Master Angler

Caught the biggest perch of my life over the weekend at 13 inches. I’ve seen a 13.5 incher caught before, which is the largest I’ve ever seen. Out of curiosity, I looked up what a yellow perch needed to be to make the Master Angler status in MN. I couldn’t believe when it said 15 inches!?!? Has anyone ever seen a 15 inch perch in MN? I get Idaho or Devils lake probably has them, but I a 15 inch perch in MN would be a unicorn.

I look at all the other requirements, and although difficult, they are all within reach. 26 inch walleye is accessible on many MN lakes. 40 inch northern is an amazing fish but you hear about it happening every year. I just think they set the bar too high on perch.

Good points. I have a 15 inch on my wall from SD, but never seen one like that in MN.

I didn’t even know MN had a Master Angler program…

There aren’t many 15″+ perch listed in their records but they are all, except for one, caught on Lake of the Woods it looks like.

I am in an annual work fishing contest and we use this In-Fisherman Master Angler to score entered fish. I don’t specifically target perch though.

To me the largemouth bass one being 22 inches and the smallmouth bass one only being 20 inches in this region is out of whack. I’ve literally never caught a 22 inch largemouth here, and I usually put a couple of smallmouth 20+ in the boat every season. I think they should both be 21 inches instead.

When I worked for the DNR in 2004 as an intern on Mille Lacs, I saw someone catch a 16 inch perch. But this was back when jumbo perch were more abundant too.

Reef W wrote:

I didn’t even know MN had a Master Angler program…

I believe he’s talking about Region 1, which is where MN is located.

https://www.in-fisherman.com/content/master-angler/375360

I was looking at https://www.fishinghalloffamemn.com

Well apparently there are multiple Master Angler lists out there. This is what I was looking at.

Master Angler Qualifying Fish

I noticed there must be a difference when Gimris mentioned the difference between large and smallmouth. This list has them the same.

As I go down the list that I posted, I’ve done the walleye several times, bluegill once, pike once, and largemouth once. But like I said before, I don’t think you could ever achieve the perch master anlger status from this list in MN. Possibly on a private farm pond somewhere…which is how I caught a 21 inch largemouth, or LOW. But I feel these need to be difficult yes, but attainable.

The one in my profile pic is a 13.5″ out of Mille Lacs a few years back. Hit a rattle reel in the middle of the night.

I got a 14 out of my lake last year. I get 13’s every year so 15 sounds about right. Certain waters only.

I have witnessed a 15 in perch on leech and 17 inch skinny perch on the Mississippi River. I agree, nearly unattainable in MN, especially in recent times.
I knew of the Master angler lists but never looked at prior, really.

of the Minnesota H of F list, I have achieved 14 of the species?

Perch up to 14 inches are pretty easily caught in the Mississippi from Winona south to the Iowa border. Perch up to 16 are not that unusual. The fishing for the true monsters over 16 has declined a little in the past few years but they are still a possibility.

15 inch perch seems really big. On the LM bass side of things I’ve probably caught 4 or 5 bass in MN that hit the tape at 22 + but have never had one go 23 inches or over. 26 inches on the walleye seems really low. I know I’ve had nights on pool 2 catching a dozen fish over 26 inches. Back in the heyday, didn’t really bat an eye at a 26 inch walleye.