Beware of white perch!

[senkosam]

This year I fished for all species when bass fishing slowed down and low and behold I found huge numbers of white perch. WP have been in the lake for years but after a panfish tournament my club held, we took out and destroyed over 200 pounds in six hours about ten years ago. The average size was only 7" but the numbers caught were incredible!

Little did I know that we did the lake a big favor! WP can overpopulate faster than any other species since they don't use nests for spawning like the sunfish and bass fish families, plus multiple males insure more eggs are fertilized as perch drop them. Worse is that WP invade nests of all species more effectively than even sunfish, destroying future populations - especially less survival rate fish such as bass and walleye. In fact, if you search on line, you'll find a few states that strongly push for WP removal. In one state, WP have been seen as significant in the destruction of walleye populations in certain lakes.

This year alone, I caught many foot long WP that though fun to catch, indicate more survived from previous years to grow that large and have noticed a decline in sunfish and yellow perch populations - bass food. I've presented my case to my club that owns property on the lake that they must have at least two get-togethers to kill WP or risk further decimation of future bass and panfish nests.

I hope none of you encounter WP an overpopulation in the waters you fish, but the danger exists if you do.

Frank