White perch
Massachusetts
Morone americana, or white perch, have been a target species of mine. I am looking for salt water access, not ice fishing or anything fresh. I know about the SouthCoast Rivers, just never seem to have any luck finding them there. I have heard any of the estuaries on the East Narragansett Bay are good for finding them. I have hooked up on quite a few at my buddies place in Maryland on the Potomac. What do you guys know? I'm thinking of getting a 14 or 16' Jon Boat with a trolling motor so I can slip quietly up these overgrown brackish waterways looking to score a fish fry. I know some of the spots for them are closely guarded secrets, my lips are sealed brothers!
I've got nothing on the brackish versions. But, check out the Connecticut Fly Angler blog, the young man who does it is a heck of a fisherman, who is focused on expanding his "life species list". It's something like 110 different species all on the fly at this point. Any way, I know over the years I've seen some cool posts from him on fishing for white perch, he often discusses the biology etc and may be a good source to find some waters most folks totally overlook...
Did somebody say fly? I just ordered a new vise. It has been twenty years since I tied my last fly, and it is was on a homemade vise. I started to get the itch this winter to tie and fly fish again. I used to fish for stripers, trout, bluegills, bass and pike. White perch would be fun to add to the list.
Right now, my boat fishing is out of my old grumman aluminum canoe. Eyeballing some new waders, as my 30 year old waders are sure to leak. A little jon boat would be awesome. Somebody else's is even better :)
mrw, this is a bow site!!!!! But seriously if we just talked nothing but bows their would be like 2 threads a day. Love me some perch and Quabbin has monster whites.
The sea run white perch is not what it used to be years ago. Rumors have it the weweantic and Westport river still hold runs of perch. Not what they used to be but some say they are still there. Early morning and right at dark are the best times as they don’t like sunny days very much. Couple places on the south shore also. That is all I have for you on this topic. Ask me about anything else salt related near me and I actually have some info that might help.
If we get a warm weekend I will take the yak out to the weweantic and do some fishing and if anything happens I will be sure to let you know
DFA, is the weweantic the one going through Wareham? If it is, that is where I used to flyfish for early season stripers.
Based on the above link it seems that sea run white perch were never really numerous even back at the turn of the last century. Any one here target them at Quabbin? Supposedly the experienced guys can fill up a boat on a good day.
That’s the one Pete. There is a boat ramp that is off 195 that you can access upper buzzards bay from. I am going to launch the yak there and hit the weweantic looking for holdovers soon. Then when the weather heats up a bit will go to sippican harbor and Westport for some early season bass. Weeks before they consistently hit the Canal. During that time the tog and sea bass will be abundant. Only another 6-8 weeks. During that long wait I will be fishing the ponds for some trout to add to the smoker
Good luck getting on the perch, they sure are delicious. Can't say I know much about the saltwater run. My family and I fished them hard every spring in the rivers coming out of lakes in the lakes region of NH. We'd start hitting it hard the second week of May as they came out of the lakes into the rivers to spawn. It was a well known occurrence and they got fished hard. We had our best luck after dark, when we were the only ones with lines in the water. With a 25 fish limit we would regularly go home with a 5 gallon bucket full of fish.
Quabbin and wachusett both have ok populations, though not what they were 20-25+ years ago. A lot of guys used to add a short mono trailer off the back of a spinner bait (as you would use for bass) with a night crawler, they would troll it and hammer perch suspended in open water. I caught some from shore early in the season while fishing streamers for salmon/lakers - accidents.
Will, when I was a kid me and my dad used to fish wachusett in the evening with worms on the bottom and catch them. Unfortunately, today you would get arrested. We would get a bunch in a couple of hours.
Caught many a white perch from wachusett. Lived right across the street for three years and would haunt the shorelines every chance I would get. Many a smallie and laker would succumb to the dreaded day stalker. Hahahaha.
I really miss fishing wachusett especially the quinnie basin in the spring for trout and fall for LL salmon. I would walk the shoreline for hours in the summer turning over rocks for crayfish and tossing them on a red hook for smallies over 5 lbs. if any of you guys go there frequently I might take the 1 1/2 hr drive to meet you for a day of fishing just let me know. I am more partial to smallie fishing than anything else though.
The hottest ,heavy overcast summer morning at sunrise on Quabbin. You could sight fish them when they were fining on the surface. Clear water bobber and a piece of nightcrawler. We would get them to 15", absolute monster slabs. Man I miss fishing there for Landlocks and white perch.
Pete, why would you get arrested? Still legal to fish Wach... Do you mean the time of year, or an area that's off limits since 9-11 or something?
Shawn, they keep talking about blowing out the dam on the quinnie so it's free rolling into the res... That would create a salmon and brown trout fishery that's completely insane. I've seen 30" fish in the stillwater, which is not as good a strip of river as the quinnie. I've seen fish of the same size below the dam or seeking a way out of the Quinnie basin. What a trip it would be if TU and the state can pull it off and get rid of that dam allowing the fish a free and clear shot to spawn up in the quinnie and it's tribs. AHHHH.
Will. Watched the state record laker come out of that basin. Guy was fishing for trout and he hooked into that beast. While that seems like a great plan to help the spawning fish I do worry that it will become like the cape cod Canal and there will be people lined up elbow to elbow targeting those fish. They won’t stand a chance moving upstream unless there are guidelines and rules put in place
MRW the Assonet river used to he a hot spot in April. I have not done it in years. Every spring I say I'm going to go for a dive and see but always forget.
Shawn - good point. Honestly, I'd be ok with CR on the salmon at least. They are spawning... So protection for the resource would be good. Then again, I once asked about making an awesome wild brookie and brown trout stream near me CR - it's small water, and all wild fish, a good thing to protect... The reply was that people want to catch big stocked fish and will not over fish this stream because of other waters near by stocked with trout. Ok... Fine... How about we protect the gem's regardless :)
A rule like CR, artificials and single hooks only from mouth of river upstream to X road crossing (say route 31 when talking about the quinnie) Oct 25 through November 25 would do it. Rarely are those fish still hanging out after thanksgiving.
You are spot on. It would STINK to see the dam come out, and then have a Salmon River NY redux or Canal melee ensue!
Will - that would be great if they implemented some sort of C&R. I think that is the only way anything would survive. I would fish that river from the aqueduct on down to the first bend right where it opens up. Many a salmon could be caught with a simple tactic. Right size split shot 16” above a whole night crawler hooked once through the head. Would be pretty fun to see that flash in the water when you hooked up. There was one specific rip when you got the drift down right would guarantee you a fish
I can remember before they put the fence up looking over the edge at the pump and seeing 20 lb lakers sitting in the deep pool waiting for fish bits to come through the tunnel. Heck I even would go below the waterfall and cast from that rock flat to the pool catching 4 lb and up rainbows on little Cleo’s. Boy were things different back then!!!!! The amount of trout in there is staggering, makes it hard to cast up there now. That isn’t the only river that the salmon go up in though ;)
I know there are lots of white perch up in Winnie, I just have a terrible prejudice against fresh water fishies. I mean, fresh water is smelly. Salt water is glorious. And the fish are bigger, ask my buddy Mike, he can tell you . . .
The fish in salt water are bigger too. This is off RI. One of these 2 guys is a regular on here, and a good friend.
Wahhhhoooooo!!! Nice fish !!!! Would that be the famous Bowandspear in the picture ???
