These other groups also failed to capture larval yellow perch after about mid-June, except in southeastern Lake Michigan where there were some stragglers. We were unable to locate any yellow perch during these dives, but did locate YOY longnose dace, johnny darters, spottail shiners, and alewife near shore. One of our exploratory efforts yielded a very interesting success. The fish were collected in a cast net and it appears that these juvenile perch, collected on the same day as we first seined juveniles, were attracted to the relatively warm lagoon effluent. This large collection of yellow perch will be valuable in determining, from otoliths, when they hatched and there may be some indication of where they hatched.
Fish move with relatively warm water masses.
Subsequent to this collection we began snorkeling surveys to examine the boulders laid for shoreline protection along the Chicago metropolitan beaches. Yellow perch were present, but sparse in this habitat. The main things the Lake Michigan Yellow Perch Task Force hopes to accomplish are to determine how and when to sample for yellow perch to estimate year class strength and gather information to help us assess what factors determine yellow perch year class strength. After our samples are further analyzed and compared to results from other groups, we should be in good shape for making a preliminary judgement about the factors that affect yellow perch recruitment and to refine our sampling for 1999. Other sections requested for this report are not yet applicable, except there has been considerable media coverage of the yellow perch situation including articles in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Magazine.