Yellow perch record: The turning tale of David Berg in Ohio

You know you have a big perch when a guy calls from Minnesota and offers a free replica in exchange for getting a mold of it.

I mean freaky big. David Berg caught the Ohio record for yellow perch from the Lake Erie shoreline on April 18. It was 15.75 inches long with a girth of 13.75 inches. It initially weighed 2.9 pounds at Harbor Bait and Tackle in Painesville, Ohio.

The Illinois record yellow perch (2 pounds, 8.75 ounces), caught by Joe Grega of Diamond from the old Arrowhead Club lake on Jan. 5, 1974, has been chased for decades by fishermen on Lake Michigan. Despite rumors otherwise, Grega’s record stands.

Official state records are tough, as they should be. Berg understands that better than most. His was not officially recognized until last week.

Ohio state records are certified by State Record Fish Committee of the Outdoor Writers of Ohio. Illinois state records are certified by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. State records generally require key points of certification of species by a biologist (fisheries biologist Carey Knight did that for Berg) and witnesses to weighing on a certified scale.

There was the rub. The certification on the scale had lapsed. Initially, Berg’s record was not accepted.

I agree with the defense written by Matt Markey, outdoors editor for the Blade in Toledo:

That is in marked ethical contrast to the discredited muskie still standing as the iconic center of a small museum in northern Wisconsin.

Harbor proprietor Don Moore had good reason for the lapsed certification.

“This time of the year, you just get so darn busy,” he said. “The next morning, I had the guys from the county out and, to quote, `This is dead nuts on.’ ”

Despite that certification the next morning, the committee wanted the fish reweighed. It was and eventually accepted as the Ohio record at 2.86 pounds.

I caught up with Berg on Memorial Day, fishing on Lake Erie.

“I knew there was a process, definitely a process,” he said.

He had the good fortune that Moore did the right thing and immediately froze the perch, which saves weight loss from moisture loss.

“I fish a lot,” Berg said. “We have caught thousands [of perch] in the middle of the lake, 13 1/2 to 14 inches in the middle of the lake.”

He and his brother Fred were fishing from shore at the mouth of the Grand River in the Fairport Harbor, Ohio, hoping for smallmouth bass or anything. Berg was using a 5-foot Triumph spinning rod with 8-pound SpiderWire braid. They were fishing perch rigs with shiners.

Early afternoon, Berg caught his record perch, so close to spawning it was spilling eggs. Ordinarily, he would have released the spawner, but when he looked up the record on his phone, he realized he had a chance. But his brother wanted to keep fishing for another four hours because they catching drum, catfish and perch.

Then it was weighed and the saga truly began.

“I guess this is my two weeks of fame,” Berg said.

SUMMER PADDLING: Chicago River Canoe & Kayak has a new site at Maple Lake. Click here for details.

STRAY CAST: Robin Ventura manages like the guys perch fishing at Montrose with 20-pound monofilament.