Idaho record perch caught in Lake Cascade

FISHING — An Idaho record yellow perch was caught Saturday in Cascade Lake north of Boise.

Luke Spaete of Boise was participating in a fishing derby when he caught the fish, which weighed 2 pounds, 10.88 ounces and was 15 and three-quarters of an inch long.

Cascade Lake has a clear connection with lunker perch. The old record of 2 pounds, 9.6 ounces was set in 1976 and tied two years ago at Lake Cascade. Another angler in last weekend’s fishing derby caught a fish on Sunday that would have broken the old record, but was short of Spaete’s new record fish, according to the Idaho Statesman .

Spaete said he’d already caught two pretty big perch before spotting “one giant blob” on his fish finder. The perch’s belly and dorsal fin scraped the edges of the 8-inch hole in the ice, he said.