Likes: 
Thanks: 
HaHa: 
They are bad in the eastern half of Pa, from reports I read.
Crappie.com 2K Star General
White perch - as bad as they say they are in different states?
Recently I've been catching more white perch and larger whites than anytime in the last 10 years in my local crappie/bass/pickerel lake. I did some research to find out why all of a sudden this species became so numerous and in sizes ranging from 3.5"-10". What I found was disturbing!
According to different state agencies, white perch can be detrimental to local fish populations - even their own - for the following reasons:
Pirmary food - eggs of all species
Secondary food - fingerlings of all species and shiners that comprise a significant source of multi-specie diets.
Prolific in that females can lay anywhere from 20,000 to 300,000 eggs which are fertilized by many males.
Overpopulation equates to small fish of all species at first and then the destruction of the young of certain species such as walleye and bass, even though small white perch also make up a part of their food source.
In Kansas, the law states that all white perch caught must be kept and disposed of. Other states encourage non-release, though it is expected that most small perch not worth cleaning will go back.
White perch are not real perch but related to white bass and can dilute the white bass gene pool by crossbreeding - another reason to kill them.
I'll be making a presentation to my fishing club to have white perch tournaments to help the fishery, but knowing how little interest bass and pickerel anglers have for catching panfish, I doubt they will see the danger until it is too late. As of this year, yellow perch catches are way down but crappie are still doing well - numbers and size. That could change. I've taken out over 400 small perch in the last two months to feed the bass in my pond, not caring about the spawns of the five species in it. That won't even put a dent in the w.p. population.
Crappie.com 3K Star General - Moderator Pennsylvania
They are bad in the eastern half of Pa, from reports I read.
Trophy King
Here in south central PA, especially Lake Marburg, the white perch have become the most abundant fish in the lake.
There are signs all over the lake that say to please keep all white perch that you catch. In the summer, the schools of white perch chase minnows on top. Thousands of them! Super fun to catch with a 3 wt flyrod and a small white streamer. Schools in deep water of millions (about 10' thick and 50 yards wide by 100 yards long!!
Everywhere I go in that lake, trying for crappie or gills, I always catch a bunch of white perch. On the bright side ..... the white perch are great fighters and attack a fly or lure with gusto, and the fillets are a wonderful tasty white firm flakey flesh.
For me ....... I don't mind the white perch at all! I'm kinda glad they populate so fast, it's more fish for me to catch?
Crappie.com 1K Star General
Can one of you post a picture of the white perch and the white bass. I am not very familiar with either. I believe we have some of one of them where I fish but am not sure which it is. This is what I catch from time to time. Right now they start to get very easy to catch with large schools of them coming into the bays and schooling on the surface in the main river channels. I have seen picture of them from our lake that appear to be in the 1 1/2 - 2 pound range but everyone I catch is about the size of the one in my hand in the picture. Is this a white bass or white perch?
It is not about the equipment you have to use,
It is about how you use the equipment you have. :D
Crappie.com 2K Star General
Slabmaster
I am by NO MEANS an expert at all on fish I.D., but that does look more like a white bass to me.
The Kansas Dept. of Wildlife and Parks has some fish I.D. links on their website. Click on the Temperate Bass Family and you'll have something to compare to.
Fish ID Gallery / Fishing / KDWPT - KDWPT
ETA: I tried to catch some white perch my last time out. Reports say they're all over the lakes around here; "fishing is excellent" they say. "Use a piece of worm under a bobber" they say! Haha, I've caught nothing.Oh well.
Crappie.com Legend
They have nearly wiped out the White Bass in the upper Santee Cooper lakes. SC declassified them as a gamefish a few years back and encourage anglers to keep all they catch. The small one are excellent Striper and Catfish bait, The larger ones are very good to eat if filleted.
The easiest way identify them is the White Perch's dorsal fins are attached and if you pull one up the other comes with it. I don't think this is true in the White Bass and Striper. The WP also has very sharp gill plates and can give you a bad cut if you mishandle one.
Mark 1:17 ...I will make you fishers of men
Trophy King
Heck, I always thought white perch was another name for Crappie (white crappie specifically). No?
Crappie.com 2K Star General
The white perch, Morone americana, is not a true perch but is, rather, a fish of the temperate bass family, Moronidae.
- White perch have been associated with declines in both walleye and white bass populations.
- White perch feed heavily on baitfish utilized by other species.
- Out-compete native fishes for food and space.
- Hybridize with white bass.
Crappie.com 1K Star General
Thanks for the info everyone, and judging by the information given and a little further research on my part, I would have to say that I am catching white bass.
It is not about the equipment you have to use,
It is about how you use the equipment you have. :D
Posting Permissions
