We developed a mixed model to determine whether biotic (alewife, spottail shiner, round goby, yellow perch > age 1 and yellow perch < age 1 abundances) or abiotic (water temperature, water clarity) factors influenced growth rates in the Indiana waters of Lake Michigan during August from 1984 to 2007. This study suggests that young-of-the-year (YOY) yellow perch growth rates in southern Lake Michigan are influenced by temperature, spottail shiner abundance, and round goby abundance. We also collected age-0 yellow perch to identify details of early life history including timing of migration to pelagic waters, timing of return to nearshore waters, and spatial distribution following return to nearshore waters. This study suggests that yellow perch larvae hatch and are in the nearshore waters from June 1 to June 24, return date for demersal YOY yellow perch ranges from July 8 to August 16, with a mean return date of July 25, and spatial distribution of demersal age-0 yellow perch is relatively homogenous in Indiana nearshore waters. / Department of Biology