I am getting more into fishing for stripers on Whitney. Have had good success this winter and spring with artificial. I have heard that the artificial bite gets pretty tough on Whitney in the heat of the summer but the bite on shad is really good. Not sure if I can catch shad and keep them alive but I could certainly bring some live perch… I have been told these work pretty good for stripers but not as good as shad… as many 17 to 21 inch stripers as are on Whitney right now I would think they would not go uneaten if placed in the right spot? Do you clip the dorsal fins on them to make them easier to eat? Thanks for any help on this subject. I did catch a 13 pounder that was about 31 inches on artificial. That thing looked huge on the deck of my boat. I thought it was going to weigh more than that. We release that one because we caught plenty of keepers.
Last edited by Shalor; 04/18/2204:02 AM.
Re: Live perch for stripers on Whitney
[Re: Shalor]
#1434589704/17/2206:14 PM
I don't think you need to worry about clipping the fin. When fishing saltwater, we use pinfish petty often. They are the perch of the ocean. I usually hook mine through the back and towards the head (circle hook). You might try the same. I've never personally tried them on striper, but we hammer catfish with them rigged that way.
The solution to any problem - work, love, money, whatever - is to go fishing, and the worse the problem, the longer the trip should be. --John Gierach
Re: Live perch for stripers on Whitney
[Re: Shalor]
#1434600504/17/2210:35 PM
I use them at PK when the shad are hard to come by. The stripers will take them but not as quick. I hook mine through the upper lip and they will swim all day. You might shorten the leader to speed up the bite. Don't be surprised if you get a striper bite and he drops the perch after a long run. if the perch gets the fins up the striper will let him go. He'll come back though and take the perch.
Another benefit of fishing those perch is you will get some nice LM Bass and Flatheads if they are in the area.
John 21:3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee.
Re: Live perch for stripers on Whitney
[Re: Shalor]
#1434606204/17/2211:43 PM
Thanks for the help guys. Going to give it a try this summer when the artificial bite cools off. But right now they are hitting artificials great. Does anybody clip their dorsal fins to try to keep them from dropping the bait? Thanks
Re: Live perch for stripers on Whitney
[Re: Shalor]
#1434619004/18/2203:14 AM
Do you guys fish this using a Carolina rig? If so can I ask a few questions. What depth do you guys target when fishing on the bottom like this on Whitney? 2oz egg sinkers for weight? Circle hooks or any preference? 2ft leader or so? Any info on deciding hooking through nose, back, tail? Any info would be great as this is also my first summer on Whitney like the original poster.
Re: Live perch for stripers on Whitney
[Re: Shalor]
#1434623904/18/2205:53 AM
Generally I don’t fish on the bottom. Occasionally yes. I watch for the depth that the fish are hanging on my sonar and put my bait just above them. I don’t clip the baits fins ever. Al fish species know to take a meal head first normally. If somehow the bait gets it’s fine up and the fish drops it many times they will circle back and try taking it head first again. I usually use 2 ought circle hooks but occasionally go up a size to 3 ought. My flouro leaders are 2 ft to 5 ft. Weight from 1/2 oz to 2 oz depends on the wind and bait size. Normally I hook live shad through the nostrils. Perch bream sunfish whatever you want to call them worm eaters get hooked through the back just behind the dorsal fin.
Okay, thanks again for the help guys. Going to try that this summer when the artificial bite cools off. Hopefully they’ll keep biting artificial‘s through May? If we’re lucky.
Re: Live perch for stripers on Whitney
[Re: Shalor]
#1434922804/21/2207:12 PM
I don't know if its a coincidence or what, but at PK lake, my wife and I always had better luck using perch caught in that lake, versus buying from baitstand or caught from a stock tank.
Re: Live perch for stripers on Whitney
[Re: Shalor]
#1434959504/22/2204:05 AM
My buddy Ed clips the dorsal fin every time. It improves his hook up ratio and also makes the fish look injured to entice a bite. I haven’t posted the full video of our last trip but it will be in that video .
I don't know if its a coincidence or what, but at PK lake, my wife and I always had better luck using perch caught in that lake, versus buying from baitstand or caught from a stock tank.
Makes a HUGE difference when you use bait caught in the lake vs bait caught elsewhere.
Re: Live perch for stripers on Whitney
[Re: Shalor]
#1434967804/22/2212:10 PM
Lots of interesting information here. I can’t understand why it would make a difference in how well the fish bite if you catch your perch from a stock tank or from the lake? Maybe they’re more lively if you catch them from the lake… I would think to a striper a perch is a hot meal whether it’s from Lake Whitney or a stock tank but I’ve never tried it and will take your word for it. I’m not sure where I would catch perch on Whitney so my plan is getting more difficult. For now I’m just gonna keep catching the he** out of them on artificials. Having a lot of fun right now. There are so many 17-21” stripers. I was reading somewhere that for the first 4 to 5 years of life stripers double their weight every year. When all these 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 pounders double their weight, they are going to be even more fun. I’ve been told there’s so many because they had a natural spawn during continuous river flow two or three years ago.
Last edited by Shalor; 04/22/2212:12 PM.
Re: Live perch for stripers on Whitney
[Re: Shalor]
#1435018004/22/2210:30 PM
I like Lake Whitney. I’ve caught stripers there on perch. I used a fly rod to catch perch and I’ve bought perch at the bait shop. Been years ago but good times for sure
I don't know if its a coincidence or what, but at PK lake, my wife and I always had better luck using perch caught in that lake, versus buying from baitstand or caught from a stock tank.
Makes a HUGE difference when you use bait caught in the lake vs bait caught elsewhere.
I’ve had similar experiences with this. I tried to catch shad one morning ( late because I over slept) and wound up with 5 bream. Decided to try them for hybrids. I baited 2 rods. Got a double and landed both. Rebaited both and got another double that I landed. Baited the last one and landed it. Total time trying to catch bait was 2 hrs. Total time catching fish was 15 minutes. Decided to catch a bunch of bream at a stock tank and put them in city water with aquarium starter added. The next morning I got 2 bites out of 50 bream. I don’t understand it but I haven’t spent any time or effort trying to catch bream somewhere other than the water I’m fishing that day.
We limited out in less than 20 minutes on bluegill from the Lucky Minnow bait shop and continued to catch and release for hours after that. I also constantly use shad from different lakes to catch catfish. Live and dead. The majority of guides on Whitney catch shad on Aquila. The fish have no clue where the bait fish came from.
Last edited by z289sec; 04/23/2205:01 PM.
Re: Live perch for stripers on Whitney
[Re: jbobo]
#1435105804/24/2204:50 AM
I don't know if its a coincidence or what, but at PK lake, my wife and I always had better luck using perch caught in that lake, versus buying from baitstand or caught from a stock tank.
Makes a HUGE difference when you use bait caught in the lake vs bait caught elsewhere.
I’ve had similar experiences with this. I tried to catch shad one morning ( late because I over slept) and wound up with 5 bream. Decided to try them for hybrids. I baited 2 rods. Got a double and landed both. Rebaited both and got another double that I landed. Baited the last one and landed it. Total time trying to catch bait was 2 hrs. Total time catching fish was 15 minutes. Decided to catch a bunch of bream at a stock tank and put them in city water with aquarium starter added. The next morning I got 2 bites out of 50 bream. I don’t understand it but I haven’t spent any time or effort trying to catch bream somewhere other than the water I’m fishing that day.
This is true for flathead catfish as well, makes a huge difference when I catch the fish from the body of water I’m fishing, same case during the sandbass run when I catch my own minnows. It has to be a scent thing, and it definitely makes a HUGE difference.
Re: Live perch for stripers on Whitney
[Re: Shalor]
#1435106204/24/2205:32 AM
My experience on Texoma with perch is that because of the fins the fish will grab it from behind, run about 10-20 feet, and turn the perch around to swallow it. The guide we fished with always told us to wait for the line to stop moving before setting the hook.
Re: Live perch for stripers on Whitney
[Re: Shalor]
#1435200404/25/2203:41 PM
Perch traps are legal to my knowledge. I think I’m going to start out with fishing with Perch on Whitney when the fish quit hitting artificial, and see if I can catch stripers that way. Just not really looking forward to getting a big cylinder shaped special live well and trying to catch shad. I’m more of a lure fisherman anyways.
Re: Live perch for stripers on Whitney
[Re: Shalor]
#1436259305/08/2201:51 PM
Well, some feedback. I got some live perch from the Lucky Minnow last Sunday. They look like great Vape, they were not too big and very lively(3”+/-) And after unsuccessfully trying top waters we dropped on some stripers in 20 to 40 feet of water… I could not get him to eat it. I could watch them on the livescope and they would come right up to it and turn away. Lots of fish down there that I am pretty certain we’re Striper… maybe they just weren’t in an eating mode. So another idea, does anyone buy the big 3 to 4 inch shiners and use them successfully for striper? A friend of mine who grew up fishing Lake Buckhannon said they used to tear them up with the biggest shiners they could buy. I know she had worked best but I just don’t know if it’s worth me getting a shad tank and figuring out how to catch them is worth it, as I don’t see us bait fishing very often over there. But I guess that’s what I should probably do. Anybody fish with the big shiners that you can buy?
Last edited by Shalor; 05/08/2201:52 PM.
Re: Live perch for stripers on Whitney
[Re: Shalor]
#1436269305/08/2205:08 PM
I also tried some 3” or so perch last weekend and didn’t have any luck for stripers. We hit 8 spots or so and not a bite from a striper. We did catch a 19 3/4” largemouth with them in 30 ft of water in a cove by cedar creek. Also caught 2 eater blues in one spot. Looks like I will be trying to get some shad next time I go out. Normally only have 3 poles out so won’t need to many shad for a quick morning trip.
Re: Live perch for stripers on Whitney
[Re: Shalor]
#1436294605/09/2212:38 AM
I think we are calling them perch as that is what we grew up calling them. Bluegill is probably the actual name for what we are talking about, but I have always heard them called perch so that’s what I’ve kept calling them haha
Re: Live perch for stripers on Whitney
[Re: Shalor]
#1436339005/09/2203:59 PM
Shalor, take a fly rod or ultra light spinning rig and work around boat houses and marina boat stalls with canned corn, fireballs, or other bream type baits to catch your striper bait. Good luck.
Re: Live perch for stripers on Whitney
[Re: Shalor]
#1436402805/10/2202:59 AM
Perch can be very good bait. Back in the 80's I caught a 20 lb striper on a perch while fishing lake Whitney with striper guide Don Bohne. At that time perch was the main bait he used. We spent about an hour in the morning catching perch. He tried to keep only the pumpkin seed perch, they were more lively and had a lot more color. We hooked them from the lower lip and out the nostril using a carolina rig with 3 ft leader and 1 oz barrel weight and did not trim any fins. We fished the humps in the area of Towash and Whitney Creek. He said mid May thru June was prime time for drifting live bait. Hope this helps.