Catch more white perch on these N.C. lakes
When it comes to filling an ice chest, nothing beats rounding up a herd of white perch.
For wrangling up a mess of these tasty fish, no better lakes exist than the reservoirs of the Catawba and Yadkin river chains. So, saddle up your watercraft, slather on some sunscreen, cinch up your rigging and give a wave of your broad-brimmed hat to these fishing guides.
Lake Norman
Capt. Gus Gustafson (Fishing With Gus, 704-617-6812) said he must have made a million dollars taking clients out for white perch. No matter what anyone else thinks of these smallish silver fish with lines on their sides (some anglers consider them fit only for catfish bait) this perch fanatic is their biggest fan.
“In the worst summer heat, white perch school in big congregations. But they may be as deep as 30 to 50 feet,” Gustafson said. “Also, the biggest fish, which everyone is itching to catch, are in the deepest water. They may start shallow in the morning, but then move to deeper, sloping ledges later in the day. A good rule of thumb is the higher the sun gets, the deeper the white perch go. If I lose them, I just keep looking in deeper and deeper water until I find them again.”
When the fish move around, Gustafson uses his secret weapon – a Bobo’s Thumper. It is a mechanical device that anglers can see in action and order through social media sites. So far, no one offers a commercial version. It beats rhythmically against the boat, taking the place of the old angler’s trick of banging a paddle handle, shovel handle or rubber mallet against the boat to attract schooling fish.
“I have had anglers leave the area in disgust after they notice all the fish have moved to my boat,” he said. “They would be happier if they would get a Thumper, too.”
Lake Wylie
Chris Nichols (thecarolinaangler.com, 704-860-7951) said white perch are abundant if you know where to look.
“In the summer, white perch will be schooling at the ends of the deepest primary and secondary points or on edges of the main lake channels,” he said. “You don’t need anything special to catch them once you find them. But you have to use a good depthfinder to keep looking in those areas until you spot them before you start fishing.”
Nichols fishes for them with a double-dropper rig with two hooks and a sinker tied to the end of the line. He uses small strips of perch, night crawlers and other baits. But his favorite bait is a live minnow.
“If you get a minnow into a school of perch, you are going to catch a fish,” he said. “It’s the one thing that they can’t turn down.”
High Rock, Tuckertown and Badin lakes
Maynard Edwards said that while white perch can be as thick as thieves, you must look high and low to find their hideouts.
“They are about as plentiful in each of the three lakes I mainly fish, High Rock, Tuckertown and Badin,” he said. “But perch can be as picky about where they will be as they are persnickety about what they will bite at times. You have to look high and low for them and catching them consistently can take different approaches.”
High Rock Lake
At High Rock, the fish head “high,” meaning upstream, when the water is flowing through the dam. The fish head there when the dam is generating hydropower because the water is cooler and has more oxygen than water farther downstream. Edwards searches for them in the main river channel where it narrows as well as upstream creeks including Swearing Creek.
“I troll with my smallest E-Rigs (Extreme Fishing Concepts’ version of the Alabama Rig),” he said. “I rig Sassy Shad trailers on the hooks, with pearl and shad the best colors.”
The fish also move to the mouths of downstream creeks when the water is not flowing. They mix with crappie that feed on the same small forage fish. He uses electronics to find the baitfish schools in 15 to 20 feet of water, then trolls with long line rigs, which are unweighted lines with curly-tailed grubs impaled on jigs.
If the fish are “low,” meaning too deep to reach with a long line rig, he trolls with down line rigs. Each down line rig has two dropper loops, each with a single, long shank hook that holds a curly tailed grub. Below the two droppers he ties a 3-ounce bank sinker to keep the line taut. Down line rigs will snag in cover, so he avoids using them where woody cover is present.
Tuckertown Lake
At Tuckertown, Edwards applies similar tactics. When the water is moving through the dam, he heads upstream.
“The water flow may be subtle, but if it is moving perch are in it,” he said. “I troll an E-Rig and it will catch white bass, stripers, white perch and largemouth bass. You never know what’s going to strike next. If you are into a school of perch, you often get a double hookup in one E-Rig haul.”
Another good bet is Ellis Creek, also called the Newsome area. It is a big, deep area with lots of structure, including a railroad trestle. Crappie and white perch mix together and will show up as the same school on a depthfinder. They can be suspended as deep as 40 feet.
Badin
Badin’s bandit perch are lowest of the low-down. Edwards said he really can’t search too deep for them.
“I have found white perch mixed with crappie suspended at 40 feet, 50 feet or more in extremely deep creeks,” he said. “I assume that is where water is coolest or has the highest oxygen content. But for whatever reason, they are hiding there.”
White perch that deep are concentrated compactly, making anglers spend more time searching more water for fewer schools. However, once an angler finds the school, he can stay in the fish as long as he wants.
“I actually catch them until I almost get tired of catching them. And then I head for another creek to find another school just for fun,” he said. “In those tight creek turns, a minnow will wiggle when a curly tail grub goes slack. So I put a minnow on one hook and a grub on the other.”
Lake Tillery
Rodney Crisco (Joe’s Bait & Tackle, 704-982-8716) said white perch are so special, Joe’s has a special rig for them.
“I tie so many Joe’s Waccamaw Rigs my trigger finger bleeds,” Crisco said. “We call them ‘Waccamaw’ rigs because anglers here call white perch ‘Waccamaw Perch’ or just ‘Waccamaws’ after the big white perch at Lake Waccamaw in the coastal plain.”
Joe’s Waccamaw Rig is similar to a Sabiki rig, but with larger hooks and heavier line. The multiple hooks make multiple catches possible. And they will also hold very large fish of any species. The angler adds a sinker, bucktail jig or spoon to the end of the rig for weight. And fish may also strike the spoon. The most common spoon used is a gold Nungesser and the rig can be jigged, drifted or slow trolled.
“If white perch are deep in the creek mouths, a good depthfinder helps anglers locate them,” he said. “The perch will also hit minnows and cut perch drifted on single-hook rigs. If you don’t have a depthfinder or need to cover some water to find the perch, trolling any small crankbait, spoon or diving lure will work. They aren’t picky eaters.”
Facts about white perch
White perch are thought of as nuisance fish by some anglers. But others see them as another fish that ‘s fun to catch and good to eat. Still others load up on them to use as catfish bait. They are often caught by anglers targeting crappie.
These fish are known to eat the eggs of many other species of fish and can do damage to the populations of other species. Many anglers believe the white perch is the biggest reason for the decline in white bass populations throughout the Carolinas. They reproduce abundantly and can overpopulate small reservoirs quickly.
Anglers in the Carolinas are not bound by any size or creel limits on white perch.
North Carolina’s state record white perch weighed 2 pounds, 15 ounces and was caught by Bob G. Williams Jr. on a Strata Spoon at Falls of the Neuse Reservoir in December 2001.
South Carolina has a tie for the state record — Rodger Taylor’s Lake Wylie white perch and Frank Drose’s Santee fish each weighed 1 pound, 15 ounces.
White perch have several nicknames throughout the Carolinas. These include Waccamaws, Eisenhowers, black-backs and mother-in-law fish.
Anglers sometimes misidentify white perch as white bass, small striped bass and small hybrid bass.
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