taped a shade under 16 inches, which is comparable to the state record. And they're getting bigger.

Perch are typically heaviest in late winter when females are fattened up and laden with eggs before spawning. Is it more quality than quantity?

The quantity of large perch surprised even Idaho Biologist, Paul Janssen, who helped restore Lake Cascade's perch population. Janssen said, “Anglers aren't putting a dent in the lake's perch population. Fish tagging studies show are catching only a small fraction of the perch population.”

Ice fishing is among the most popular ways to catch perch at Lake Cascade. When the ice thickens, the whole lake is available to anyone willing to chase those elusive big fish, as well as lake's trophy rainbow trout. The largest Idaho perch are typically caught in February and March. Lake Cascade has been a bright spot in Fish and Game's fisheries management since it was overhauled in the early 2000s to restore perch populations after they crashed in the 1990s. The department removed literally tons of predators, mostly northern pike minnows, and transplanted about 850,000 adult perch.

Those initial transplants produced literally billions of young perch and rejuvenated the lake with not only large perch, but a food base for other species. Everything in there feeds on those young-of-the-year perch.

As the lake repopulated the earlier generations of perch had an empty lake, few predators, a nearly unlimited food supply and grew quickly. Eventually, the perch population will reach the lake's carrying capacity and growth rates will slow but the lake is still producing huge perch, which means there appears to be enough food and habitat available.

"We expected those really big fish to go away, but they don't seem to be," Janssen said. "They're living long, happy lives."

Idaho is long trip from here to go catch perch. But it would be a fun trip to take, wouldn’t it? Isn’t it fun to dream of a trip to a far-off-place for a fish of a lifetime, even if it’s a perch? There’s still time to plan a winter trip to catch your perch of a lifetime.