How to Clean and Fry Yellow Perch From Rifle Gap

Yellow perch are the fish fry fish. They are small, mild, and they come out of the hole fast once you find a school. On the Western Slope, the name that comes up first is Rifle Gap Reservoir, the state park reservoir off State Highway 325 in Garfield County. This page covers how to keep perch cold on the ice, how to clean a bucket of them without losing your afternoon, and how to fry them safely to 145 F.

Where Western Slope perch come from

CPW lists yellow perch at Rifle Gap Reservoir alongside walleye, black crappie, rainbow and brown trout, smallmouth bass and northern pike. CPW's Rifle Gap State Park page says anglers catch yellow perch there in all seasons of the year. See CPW's Rifle Gap Reservoir page.

CPW also calls Rifle Gap one of Colorado's premier ice fishing locations, and warns that ice fishing there is tricky because ice thickness varies. Ice fishing is allowed when conditions permit. Read the Rifle Gap park highlights.

Rifle Gap has its own special regulations for perch and walleye, and they can change. Check the CPW Rifle Gap page and the current Colorado fishing brochure before you keep fish. Verify current regs every season. This page is not the regulation.

Before the drive, our Rifle Gap Reservoir day trip prep covers park alerts, ANS inspections and cold water.

Ice first, then fish

It is October, so the hard water is still ahead. When it comes, the ice is the first safety call, not the fish. CPW's ice rules of thumb:

• Two inches of ice or less: stay off.
• Four inches of good ice can support a person walking.
• Clear, blue ice is the strongest. White or gray ice is much weaker.
• Drill test holes no more than 30 feet apart, and stay away from cracks, pressure ridges and slushy or dark spots.

CPW's Rifle Gap page recommends ice awls, a life jacket, rope and a fishing buddy. CPW's ice page also suggests 50 feet of nylon rope, a flotation cushion, and a plan that someone at home knows. Read CPW's full ice safety guide, and see our cold water safety checklist for the open-water weeks before freeze-up.

Keep perch cold from the hole to the kitchen

A winter day helps, but it does not do the job for you. Treat perch like any other seafood:

• Bucket or cooler, lid shut. Keep your catch out of the sun and away from the heater in the shelter or the truck.
• Watch the clock. The FDA says perishable seafood should not sit out more than 2 hours, or more than 1 hour above 90 F. Open-water days in early fall still count.
• Fridge at 40 F or below. The FDA says to store seafood at 40 F or below if you will use it within 2 days. Otherwise wrap it tightly in plastic, foil or moisture-proof paper and freeze it.
• Thaw it cold. Thaw frozen fillets in the refrigerator overnight, or sealed in a plastic bag in cold water.
• Clean the cooler. The FDA says to wash a cooler that carried raw seafood, and that it is a good idea to sanitize the inside after cleaning.

Read the FDA seafood safety page.

How to clean a bucket of perch

Perch are small, so the trick is a steady routine, not a fancy cut. A sharp, thin fillet knife and a clean board do most of the work.

1. Set up a station. Board, knife, a bowl of ice for finished fillets, and a bag for the frames.
2. First cut behind the gill plate. Cut down to the backbone, not through it.
3. Ride the backbone to the tail. Keep the blade flat against the spine and let it bump over the ribs. A perch fillet is thin, so go slow.
4. Skin it. Lay the fillet skin side down, hold the tail end, and slide the knife between skin and meat. Perch skin and scales come off together this way, so there is no scaling.
5. Trim the rib bones. Cut the thin rib section away from each fillet. On a small perch it is mostly bone.
6. Rinse, pat dry, back on ice. Dry fillets fry crisp. Wet ones splatter.

The basic moves match our trout fillet guide, just on a smaller fish. Wash the board, knife and your hands with soap and hot water before anything ready-to-eat touches them.

A simple perch fry

This is a method, not a copied recipe. Season it how your family likes it.

• Dredge. Toss dry fillets in flour or cornmeal with salt and pepper. Some cooks dip in beaten egg first for a thicker crust.
• Pick the pan and oil. USDA recommends a deep, heavy skillet if you do not own a fryer, and says to avoid cast iron for deep frying because it breaks down oil faster. Canola, peanut, corn, sunflower and vegetable oil are on USDA's list of high smoke point oils.
• Heat the oil. USDA's deep frying chart lists fish fillets at about 3 to 5 minutes in 320 F oil. Use a frying thermometer and keep it steady.
• Do not crowd it. Add a few fillets at a time with tongs or a slotted spoon. Crowding drops the oil temperature and cooks unevenly.
• Drain and check. Move fillets to a plate with paper towels. Check the thickest piece with a clean food thermometer once it is out of the oil. Fish is done at 145 F, or when the flesh is no longer translucent and separates easily with a fork, per the FoodSafety.gov temperature chart.

Fryer safety on a cold night

A fish fry after an ice day often happens in a garage or at a camp stove. USDA is blunt about the risks:

• Keep water away from hot oil. Water hitting oil near 350 F flashes to steam and makes oil splatter.
• Never use water on a grease fire. Cover it with a metal lid or use a kitchen fire extinguisher, and call 911.
• Never leave the oil unattended, and do not let oil contact an open flame.
• Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours of frying.

Read USDA's deep fat frying guide.

Check the advisory for your water

Colorado's health department, CDPHE, says cooking and cleaning fish do not remove mercury or PFOS. It posts site-specific fish consumption advisories on its dashboard, and statewide guidelines apply wherever there is no site-specific one. Before perch becomes a weekly meal, look up Rifle Gap or whatever water your fish came from. Check CDPHE's fish consumption advisories.

Gear for the cold drive

A Rifle Gap day starts dark and ends cold. The VCO tumbler is for the coffee on the way out, and the Valley Merch Pack is there if you want the full set. Made to order, ships from Grand Junction.

Plan the next trip

Read all of our Colorado fishing reports and our fishing education and safety notes. For a salmon night instead, try how to cook kokanee from Blue Mesa. When you know where you are headed, open the Trip Builder to plan the day.

Sources for this post