Observations on the feeding habits of yellow perch before, during, and after the spawning period in the central basin of Lake Erie

In the central basin of Lake Erie, the spawning period of yellow perch occurs during early spring when mature yellow perch move near shore to spawn and immature yellow perch stay deeper offshore.  After the spawning period, immature fish move near shore and mature yellow perch move off shore.  The objective of this experiment was to observe the spatial pattern of yellow perch diets during the spawning period.  A bottom trawl was used to collect yellow perch at 10 ft strata during different stages of the spawn.  Previous collections found the diets of gravid females collected during the spawn were empty, whereas immature female diets were composed of chironomids.