Thread: White Perch Tournament

hey Boscoe are there any perch tournaments in those neck of the woods? Sounds like there are some good holes in your area, I would be intrested in coming down if there was a tourney going on. kinda far if there's not a tourney but i do frequent southern va during the year sometimes so i would consider it even if there's not a tourney going on.

Perchslayer,

The largest white perch that I can recall was about 18 inches caught out of the Perquimins river about 4 years ago. I caught about 5 that were that size that day. That day I was just throwing out a beetle spin and letting it sink to the bottom and then slowly cranking it back in. Just slow enough for the blade to turn. The most effective way that I know of now is to long line troll beetle spins tipped with shrimp out the back of the boat in 6 feet of water or less. I am not sure exactly what the weight is of the world record but I do remember it being around 5 pounds. I don't have any pictures but would love to see it myself. Perch have been slow down this way this year. There were a couple of times that I heard of big catches but by the time word got out, it was over. The only name I know of for a big perch is " a big ole perch". Good Luck. CF

Never trolled before for white perch, however i troll often for rockfish in the fall. I've heard of trolling for crappie and perch on the internet but most people around don't, at least the people i talk to don't. But i would like to try trolling for perch and crappie. What speed do you troll at for these perch, also when you say beetle spins, what size do you use also how to do you rig it.

Perchslayer,

We use 1/32 ounce to 1/16 ounce jigs on the beetle spins and tip the hook with a piece of shrimp. Adding the shrimp also adds bulk so you might have to pinch on some split shot to get it to go down some. We vary the split shot weights to get some baits deeper in the water to cover more depths. Use 4 to 8 rods or what ever you feel comfortable with. The more rods the better until you find the fish. Then you just set up 4 rods like the one your catching fish on because 8 can be more like work when you get in them good. You can use this method for crappie as well but instead of shrimp on the hook, use minnows. Most of the time if you don't tip with the shrimp, your not going to do too well. The shrimp is the key. Trolling speed is from just getting the blades to turn on you beetle spins to 1.5 mph. You may also have to add more split shot for higher speed to get the same depth. Hope this helps. If you have any more questions feel free to ask. Good Luck. CF

hey CF, when you say shrimp do you mean grass shrimp (bronicula) or store bought like the bait type you can buy in tackle shops.

We fish for them about the same way CF does. I like grass shrimp better, but when you can't get them, regular bait shrimp will work.

Perchslayer,

I've always used regular bait shrimp. Never tried grass shrimp but if IBNFSHN says they work better then they probably do.

IBNFSHN. Where do you get your grass shrimp? CF

There are a few places in Portsmouth and Chesapeake where you can get close to the water and weeds and dip them with a fine net on a long handle. If you want to know exactly where, let me know. Basically, any water affected by the tide and has lots of grass that you can get to without sinking.