Shearon Harris today

[hockey86]

Well got to hit Harris today with the kids. When I got there around 2:30 this afternoon I spoke with a couple of guys and they said they never had a single bite all day using minnows. We went ahead and tried it in 30' of water and caught a medium size crappie at about 20'. The kids were trying to reel in a few but they got off. Then the poles bent over pretty good. Evidently we got into some white bass and they were nailing the minnows. This was not what we were targeting but they had a blast reeling in these things. Some got quite large and really pulled some drag. The gulls were feeding like crazy and we found out why. Kept a couple to eat and they were full of eggs and small bait fish. I forgot the camera but I would've like to have a pic of the fish finder screen because it was loaded with bait and apparently white bass. Finished up around dark with a couple more crappie then called it a day.

[Special K]

White Perch not White Bass. There are no white bass in Shearon Harris Lake that I know of. Glad nonetheless that the kids had fun reeling them in.
They are scrappy fighters for sure and fun to catch. Good eatin' too! Thanks for sharing your day with us.

[hockey86]

Major brain fart there. Not sure where I got white bass from. None the less, it was fun.

[Special K]

Major brain fart there. Not sure where I got white bass from. None the less, it was fun.

It is a mistake that lots of people make as the white perch and white bass are quite similar in appearance. The white perch is a very invasive species that are known to eat the eggs of many species including crappies and white bass. It is currently known that the white perch is largely responsible for declining populations of white bass on many eastern and even southeastern fisheries as well as other populations of more desirable sport fish, because of their aggressive feeding and schooling nature... they out compete with other species for available forage such as bait fish.

While we enjoy catching these scrappy good tasting devils... it is good practice to never release any that you catch. Instead, it should be unwritten rule to all of us that any and all white perch caught (even those that are too small to eat) should be taken out of the fishery, killed, tossed onto the bank or used as garden fertilizer... even as much as this advice seems to fly in the face of everything you have ever learned or practiced as a good sportsman... IMO it really is the best practice.

Keep goin' after 'em... they're a blast to catch. Thanks again for sharing the report.

[gotta_fish]

Nice post Hockey86 keep them kids involved in the outdoors . Like "K" said keep them all,T ask around and you can find people that will take them off your hands the catfisher people will store them in freezers for a backup bait .They are good eatin fish also. Please don't release them back into the lake .

[hockey86]

Next time we'll keep em all. I was not aware that they needed to be thinned out. By what I saw on my fish finder there's a ton of them in that lake. I always like to teach my kids catch and release but this would be a good teaching moment why catch and release is not always the best thing either and why. Thanks guys.