White Perch

[LittleJohn]

Hello my South Carolina friends. I see lot of posting about White Perch and I don't know anything about them. Are they good eating and what is consider a good size. When I make my trip down to Lake Wateree last of March to Crappie fish. Does the perch run with and around the crappie. Or do they run together on their own. I will be mostly Long lining are there a lot caught this way. My trip is getting closer and getting excited.
LittleJohn

[SeaRay]

They are related to the Striped Bass, not a perch, but are misnamed. They are excellent table fare when filleted, and the red stripe removed like in the Striper. They will hit jigs when long lined but if there is a minnow nearby they will gobble them up in a hurry. They tend to hug the bottom so look for arches clustered around humps and drop a minnow amongthem.

[sinkermaker]

White perch generally run in big schools by themselves. They are plentiful and no size or number limit on them. 3/4 to a pound are good size. A lot are caught long lining but they generally like the jigs around 1.5 mph. Be sure to catch all you want and take them back home. The preferred method to catch them is tight lining minnows on top of them.

[OpiemusRex]

Yep, good eating and plenty of them. DNR has taken the limit off of them and the biologist for Lake Murray has told me to not return any to the lake. I don't even bother with taking the red meat out of them.

[Crappie Buster]

Little John, a perch is very similar to a white bass if you are familiar with those. A lot of folks get the two confused. They are great table fare and often are found mixed in with the crappie this time of year. I'm sure you'll catch some at wateree longlining. I'm not so sure I don't prefer perch to crappie when fried up golden brown. They are plentiful and a nuisance. Like sinkermaker said 3/4-1 is a nice sized perch and they are caught up to the 1.5lb mark at times. If you can get some fillets off their sides they are worth cleaning.


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[LittleJohn]

Thank you guys for the information,sounds like the White Perch would be worth catching. Be getting back in touch with you again Crappie Buster before the trip.
LittleJohn

[BigDawgg]

Yep! You'll like them.

Just don't carry any home alive and put them in your lakes they eat everything.