White perch have taken hold in many South Carolina lakes, and it’s not uncommon for crappie fishermen to run into them in pretty good numbers, especially in the weeks before slabs really leave deep water and head for the banks.
Like many fishermen, guide Steve Pietrykowski believes that white perch are among the best live baits available for big, open-water predators like striped bass and blue catfish. He uses them whenever possible, but he learned the hard way exactly how aggressive they can be.
“White perch are like a gumdrop to stripers,” he said, “but the main reason I like them is they really seem to struggle alot on the hook, jump around a lot. They’re a good striper bait — better than a lot of people give them credit for.
“I caught about 10 white perch crappie fishing one day, and I wanted to go (striper) fishing the next day, so I put them in my livewell with about 10 dozen crappie minnows
“When I went out the next day, the minnows were all gone. They’d eaten them all.”
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