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white perch


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#1 Guest_FirstChAoS_*

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Posted 31 March 2009 - 10:52 AM

Has anyone here ever tried keeping white perch? I ask as these small temperate bass seem to be the only panfish i haven't seen mentioned here.

#2 Guest_MultispeciesTamer_*

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Posted 16 April 2009 - 08:21 PM

I tried keeping one once but it only lasted a few months untill it died

#3 Guest_NateTessler13_*

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Posted 17 April 2009 - 10:52 AM

I've kept them in my display tank at Bass Pro Shops. They are quite active and formed tight schools with a group of White Bass we had in the tank. They did really well and fed on frozen and live minnows. They lasted in the tank for about a month before we added a 12 lb. Largemouth Bass who gobbled them up. I had a little bit of protest at first, but it is Bass Pro Shops and not White Perch Pro Shops.

Edited by NateTessler13, 17 April 2009 - 10:53 AM.


#4 Guest_hornpout_*

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Posted 13 February 2013 - 08:27 PM

The white perch can be tricky to keep, and I guess not many people are into it. As adults they can be slow to adapt to the domestic lifestyle, and I'm not surprised to hear of people losing them after a couple months. Mine nearly starved, and was ragged as hell- I almost euthanized him. He ate nothing for nearly four months, except he'd sometimes get a big minnow half swallowed and spit it out. He'd thrash himself into the roots of the submerged log and bang his face into the side of the tank by the hour ](*,) . Then he gave up and ate, rebounded nicely, and developed a tremendous appetite and personality. Always first in the chow line no matter the fare, pushing sunfish and creek chub out of the way. He got a good 14 inches, and looked fine. Downsides- they are very hard to transition and get too large for anything but 125+. Upsides- they dig fresh and saltwater, have small mouths (so they can't eat many tankmates), will eat anything, don't bully others, and swim like crazy.

#5 Guest_exasperatus2002_*

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Posted 14 February 2013 - 10:29 AM

Sorry, never kept them. Caught plenty as a nuisance fish while fishing for crappie & perch though.

#6 Guest_Subrosa_*

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Posted 14 February 2013 - 11:31 AM

Sorry, never kept them. Caught plenty as a nuisance fish while fishing for crappie & perch though.

Nuisance fish? They're the best Walleye bait in the world!

#7 Guest_hornpout_*

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Posted 15 February 2013 - 01:51 AM

Nuisance fish? I will often target them on summers evenings on the lake, as they are good table fare. Consider the perch filleted or in a chowder. They arent the best fighters, but they strike surprisingly hard and schools run thick, so often you'll pull them up one after another. When they're running, if you catch them at the right time, you and a buddy can fill your canoe.

#8 Guest_exasperatus2002_*

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Posted 15 February 2013 - 08:36 AM

Nuisance fish? They're the best Walleye bait in the world!

I did catch my first pike using one for bait if that counts. I've never targeted them specifically. I just tend to run into them while after something else (hence the nuisance part). I dont run into alot of bigger ones. Never thought of eating them before.

#9 littlen

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Posted 15 February 2013 - 11:10 AM

I have kept small schools of them (three or four at a time) over the years. They have all done quite well. The key to successfully acclimating them to captivity is by getting them small. Anything in the 1-4" range. Even when taken from a brackish environment and acclimated to freshwater, they have done very great in freshwater for the remainder of their lives. Another 4 or 5 years easily at that point. As mentioned above, they have small(er) mouths and are not aggressive. They are able to compete with other, more aggressive species. I have a trio living with various sunfish sp., Yellow perch, Walleye, etc. and they are the first ones up to get food as soon as it breaks the surface of the water. I would also recommend keeping a small school of them if you intend to have some. Kept alone, they tend to be more timid, flighty, and hesitant to feed. Great fish to keep if you have a large enough system for them.
Nick L.

#10 Guest_FirstChAoS_*

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Posted 15 February 2013 - 01:27 PM

Sorry, never kept them. Caught plenty as a nuisance fish while fishing for crappie & perch though.


They're considered a panfish here. Though a few populations have been declining since the introduction of crappie.

I got a doubletake from someone at a NANFA talk when I asked if white perch populations were harmed by crappie introduction as he saw them as only an introduced nuisance and not a species native to some parts of the US. It is one of two things I asked which got me a reaction as if I was from another planet. (the other was asking someone how he deals with chubs with his other minnows as they grow big and hungry, My chub experience here is limited to semotilus).

#11 Guest_Subrosa_*

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Posted 15 February 2013 - 06:24 PM

There used to be a guy named "Bucks County Bill" who sold bait almost right under the Burlington Bristol Bridge. There's a small stream that feeds into the river with a small stone bridge spanning it. He'd work back and forth on both sides of the bridge with an umbrella net and catch tons of little ones about 3"-4". We'd buy a bunch and head over to the PennWarner Club and kill the Walleyes. Too bad you couldn't persuade me at gunpoint to eat something out of there!

#12 Guest_jacksmelt_*

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Posted 01 August 2013 - 08:22 PM

we travel 2 hours south to just catch white perch. they're a invasive and theres no limit on them. in a good morning we can fill 2 6gal. pails w/ 10-15inch hump backs! they are excellent eating. I've got them through the ice and immediately put them in a pail of lake water and they died. i think they're a very fragile fish. they fight like the devil on light tackle in the cold water around here!

#13 Guest_don212_*

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Posted 18 February 2014 - 09:04 PM

spent a week catching huge numbers in lake millinockett me as a teenager round 1970. one of my favorite memories. they poped up on the surface I large schools and hit anything in the water. also caught a bucket full in an hour in Delaware, are they reallyintroduced?




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