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Author Topic: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say  (Read 8197 times)

Offline VTMatt

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #30 on: Jan 22, 2015, 04:42 PM »
Well Id rather have a bucket of 12" yellows over 12" whites but whites of the same size fight much harder.  I agree that most couldn't tell the difference as well.

Offline BassInVt

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #31 on: Jan 22, 2015, 04:52 PM »
I've talked with a lot of friends and its about 50/50 on the preference.  I personally and my wife are not picky we love fish, all kinds of fish. So I am really looking forward to catching some and trying them for myself. Just got to find them. Are they agressive, or more like trying to find crappies. thanks
What?? fish are biting, I'm gone

Offline bootstrap

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #32 on: Jan 22, 2015, 07:28 PM »
I have caught very few white perch while ice fishing, in the summer we would catch coolers full of them at the mouth of the otter creek. would get old fast not much of a challenge.

Offline dave bartlett

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #33 on: Jan 22, 2015, 08:18 PM »

I think that is a great idea Dave......that way you can make your own choice......

I am interested in the idea of using them for bait to catch big pike.  I have used yellows but never a white.  Can't see why it wouldn't work.
    Woodab17,
  That day we put 5 or 6 on for bait and within a half hour we had our first bite on them and within 2 hours they all were eaten.
Pike love them in Champlain

Offline VTMatt

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #34 on: Jan 22, 2015, 08:42 PM »
Not sure if it's legal to use whites as bait just as it's not legal to use alewives.

Offline flagfishon

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #35 on: Jan 22, 2015, 08:52 PM »
From vtfishandwildlife.com:

5.6.3 Lake Champlain – In addition to 5.6.2, the following fish species,
or parts thereof, may be taken only by angling/ice fishing in Lake
Champlain and used for bait in Lake Champlain, as described in
Section 7.0 of this regulation, and may not be commercially
harvested or sold as bait; Alewife may only be used/possessed if
dead:
Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus
White perch Morone americana

Offline VTMatt

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #36 on: Jan 22, 2015, 09:14 PM »
Didn't know that!  Cool.

Offline troutcrazy

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #37 on: Jan 23, 2015, 12:01 PM »
I think they're delicious.  No need to say they're better or worse tasting than yellows- they're different.  I think the meat is a little firmer, and they have a nice way of getting a little crispy when you fry them, even with no flour or cornmeal.

As was already said, they taste less "fishy" if you cut out most of the dark muscle.  I do like them in tacos, or with some kind of spicy sauce.

They are a bit of a pain to clean and handle.  They are extra spiny, and the gill covers are sharp in addition to the fins.  Extra slimy, too.  The skin doesn't peel off easily like that of a yellow perch.  The only way I've found to clean em is to fillet em. 

There are tons of them out there, and I feel no remorse about taking as many as I can handle.  As much as I enjoy them, I'd rather they didn't take over the whole lake.  I put a lot of fillets in my freezer last winter and shared them with family and friends.

Someone asked about mercury.  The Dept. of Health gives the same advisory for whites that they do with perch under 10".  That is, they are among the safest fish to eat in quantity, with no restrictions for healthy adults except for women who plan to have children.  However, I suspect that the large whites are higher in mercury than the small ones, just like with yellows, but I don't have any data to back that up.

Catchem and eatem!

Offline Crayfish2

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #38 on: Jan 23, 2015, 12:02 PM »
My experience has been that winter or early spring whites taste very similar to yellows, maybe a little milder flavor.  But in the summer the whites develop a strong fishy taste.  We needed lots of tartar sauce to eat the last batch of whites we caught last summer!  And they all went directly onto ice as they were caught, so it wasn't like we dragged them around on a stringer or something.  I won't keep them anymore unless they are caught in cold water.

Offline VTMatt

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #39 on: Jan 23, 2015, 09:33 PM »
I think the same can be said for most other fish as well.  Better tasting through the ice, and not as good in the Summer.  Maybe someone can chime in as to why?  Forage? Oxygen levels?

Offline BassInVt

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #40 on: Jan 24, 2015, 07:10 AM »
Personally i think its forage, its what they are eating.
What?? fish are biting, I'm gone

Offline ice fiend

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #41 on: Jan 24, 2015, 07:39 AM »
I agree fish most often taste like whatever their foraging on an example i dont usually eat trout not that i dont like it every once in a while but i will never eat stocked trout they taste like crap from eating pellets yuck!!
i told myself id be back by 2 i guess i didnt factor in that the fish were biting

Offline BassInVt

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #42 on: Jan 24, 2015, 07:58 AM »
ice fiend, im the same way i dont eat stockies, because of what they were fed. yuck
What?? fish are biting, I'm gone

Offline grampydickg

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #43 on: Jan 24, 2015, 12:31 PM »
Food for thought and some interesting reading.  I not a big fish eating fan but I will eat mild tasting fish.  I have caught and eaten "White perch" and like them as well as yellow perch.  Here are some links to articles about White Perch or are they misnamed and belong to the bass family.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/aquaticanimals/whiteperch/index.html

http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Morone_americana/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_perch

http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/exotics/wperch.html

Offline ice fiend

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #44 on: Jan 24, 2015, 01:13 PM »
Ive heard their more related to bass but i could be wrong
i told myself id be back by 2 i guess i didnt factor in that the fish were biting

Offline thefishingweatherman

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #45 on: Jan 25, 2015, 08:21 PM »
There are probably seriously millions of white perch in the lake. VTMatt and I, and three other friends, spent a whole day last April pulling them in one after another ALL DAY LONG. No exaggeration when I say between the 5 of us, we had around 750 pounds of the things, many of which were in the 14" range, and around 2 pounds. We sold most of those to the bait shop in St. Albans, and the guy there said for the whole winter he'd probably bought and sold around 20,000 pounds of whites! There's no shortage of them, so keep 'em all! Fun to catch too!

As for the taste, in my opinion, they are very similar to a haddock or cod. Just a fairly bland white fish. They only really get fishy if they get even a little freezer burned and still have the dark meat in the fillet. I have made them into brown sugared, applewood smoked fish, and they come out amazing. They are a bit tricky to fillet, but once you get the hang of it, it goes fast. Here's a how-to video I made on that:


For me, these are so much fun to catch, it's the main reason I go out onto the ice. Even if you can't eat all you catch, you've got some high-quality cat food or garden fertilizer. Haha.

Offline dickbaker

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #46 on: Jan 26, 2015, 07:12 AM »
 ??? ::)  Hey!  Let's be optimistic ;D   Maybe the white perch will feed on the spiny water flea?  They are tiny crustaceans so they should provide better flavored perch ::)
Dick

Offline Crayfish2

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #47 on: Jan 26, 2015, 08:25 AM »
Nice video, weatherman.  I like to leave the fillet/skin attached at the tail and then filet the meat off from the skin.  Once you get the hang of it, you can fillet down the side, flip the fillet over and then fillet the meat off in one motion.  Cut out you belly bones after.  You get a bigger handhold, because you are hanging onto the rest of the fish when filleting the meat off.  I do yellows and whites this way.  I also use an electric fillet knife, but this method will work with a regular knife as well.

Hoping to get onto some whites this winter.  Anybody found the schools yet?

Offline booner1108

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #48 on: Jan 26, 2015, 10:11 AM »
Without giving away your secret spot, can you catch whites south of Burlington or are the bulk of the fish north of the city. Years ago we were catching them at the Champlain bridge.

Offline pikeaddict

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #49 on: Jan 26, 2015, 10:26 AM »
Should be able to catch whites just about anywhere.  Not uncommon to catch them on the southern end of Champlain.  They are my preferred cat bait in the summer.

Offline VTMatt

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #50 on: Jan 26, 2015, 11:15 AM »
There are probably seriously millions of white perch in the lake. VTMatt and I, and three other friends, spent a whole day last April pulling them in one after another ALL DAY LONG. No exaggeration when I say between the 5 of us, we had around 750 pounds of the things, many of which were in the 14" range, and around 2 pounds. We sold most of those to the bait shop in St. Albans, and the guy there said for the whole winter he'd probably bought and sold around 20,000 pounds of whites! There's no shortage of them, so keep 'em all! Fun to catch too!

As for the taste, in my opinion, they are very similar to a haddock or cod. Just a fairly bland white fish. They only really get fishy if they get even a little freezer burned and still have the dark meat in the fillet. I have made them into brown sugared, applewood smoked fish, and they come out amazing. They are a bit tricky to fillet, but once you get the hang of it, it goes fast. Here's a how-to video I made on that:


For me, these are so much fun to catch, it's the main reason I go out onto the ice. Even if you can't eat all you catch, you've got some high-quality cat food or garden fertilizer. Haha.

I only sold mine once to see what two buckets would get. Got handed less than $20 and laughed. 95% of the ones I caught got donated to hungry people lol.

Offline wmhunts

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #51 on: Jan 26, 2015, 03:47 PM »
I only sold mine once to see what two buckets would get. Got handed less than $20 and laughed. 95% of the ones I caught got donated to hungry people lol.
I think selling them is still a good option. I can only eat so many and I don't want to filet that many of the slimy suckers either. 20 bucks will get you a few jigs and a hamburger after A FUN DAY of fishing
Come on get on the ice fish!!

Offline stubborn1

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #52 on: Jan 26, 2015, 04:32 PM »
Not to spread rumor/info, but the price for 9"+ is 65 cents, as far as I know. That's not a bad payday for 100lbs.  My best day was 231lbs (from 1 hole that I kicked open, no less) but at the time the price had dropped.  I know what you mean about making $20.  It's pretty wicked to CATCH instead of Fish. I like the idea of putting them in a smoker.  They are super aggressive, meaty, and they fight.  All things I like.  I worry about them Hoovering up tons of food though.  They could use some thinning, for sure.
I fish better Hungry.

Offline VTMatt

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #53 on: Jan 26, 2015, 04:50 PM »
I think selling them is still a good option. I can only eat so many and I don't want to filet that many of the slimy suckers either. 20 bucks will get you a few jigs and a hamburger after A FUN DAY of fishing

Good point. It's just that I have too many family and friends that always want fish but either are unable to get out because of age or a disability. I feel bad selling instead of giving them to people who would really appreciate it.

Offline wmhunts

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #54 on: Jan 26, 2015, 05:15 PM »
If you got family/friends willing to take and clean them that's a great option
Come on get on the ice fish!!

Offline mempfree

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #55 on: Jan 27, 2015, 05:00 PM »
Lake Champlain, has a no limit on perch, but in other Lakes and Ponds, in Vermont there is a limit, of 50 perch for a day.  Check out the Vermont State Fishing and Hunting Index, that the state, gives away for free.  I remember the time, when this same index, book, I called it, could fit in the palm of your hand, now its like a paperback book.  Also, the Calendar, the State Fish and Game Dept, use to give out for free, now you have to pay, to get one? ::)

Offline flagfishon

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #56 on: Jan 27, 2015, 05:15 PM »
We're talking about White Perch, the limit is only for Yellow Perch.

Offline perch bait

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #57 on: Jan 27, 2015, 07:07 PM »
White Perch are feisty little buggers that are actually quite good to eat so long as you don't catch them in the middle of the summer out of warm water. They are really fun to catch for two reasons. One I know that I'm killing an invasive species and two they fight really hard.
Perch bait- a small minnow that can have big results in the ice fishing game.  :icefish:
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Offline VTMatt

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #58 on: Jan 27, 2015, 07:59 PM »
White Perch are feisty little buggers that are actually quite good to eat so long as you don't catch them in the middle of the summer out of warm water. They are really fun to catch for two reasons. One I know that I'm killing an invasive species and two they fight really hard.

Yep, they fight more like smallies than yellows, which makes sense since they're a member of the bass family.  Reeling in 11-14" hogs in 40-70 feet of water....I love it. 

Offline VTMatt

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Re: Thoughts on White Perch, Lets hear what you have to say
« Reply #59 on: Jan 27, 2015, 09:40 PM »
Who comes up with these fish names?  They should be fired.

 



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