White Perch Primer

Posted by Nick Honachefsky on Apr 13th 2017

Close-up of a bunch of white perch in a basket

White Perch may not be the hardest fighting fish you can encounter in the Northeast, but some think they are grade A table fare. Nick's tips below in this week's blog!

It's not big game fishing, heck its barely even saltwater fishing, but in the salt creeks of New Jersey, mainly the Mullica, Maurice, Tuckahoe and Cohansey rivers, white perch fishing is tops in the spring and summer. What white perch lack in size, they make up for fight and absolutely are my favorite saltwater crossover species in the frying pan with succulent light fillets that can be beer battered and sautéed to perfection.

It's all about shrimpin' and wormin'. Get set up with a light tackle freshwater type rod like a St. Croix 6-foot, matched with a light 2500 to 3500 class spinning reel spooled with Tufline 12-pound braid or Seaguar mono line, it doesn't really matter too much. Start up by picking a ledge or channel where you have running water, and anchor up. Begin to dish out a chum slick with dropping a clam pot down with clam chum, then grab your grass shrimp, lightly spraying shrimp by the handful into the waters. As the shrimp sink, they attract white perch to come cruising up through the channel waterways. Rigs are simple. Buy or create your own hi-lo pill float rigs with a 50-lb Spro barrel swivel, 20-lb Seaguar fluorocarbon leader, size #6 to #8 Mustad baitholder #92641 hooks and a size 1 to 2-ounce bank sinker on the bottom. Tip the hook with three to four grass shrimp, or 1-inch bits of bloodworms or sandworm and send it down.

Early morning through a sunny afternoon, into the evening, white perch will be on the chew as they move along with the tides. You can even catch fish during the night time, be sure to have a reliable Baker headlamp and pair of Cuda pliers to quickly unhook fish into the icebox and get back in the game immediately, because when whiteys are on the chew, you can easily land 50 to 100 fish if you've got them greedily feeding in the slick. For added fun, chuck out a shrimp ball on a float rig to get that exciting strike that takes the bobber under and runs for the horizon. White perching is a blast for kids and experienced anglers alike, and believe me, you'll be out perching again with all the action and the reward of the tasty meal in the pan.