Information on fishing in the Northeast

The white perch is not a true perch but actually related to the Bass family. They are easy to catch and will take a variety of baits. Best times to fish for these fish are dawn and dusk. The schools of fish will tend to head to the shoreline or surface at these times. I am not a big fish eater but these are by far my favorite fresh water fish to eat. Below is some information that I have gathered thru the yrs and is not intended to be an “all inclusive guide” for catching White perch. It is merely what has worked for me.

Ice fishing information:

Ice fishing for white perch is one of my favorite things to do. In NH I typically fish three lakes for white perch. Lake Winnipesaukee and Lake Opechee are two lakes with crystal clear waters that hold White perch. I prefer eating fish out of “cleaner” looking lakes. That being said I also fish Great pond in Kingston for white perch and no one ever complained about the fish from there that I have given away. While the water is clear in Great pond the bottom tends to be on the muddy side, making Great pond what most consider a “dark” lake. OK so let’s focus on Winni and Opechee pond first. My first encounter with White perch was while fishing thru the ice was on Opechee. It was early season and I had the itch to fish. I headed up to the lakes region in search of safe ice and after a stop at a local bait store I was pointed in the direction of Opechee. I set up with my typical tip up spread and managed to catch a bunch of big yellow perch. Looking across the lake I saw a couple guys fishing and since my action had slowed I decided to venture over to see how they were doing. This is one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. Not only did I see firsthand these guys landing white perch on jig rods but I also made a lifelong friend. The fish they were catching were not large at all in fact they were only about the size of the palm of your hand. I was told they were the best eating size white perch, and to this day I have to agree. After seeing the fish hit the ice I went back and pulled my spread and head over where they were. Upon my arrival the two anglers were packing it up. All I had was my tip up and a couple small jigs. I was given some worms from the anglers and I tried to catch a fish hand lining. I was unable to succeed and quickly realized I was not outfitted correctly. The next week I returned with a jig rod and some more jigs bought at the local tackle store. One of the anglers was there again. He introduced himself as Dana and is now one of my best friends. So it took me a while but I was able to start landing fish (note strike indicator or experience is very important). I was nowhere near the numbers of Dana but I was hooked! After taking fish home and eating them I was sold on White perch fishing. Since those days I have taken many of my friends to the same waters where they too now enjoy white perch fishing.

Enough about how I discovered white perch fishing you should hear about the technique we use to catch them. Ok here goes, from personal experience only again, I find that the larger white perch on any lake will hit just about anything in their face while these Opechee whites were more selective. Dana swears you need to cover the entire hook with bait or the fish wouldn’t hit. That works for him but thru the yrs I found that a “tail” works best for me. What I do is take a piece of dillie and hook it leaving a short tail off the end of the hook. Color of jig is also important. Early on pink , red and an orange/chartreuse combination worked very well. Thru the yrs we have found some other choices that work well too. I’ll elaborate on those at the end of the article. When we started out we were without Vexilars or sounders of any type so we would drop to the bottom and then come up 2-1/2 to 3 full cranks depending on your reel. You want to target 3-5 ft off the bottom for the aggressive feeding fish. If you’re catching yellow perch your lure is too deep. If you’re not getting bit and someone else is change your bait, lure color to match those getting bit or change up your cadence (how you’re jigging). I like to just barely move my rod tip creating and rythmatic bounce. When you see your rod tip “dance” change you have been bitten. With the smaller whites detecting the bite is the hardest part which is why I prefer a spring bobber of some sort (real light rods this is not needed). There are some videos on my u-tube page showing white perch fishing and how we move the rod. Sometimes the fish want it bounced and stopped, then another time a constant bounce and yet something totally different another time. Figuring all that out is what makes it challenging.

Typically the whites will feed hard from sun up to around 8:30. Then they tend to disperse and go deeper in the water column. This is a general reference and every day can be different. The next feeding frenzy occurs later in the day at dusk. I have never stayed much past dusk so I can’t answer about after dark. For depth we target 15-25’ ft (an average for most waters). We do see them suspended over much deeper waters on the larger lakes but those schools are moving and staying on top of them can be difficult. It helps to have more than one angler fishing. A hooked fish helps keep the school around. One old timer told me while open water fishing to let the first fish you catch go with a bobber attached to him. He will swim back to the school indicating their position. I tried this a couple times but was unsuccessful. We usually drill several holes next to each other so if we do find fish there we do not spook the school by drilling holes when if they show up. Ok so fishing the deeper water how can you get your bait back into the zone quickly? I like to do this with a small egg sinker. I use a small swivel with a short leader. The egg sinker goes between your rod tip and the swivel. The length of the leader off the swivel is important. The leader needs to be long enough not to spook fish. Yet not so long that your lure tangles when dropping to your desired depth. That length can vary depending on the lure you tie on. A heavy lure will fall quickly and likely not tangle with the main line when dropping quickly, just the opposite with lighter jigs. I personally have found 8” as a nice compromise length. I have also fished leaders as short as 6” due to retying lures.

Sometimes I eliminate the egg sinker and just use the heavier jig to get me down fast enough.

As for how we pick specific spots, again a lot is just from having a slow day at one spot and punching holes to look for fish. If you find them that will become a spot to head to the next time your first spot is dry. Also area’s you find them in open water should be spots you target on the ice as well.

Lake Winnipesaukee is probably one of the best lakes in our area for catching large white perch.

Since I prefer eating smaller whites I do not target the whites on Winni as much. I do prefer the fight of these perch and will target them on occasion. On Winni I have found whites just about everywhere. Bays will tend to hold fish and are easier to target in them than over the vast deeper waters. Humps will also attract schools of fish, but I find the schools in bays easier to catch just because they aren’t on the move as much. I rely on my open water observations as well for selecting ice fishing spots not in bays. On Winni smelt is the bait of choice. We take a piece of smelt and tip various jigs. I prefer the Swedish pimple for larger whites. Dillies also work well too. Again early morning and dusk are prime times. Traps set up with smelt can also help you locate fish fishing 4’ off bottom as your target zone. When the fish turn off you can still get a few lookers to bite by changing up your presentation. Usually by 10 am it is over. I say usually because there is always that one day to prove that statement wrong.

Great pond is the closest lake to me to catch White perch. The size of the fish here is decent, and with the mix of Crappie makes this a great fishery. Here I find the Whites in 15-24’ of water and generally closer to the bottom near a contour break just outside of a weed bed. The fish here are always on the move and thus your action will come and go. Since crappie also reside here and in the same zone you can target both at the same time to keep the action going. For this lake hands down pink is the color for whites. I have also had a lot of luck using Hildebrandt flicker spinner but pink would be my color of choice if I could only pick one. Tipped with spikes they are deadly.

So there you have the basics. As I said we have been constantly changing our presentations and have upgraded our gear and techniques thru the years. The biggest help has been the addition of the flasher. This alone will increase your catch rate significantly. You can see how the fish are reacting to your cadence and adjust accordingly. You can also see when there are no fish below you and move to a hole that is showing fish. Keep in mind Whites do move and if you had them there once they are likely to return again so sometimes waiting out a hole for a little bit helps. Of course we will drill a pattern of holes covering an area so you can jump around hoping to locate the fish if they move off of where you had them. The addition of artificial plastic baits has also added to our success. The only one I feel 100% confident in naming is the Berkley gulp 1” minnow in various colors. I love these baits and will use them over dillies or spikes on many occasions. The bait lasts longer which equals more fish between re-baiting. Other plastics worth mentioning is the Maki plastic Jamai (or something like that) It has legs that extend out and the fish love tails so they get bit. Problem is they are not very durable and need replacing every few fish. I still like a spring bobber except on my really light action rods where the rod itself is like a spring bobber.

Be sure to check out my video's on YouTube. Seeing is believing.