Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Yellow Perch and Bluegill Diet Study, Lower Pool 4 Mississippi River, 2018-2019

To assess potential dietary overlap and predation between bluegill and yellow perch, we examined stomach content of both species in three backwater contiguous lakes of Lower Pool 4 in the Mississippi River from May 2018 through January 2019. In this area, bluegill have been common for decades, but yellow perch only became abundant following an ecological shift to a clear-water, macrophyte dominated state that occurred from 2007 - 2007. We used daytime electrofishing to collect fish during open-water sampling (spring, summer, and fall) and ice angling during ice-covered sampling (winter). The dataset documents the diet content of one hundred and eighty-nine yellow perch and sixty-one bluegill. Stomach contents were extracted via gastric lavage in the spring, summer, and fall and via stomach removal in the winter. All prey items were categorized to lowest identifiable taxonomic level and quantified via volumetric displacement.