[lowball]

After concentrating my efforts on fly fishing for many years, I felt the urge to get my boat out on Falls Lake and try to catch some fish for a “food challenged” family. From what I was able to find on the internet, I thought white perch would be the best target…good eating, easy to catch a bunch when you get into them AND helping reduce the population of a problem species. I searched the web for everything I could find on wintertime white perch fishing, especially on the lakes around Raleigh. I went out last week on Falls Lake; found bait balls with larger fish suspended in 25’+; used the vertical jigging techniques shown in this video

AND CAUGHT NOTHING! Surface water temp around 47 degrees. A humbling experience!

I’d like to try again tomorrow since the weather/temps look good. I need your help, please! I’m not asking for your honey hole, just your input on how to catch keeper-size white perch this time of year in Falls, Kerr, Jordan or Harris Lakes.

 

[Pond Pounder]

I gotcha! I catch a TON of white perch… they’re easy to find and catch this time of year if you know where to look. I usually find them concentrated in 22-30’ on the bottom and fish around the channels around bridges, mostly around Jordan lake ( you can find them elsewhere in any lake, but they’ll still be on the bottom). My favorite rig to catch them is a double drop minnow rig. I take a 30” piece of mono, tie a swivel at one end, two small dropper loops with minnow hooks about 12” apart (just use a double overhand knot with the hook to create the loop… and I prefer sz 6-8 Gamakatsu crappie hooks because they’re razor sharp, strong, and have long shanks) and a small snap swivel at the bottom. I usually fish with an ultra light rod for greatest sensitivity and a 3/8 oz teardrop sinker is all I need to get to the bottom. Put minnows on the rig, lower it down, and gently bounce it on the bottom every few seconds (it only needs to come up a few inches… you’re just giving it a little action to entice the fish). This rig works great and when the fish are biting, you can’t keep them off the hook!

Bycatch may include some crappie, catfish, and the occasional bass. Keep a small rubber mesh net handy for any big crappie or catfish. Good luck!

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[Joetrain]

I have used a similar rig but instead of minnows I bait with strips of perch belly meat. Caught them good like that one day last week but the next time out couldn’t get any at all.
~JOE~

 

[lowball]

Pond Pounder & Joe Train,
Thanks for your suggestions! I only managed to get out for about 2 hours yesterday and had to fish Falls Lake because of my time limitations. I did try tight lining minnows on the bottom but had no luck...so I never got to try the belly meat (you need to catch one first lol). I saw large schools of bait and larger fish on the edge of the channel but got no interest at all from them! I really want to get to Jordan and Harris Lakes which I think have better populations of crappie and white perch. Apparently it is going to take awhile to get the hang of it! My next trip will be to the Farrington bridge area.

 

[Pond Pounder]

One important note, I went yesterday to fish the 64 bridge on Jordan Lake and marked a ton of fish around it. The water temp has dropped a few degrees since last week and I had to fish deeper than usual (around 40’, almost in the middle of the bridge channel) to find fish that were biting. I used a combination of bottom fishing and tightlining 1-2’ off the bottom (with two rods… the tightline rod is in a holder) and managed a nice supply of keeper crappie, which will be catfish bait this weekend. If you wanna go sometime next week, DM me and I’ll show you the ropes.


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[bertboy90]

How does the perch cook and taste? Pretty good?

 

[Kev2380]

They are thick in Harris Lake at least they used to be. I haven't fished there in a couple years. I used to catch them with blade baits and rooster tail type tackle.

 

[lowball]

Kev,
Thanks for the info! Spring is a hot time for fly fishing. I'm back to doing that for shad, white bass, trout and stripers. I'll keep this in mind for some summer fun though!