Piscatorial Pursuit of Perch

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Comment by John Sheehan on November 14, 2012 at 7:50am

In New Jersey  White Perch are thrown together with other species that require no size limit. 25 White Perch is the most one can keep or 25 in aggregate including other species in this list :

Rock Bass, White Perch,

Yellow Perch, Sunfish (see below for sunfish

exceptions), Bullheads, White Catfish,

Suckers, Carp, Bowfin, Pumpkinseed and all

other species with no specified creel limit.

 

Certain Conservation regulations apply to some lakes ,changing to lesser amount of kept fish and size limits .Also some species of Sunfish are endangered are must be released (Banded Sunfish,Black banded Sunfish,Blue Spotted Sunfish and Mud Sunfish ) 

Comment by John Sheehan on November 14, 2012 at 7:30am

 

Great info David ! Ever notice the purple under the lower lip on a White Perch?

Comment by David, aka, "McScruff" on November 10, 2012 at 6:30pm

I went on to say: "I’m betting that were it just..." you and the ranger, the 30 per day limit would be enforced."

I have since learned that is not the case and I've lost my own bet.

In what has to be an oddity of conservation, the white perch fell from grace and are now considered less than "non-game" in terms of management. As of 2008, they were dropped from the regulations and South Carolinas' DNR website encourages anglers to take as many as they want, at any time. This edict applies statewide in South Carolina.

The white perch (morone americana) is in the same class of fish as the other temperate basses, to which it is kin. Striped bass, white and yellow bass - these are all it's noble brethren in the family, Moronidae. But where they are held in princely esteem, the white perch is derided almost universally. 

The white perch is native to the estuarine waters of the eastern US, from the St. Lawrence River south the river marshes of South Carolina. However, it has a unique feature that should elevate it in our regard. I'd go so far as to call it fascinating.

The white perch, you see, is anadromous. This means is can live in both brackish salt water or wholly fresh water. Striped bass share this same trait. And because of it, both have been transplanted widely.** But where they are landlocked and unable to reach the sea, they do just fine.

The white perch, then, is really just a "mini-Me" version of the striped bass. It also happens that they are prolific breeders and opportunistic feeders... and they know nothing of loyalty. They will as happily eat the worm from your hook as the eggs of a striped bass. This makes for a fish that is easily classed as a nuisance, especially where the more traditional game-fish are concerned.

** The story goes that the first striped bass known to be living solely in fresh water were those inhabiting the lakes of the Santee-Cooper river system - Lakes Moultrie and Marion in South Carolina.

It seems that when the two lakes were formed by damming the rivers, Atlantic striped bass had been up the rivers spawning, the usual trait of fish in the family moronidae. They were, in essence, caught behind the gates. Undeterred by this event, they not only thrived in the freshwater systems but were the genesis for an entire industry. Today they are transplanted and stocked around the world and are the state freshwater fish of Maryland, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and the state marine fish of New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and New Hampshire

Comment by John Sheehan on November 9, 2012 at 7:00am

David,what happened to the end of your post : "I’m betting that were it just"

Comment by John Sheehan on November 8, 2012 at 5:06pm

David ,I think White Perch are often considered invasive and folks kill them or use them for food or basically try to eliminate them at least in some areas of the country/world .They taste fine and am not really sure how they entered my lake but I dont catch them at any where near what I would think as an "invasive " rate.

 

Comment by John Sheehan on November 8, 2012 at 5:03pm

I'm reposting the resourceful Davids post from another thread:

"I like that you fish a particular lake to the point that you know it so well. Certainly, living there makes huge difference to that. If I had “known then what I know now,” I would have planned better for lake front retirement. 20 years ago I would never have thought such a thing would appeal to me. As it is, I could only afford to move close. So it goes.

Regardless, John, thanks for the welcome. I catch both white and yellow perch on my home lake, although not often on the same outing. If had a boat with enough horsepower and a decent sonar, though, I’m certain I could make it happen.

The first time I caught a yellow perch here in South Carolina, I was stunned. It was such a beautiful fish. Yellow, green, black bands, orange fins – it looked like it belonged under lights. I honestly thought it might be some sort of aquarium escapee; the colors were just so vivid. As I recall it was caught on just a worm and a hook.

Eventually, I learned that I am at the southern edge of its range. My local water, Lake Murray, has plenty of them. It is a huge reservoir and so it has plenty of area for them. The last one I caught was on a Johnson Minnow with curly tail trailer.

As for the white perch I know they are there in numbers, traveling around in schools. Years ago I used to camp at Lake Murray and we would catch scads of them from the boat. I took more pleasure out of dropping worms to them than I did fishing for bass.

An interesting thing about the ‘whities’ is that, as far as I can determine, there are no bag restrictions on them. South Carolina doesn't even recognize them. The state defines the following as “gamefish”

• Bream - bluegill, flier, green sunfish; pumpkinseed, redbreast, redear (shellcracker), spotted sunfish; warmouth;

• Bass - largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, spotted bass, redeye bass (coosae bass); striped bass or rockfish; white bass; hybrid striped bass;

• Crappie - White crappie, black crappie;

• Trout - rainbow, brown and brook,

• Pickerel - Chain pickerel (jackfish), redfin pickerel

• Sauger and walleye

• Yellow perch.

The reg's go on to say that, "... Freshwater *nongame* fish are any freshwater fish species not classfied as game fish."

White perch are not mentioned anywhere in the regulations. I’m betting that were it just

Comment by John Sheehan on November 7, 2012 at 12:38pm

I was surprised Jim but hit it right . The 1st ones were about 8-9" but the later ones casting farther from shore were fatter and about 10" I guess. I didn't dress warmly enough and I am not that brave lol.I warmed up in car and went back to it after switching a white Buck tail they wrecked to a foxfur/Red African gray tail feather jig . .I wouldve been braver if I dressed warm enough and took the boat out .I am not getting big enough Yellow Perch in this lake .I rarely get one 12" .Maybe I should cook up some of these 10 inchers ,huh? They really were feisty in that cold  and hardly held still for a pic! Fought good for Yperch ,was hoping the better fighting White Perch would be there .If they were they avoided me!

Comment by Jim Gronaw on November 7, 2012 at 12:20pm

John...you are indeed brave to fish in such conditions! And that many fish in an hour? Sheeesh...good work, buddy!

Hoe big were the perch? Look like eaters to me...

Comment by John Sheehan on November 7, 2012 at 12:13pm

Caught 22 Yellow Perch slip floating Jigs and 2 YP throwing the classic Swiss Swing Spinner.Fished for an hour in a cold wet snow midday with wind from NE .Fished the NW cove off the wall that the wind was blowing to .Saw what I thought was a big bass roll but could've possibly been a real big Crappie .Only caught YPerch though.Three retreives or presentations with the slip floated Jig worked  : 1) Cast and let sink at 2,2 1/2 ' in 5' of water .2) Pop float so jig rises and falls back to set level. 3)Slow constant retreive .With the spinner a slow steady retreive

Comment by John Sheehan on September 28, 2012 at 1:07pm

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