Bluegill - Big Bluegill
Piscatorial Pursuit of Perch
A place to share seasonal Yellow Perch and White Perch Tecniques to increase catches.
A place to share seasonal Yellow Perch and White Perch Tecniques to increase catches.
Jeffrey D. Abney
I'm in here now John.....I catch many white perch on live bait and equally on artificial.....A local man makes my favorite white perch bait...It's called the "Perquimans Pickle", named after the river fished most often by the guy that invented it....I'll talk more and add some photos of the rigs when I get home later this week.....
Aug 15, 2012
John Sheehan
Great ,welcome Jeffrey! I am sure it'll be informative for us all now.
Aug 15, 2012
Jeffrey D. Abney
Thanks John....Hope I can share some tips that might help some guys catch a few perch.....
Aug 15, 2012
John Sheehan
Anxious to see your post Jeffrey! Only Live bait I recall catching White Perch on is a crawler piece or a mealworm .Usually attached to a spoon or a Jig.Through the ice perhaps a dead shiner piece or Perch eye attached to a spoon has gotten me a few.
Aug 16, 2012
Jeffrey D. Abney
My favorite artificial to toss to the White Perch in coastal North Carolina is this little design called the "Perquimans Pickle"....named after a local river famous for very good White Perch fishing......I still tip it with a cricket or a worm but it can be alot of fun.......Largemouth, Bluegill and Crappie love this rig as well.....I love to slow roll it on falling or rising waters on intermediate points on local rivers......I have had days where the painted blade is the only spinner they would hit.......so important that the gentleman that designed it oversized the blade for added flash.....
Aug 16, 2012
Jeffrey D. Abney
Don't kick me out John....Just trying to get a fishing fix on my home rivers.....I'll be adding some information soon....
Aug 20, 2012
Jeffrey D. Abney
I had to add a photo of my personal best Yellow Perch caught last month on the Little River of North Carolina.....
Aug 20, 2012
John Sheehan
Beauty Yellow Jeff .Got a length and weight on her? Great to have your input!
Slow Rollin' for White Perch ??? I more often get them rampin' up the speed where I fish !
Aug 21, 2012
Jeffrey D. Abney
15.5 inches long and 1 pound 9 ounces........I was surprised to catch her in July......
Aug 21, 2012
John Sheehan
Very good,I mean Fantastic size ! How deep did you get her?
Aug 21, 2012
Bruce Condello
Impressive fish!
Aug 21, 2012
Jeffrey D. Abney
Thanks Guys....She was at 4 feet near bottom on the Gronaw Grass Shrimp tipped with a cricket.....
Aug 22, 2012
John Sheehan
I've caught Perch that shallow in July but near streams coming into the lake.
Aug 22, 2012
John Sheehan
The Yellow Perch are starting to show up in the shallows where ever theres flowing water nearby.The same shore fishing spots I get them in early spring .They are chasing and hitting MisterTwister Spin Jigs.I used a small tube body on this one.
Sep 8, 2012
John Sheehan
Sep 8, 2012
John Sheehan
The activity level is increasing in the shallows for Perch .They're chasing spinners like the Joes Fly,3.5.This spinner has a great thumping blade ,casts like a bullet on 4# test for good distance and has the stinger hook fly for added attraction.Its nice to see them chasing and banging instaed of just picking up jigs from bottom!
Sep 24, 2012
John Sheehan
Sep 28, 2012
John Sheehan
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
Nov 7, 2012
Jim Gronaw
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...
Nov 7, 2012
John Sheehan
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!
Nov 7, 2012
John Sheehan
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”
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
Nov 8, 2012
John Sheehan
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.
Nov 8, 2012
John Sheehan
David,what happened to the end of your post : "I’m betting that were it just"
Nov 9, 2012
David, aka, "McScruff"
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
Nov 10, 2012
John Sheehan
Great info David ! Ever notice the purple under the lower lip on a White Perch?
Nov 14, 2012
John Sheehan
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 )
Nov 14, 2012
David, aka, "McScruff"
25-30 fish seems to be a widely used bag limit among the panfish genre. It certainly strikes me as enough....
Im interested by the many colloquial names for sunfish, there in the Garden State.
Nov 15, 2012
John Sheehan
11/25/12 FISH@ DUSK.
Nov 25, 2012
John Sheehan
12/2 /12 Slip floating with the Zebco Slab Seeker .Reel; Daiwa Spinmatic 500 T 4lb test line .Long casts from shore .Float stop set at 3.5' under the surface .Slow steady retreive produced 14 Yellow Perch and two 12" thick Crappie ! Bait 16th oz,Bucktail jig/Mealworm.
Dec 2, 2012
John Sheehan
Warmed up yesterday and managed to catch Yellow Perch on a Beetle spin and a Slip Floated Jig .Caught 10 in about an hour .Was trying to catch the Pickerel that dropped off at the wall the day before .It was about 20 " and took the slip floted BuckTail/Mealworm offering .Whether its the Slip floated Jig at 3.5' or the Beetle spin ,a slow steady retreive has them turned on!
Dec 4, 2012
John Sheehan
Yellow Perch still hitting 1/8th oz/Jig/mealworm offerings, long cast from shore .Pop the float 2 or 3 times and they're on .
Dec 13, 2012
John Sheehan
COLD WATER PERCH! 20 minutes of fishing and 20 minutes of consistent catchin' .Yellow Perch and Slip floating is the most consistent fishing I've been doing in December.
Dec 13, 2012
David, aka, "McScruff"
Mealworms?
Dec 13, 2012
John Sheehan
Yes David .Perhaps not the most durable bait but I can get two or three Perch on the same one unless it's a fast destructive bite .I think cold water =mealies and warmer water =crawlers for some reason.May not have thought it out too deeply though.
Dec 13, 2012
John Sheehan
Mealies for early ice periods too.
Dec 13, 2012
David, aka, "McScruff"
Never seen a meal worm as store bought bait. You just don't see them here.
Ive thought about raising my own... let me get through my first season of Wiggler Worm Ranching and I just may give it a try! LOL
Dec 13, 2012
David, aka, "McScruff"
By the way, those are some tidy, fat little perch you got there. Beats all hell out of the little dinks Ive seen here.
Dec 13, 2012
John Sheehan
These small lake but plentiful Perch are 8-10" .There are 12 " Perch and up in neighboring lakes but I don't have them dialed in like these home lake fish.
Dec 13, 2012
John Sheehan
It's been all about Slip Floating Yellow Perch from the bank for the past couple weeks .I'm not catching anything else. Today, "Dancing in my head" was the sound of Johnny Wilkins ' voice ,which I've heard by the way on his Podcast show.The voice said " get the weight away from the hook." Well I am a bad student but after using an 1/8th oz jig under a float and only catching one dink Yellow Perch ,I decided to switch to a 16th oz Jig and use split shot 6" and 8" up the line away from the hook . Made a big difference and the action was pretty good .To be able to catch about 15 Yellows in an hour and a half from shore this late in mid December makes be pleased!
Dec 15, 2012
chris
Jan 5, 2013
David, aka, "McScruff"
Caught me a nice perch on a Beetle Spin yesterday.It was the only fish of the day...
Jan 7, 2013
John Sheehan
Thataway Chris a Connecticut ice Perch and a real fine one looks 12" or more!
Stay on em David!
Jan 7, 2013
Jeffrey D. Abney
This is a great group with a lot of information about white and yellow perch Woody...
Jan 25, 2013
Jeffrey D. Abney
Here are a couple fact sheets about white perch and yellow perch in North Carolina....White_Perch_profile.pdfYellow_Perch_profile.pdf
Mar 6, 2013
David, aka, "McScruff"
The NC profiles are really good, Jeff.
Mar 7, 2013
John Sheehan
Joes fly 3.5 blade, 32nd oz. Jig spin #0 blade have been catching the majority of Yellow Perch for me.
May 27, 2013
John Sheehan
Caught a few Yellow Perch and one white Perch near the NE Finger where a stream enters the lake .Many follow ups that were rejected and many short nips at the tail .The takes generally came close to the boat when the Jig spin retrieve was stopped and it sunk .The perch dove down and grabbed it . This trigger didn't always work but a moderately quick retrieve and drop was the way to go.
Jun 2, 2013
John Sheehan
Four white Perch mixed with lots of Gills on bottom 6-10 fow in a hole near a relatively steep bank .Slow retrieve .'Hus 'spoons tipped with worms or Hotdog pieces.
Jul 29, 2013
John Sheehan
10.5", this years best so far
Sep 5, 2013
Chuck k
I have been catching a lot of bluegills this summer, but now I am going to be going for yellow perch here in southern Michigan. I have marked some good looking spots on the lakes while bluegill fishing and I am anxious to give them a try for perch.
Sep 5, 2013