Yellow Perch Stocking: How to Read the Historic Records
Yellow perch stocking records are mostly historical in this coverage. This guide shows why the newest date matters more than an all-time total when choosing a water to fish.
StockedWaters indexes 367 yellow-perch stocking records at 129 waters across Montana, Utah, and Washington. The records span 1931–2025 and report about 1.65 million fish, but their dates are uneven—so historical totals need careful interpretation.
Key takeaways
- Montana supplies 332 of the 367 yellow-perch stocking records in this three-state snapshot.
- The latest indexed yellow-perch year is 2025 in Montana; Utah’s latest indexed year is 2019 and Washington’s is 2008.
- An old stocking record is useful evidence of history, not a reason to assume current plants or present-day catch rates.
Where do yellow perch stocking records appear?
The public records indexed here include yellow perch in Montana, Utah and Washington. Because the latest year differs sharply across sources, anglers should treat the record date as a central fact rather than an afterthought.
The figures are a reproducible snapshot of the agency records indexed by StockedWaters. A record is a reported stocking event; it is not a promise that fish remain in a water today.
Yellow perch stocking by state: the historic record snapshot
A historic database can answer “was this ever reported?” but not automatically “is this being stocked now?”
- Montana — 332 records across 116 waters; 1,182,528 reported fish; latest indexed year 2025.
- Utah — 31 records across 11 waters; 464,091 reported fish; latest indexed year 2019.
- Washington — 4 records across 2 waters; 730 reported fish; latest indexed year 2008.
How to compare yellow perch stocking records honestly
The event total, distinct-water total, and reported-fish total answer different questions. An event total shows how many separate releases an agency recorded. A distinct-water total shows the breadth of named locations in the indexed data. A reported-fish total adds the quantities supplied by the agency. None is a live census of fish in the water.
Comparisons also inherit the scope of the original reports. Agencies can have different start years, update schedules, fish-size labels, and date precision. StockedWaters normalizes the fields needed to compare records, but it does not turn a month-level report into an exact day or fill in quantities that the agency did not publish.
What a cumulative stocking total cannot tell you
- A large historical total does not prove that fish are present or catchable today.
- A named water in the data is not automatically public, open, or managed under standard statewide rules.
- A reported quantity does not predict survival, fishing pressure, or an angler’s likely catch rate.
- A newer source entry can supersede a prior plan or reveal a different date precision.
Why is the newest record more important than the largest total?
All-time totals add plants made under past management plans. A water can retain yellow perch long after a program changes, and an old reported release does not identify today’s population or rules. For a current trip, find the newest available entry and then verify the agency’s live information.
- Step 1: Filter to yellow perch and inspect the newest year shown for the water.
- Step 2: Use older entries as historical context, not a current schedule.
- Step 3: Confirm the official source and water-specific regulations before fishing.
How to check the source before a trip
For the original data and current listings, use Montana FWP, Utah DWR, and Washington WDFW. Agency reporting windows differ, which is exactly why the date attached to a record matters.
Always check the water-specific rules and access conditions before fishing. A stocking report is evidence of a reported release, not a substitute for the current regulations.
Related StockedWaters guides
For family-friendly panfish context, read Panfish Stocking for Family Fishing. For another warmwater data guide, see Walleye Stocking in America.
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Frequently asked
Which states have yellow perch stocking records?
StockedWaters currently indexes yellow-perch stocking records from Montana, Utah, and Washington. The newest recorded year is not the same in every state, so the all-time total must be read alongside the individual water’s date and the state agency’s current information.
Are yellow perch still stocked in Montana?
The newest indexed Montana yellow-perch entries are from 2025, which is more recent than the Utah and Washington entries in this dataset. That still does not confirm a future or current plant at a particular water. Check Montana FWP’s live source and the water-specific rules before going.
Can I use an old yellow perch stocking record to choose a lake?
Use an old record as historical context only. It can show that a release was reported, but it cannot confirm present fish abundance, a current program, public access, or legal harvest. Start with the newest available entry, then verify the official agency source.
Why does StockedWaters show different years for yellow perch by state?
State agencies publish and retain stocking data on different schedules and with different historical coverage. StockedWaters preserves the year reported by the source instead of implying that an older record is current. That transparency helps anglers avoid treating a historic entry as a live stocking schedule.