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Fishing Lake Russell not long ago I started catching fish that looked similar to a white Bass so I Googled it and discovered it was a “White Perch”! I was always under the impression that a White Perch and a Crappie were one in the same but I was wrong! I guess your never too old to learn!
Definitely different. Especially taste.
Big difference, we catch them up here and cut up for catfish bait.
White perch and crappie are the same fish, white bass is s different species.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluegill Bill
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A white perch is a White Perch. A crappie is either Black or White but is not a White Perch despite being called a white perch by many people in the Deep South.Quote:
Originally Posted by badbull
A White Bass is an entirely different species than a White Perch. They do look similar but a White Perch typically lacks the stripes that a White Bass has
I don't know about the rest of you... but I like eating white perch as much as I like eating crappie. The only reason I feel I should throw that into the conversation... is because as long a people know white perch are such good table fare they will tend to target them too and help to keep the populations in check. (Really... do try them if you haven't already). Plus, they are feisty little scrappers too on light tackle. I love to catch and eat white perch. IMO: They are trash fish with a bonus... they are really good eatin'.
Actually, Bull .... no they are not. They're a totally different fish in all respects. Now, White Crappie may be "called" White Perch by some, as one of many nicknames, but they're not even in the same fish family. And White Perch are not even an actual "Perch" ... they're a Morone, a fish in the temperate bass family (along with White Bass, Yellow Bass, Striped Bass, & Hybrid Striped Bass).Quote:
Originally Posted by badbull
True "Perch" are like the Yellow Perch, Walleye, & Sauger.
:hesaid I've won a couple of bets off folks that think White Perch are not good eating fish. I did a blind taste with fillets of Perch, Crappie and Bream and they could not really tell a difference and all 3 were excellent. I have found that the White Perch, which is a 1st cousin to the Striped Bass, has a similar blood line down the side and they are much better if filleted and skinned as opposed to frying whole.
Fish names can be confusing ie: the White Perch is not a perch at all. They are in the Bass family and are anadromousin their natural habitat like the Striped Bass. Both have flourished in land locked reservoirs however.
Your talking scientific names versus local names, I get that . I can tell you another half dozen names for crappie. The white perch you are speaking of is a northern fish and does not normally exist in Ga waters.Quote:
Originally Posted by CrappiePappy
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Correct !!Quote:
Originally Posted by badbull
And you wanna know something funny .... I was probably around 30yrs old before I realized that what my friends & locals around here were calling "white perch" ... were actually Freshwater Drum :Rofl Seriously, I grew up calling Freshwater Drum as "white perch" !!
And as a pre-teen kid living & growing up with my Grandparents, who were avid Crappie anglers, I was "tricked" into thinking we were going fishing for a new species of fish when my GramPa said we were going fishing for "Newlights" rotfl I had heard him mention "Newlight waves" when there was a light wind ripple on the water, and even though I knew we were fishing for Crappie ... I never made the connection until I was older.
I've read where Crappie nicknames include "Strawberry Bass", "Bachelor Perch", "Calico Bass", or "Speckled Bass/Perch" ... but I've never heard anyone use those nicknames. Now, I've only fished in KY, Tenn, SC, & Ala. so those nicknames may not have been used in those parts, but I've never heard them called "White Perch" in any of those areas, either.
I mean no disrespect when "correcting" .... it's just that after 45yrs of working in the Pharmaceutical/Medical field, I've just picked up the habit of being precise. :biggrin
My wife's dad, who was my fishing pardner and was from Mississippi, he always called them "specs" are "speckled perch". His other name for them was white perch. He hardly ever called them crappie. He loved to fish and I sure miss him.
When i first caught a white perch in clark hill years ago, i was mystified. Here was a fish that looked a white bass but was not. The pee dee river may have been as far south as their range but they are in russel and the hill. Have ate them and they are quite tasty. Usually catch them in open water or in the spring up at the mouth of broad river. Rumor has it that they were transplanted as a substitute for other fish by the various game departments. They have multiplied rapidly.
These white perch were placed in our lakes unlawfully. They have got so bad in all our lakes in SC, Ga and NC. SCDNR took white perch off of the creek limit so we can keep everyone of them caught hoping this will reduce the population. It doesn’t seem to be working. When the fish were all small they wasn’t worth keeping so many released them back into the lake. Now they have a good size to them ( a Pound fish) they are beginning to be fished for table food. They are good eating and not much different then Crappie. If you find a school of them catching 100 fish is common.
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They are in the Savannah River chain of lakes bordering SC/GA. I have caught them in all of those lakes.Quote:
Originally Posted by badbull
I can tell you for a fact they are in Clark Hill lake and I'd be surprised if they weren't in other Georgia reservoirs. They are not native to our lakes but they got put in either by accident or on purpose. Unfortunately they have flourished to the point that SC DNR delisted them as game fish and encourage the removal of as many as possible . We have them in all our major lakes. They are a threat to Crappie and other native species. They are fun to catch and good eating but still a threat to the native fish.Quote:
Originally Posted by badbull
The biggest problem is how fast they multiply. If you have 100 in the lake you probably have 10,000. It's that bad.