OK, I'm sure I should be treading lightly since I'm the "New Guy", but I just gotta know. Where, why, how, when, etc did Texans start calling the sunfish family perch?

I'm hoping since all of you frequent this section of the forum you know and appreciate the difference. In case not, this is a perch, which is closely related to walleye...




Not trying to stir the pot, just really would like to know.

well, it's kinda like drinking coke in texas. you tell the waiter/waitress "i want a coke" then you specify what kind....like dr. pepper, pepsi, coke etc. perch/sunfish .... just texas slang i guess.

I wasn't born in Texas...but I got here as fast as I could...and ever since I've been here for the last 40 plus years, folks have called some sunfish (but not bass which are also sunfish) perch. Some folks call white bass speed perch and/or white perch. also. Maybe its compensation for Texas not actually having any (many) true perch?

I don't care that much what people call them, but do love to catch them...sunfish that is.

It might be that Southerners (not just Texans) were using the term "perch" for the sunfish family even before Northerners were using the term for the other fish. I suspect, though, that when fish started receiving official names in the scientific community, the Northern terms were given preference since most of the fish biologists were Northerners. Who knows?

You know Gal, I grew up in Texas, but moved away 40 years ago. Never quit referring to soft drinks as "cokes"... Don't ever remember calling bluegill perch, however.

Couldn't agree more, Meadow. I can't say that there is any type of fishing I enjoy more than the search for plate size gills... When you find 'em, it's one helluva day!

Smile... I may have spent a few decades "up north", but was born and raised down here. Never lost that. Interesting twist you put on this subject.

i know the dif between perch and sunfish born buckeye lived dfw area 40 yrs funny people dont know their fish

In east Texas, where I grew up, crappies were called white perch for a long time, still are by some of the old timers. But "perch" was always used as a general name for bluegills and other sunfish. I've lived in central Texas for the past thirty years and have never heard crappies referred to as white perch in this area. Guess it's a regional name thing.

Growing up in a non fishing family, anything that was not identifiable as a bass or crappie was typically called a perch. Why I don't know. I know better now. I don't think I have ever seen (in person) a true perch as you refer to them.

As far as I can tell, Lake Meredith in the panhandle has some, but that's about it. Reason is water temperature. If you want to learn a little about these tasty little beasties, here's a link... Apparently you'll need to copy/paste it to your address bar.

http://books.google.com/books?id=ajzkdDH...lt&resnum=5

I read somewhere that it was because of marketing. Supposedly a really long time ago true perch were really popular in restaurants and because of that other restaurants around the country started referring to other fish as perch.

Colloquial names are one of the great things about this language.

Yeah, people in the south call sunfish perch. Most likely because we don't have many true perch (we do have some logperch) native to the state, and perch is a good name for fish.


Believe me, the south doesn't have a monopoly on misplaced common names for fish, we do it as a whole on the so called black basses.

It is fun to hear them, and it does get confusing sometimes, but we deal with it.


If we want to get things *very* clear, a walleye *is* a perch.

I love all the colloquial stuff too, fwbret... It adds a special flavor to every part of the US you visit... and North/South has zip to do with it. Understanding the basis of some of the idiosyncrasies of each area makes things even more interesting!

Yellow perch(Perca flavescens)

Walleye(Sander vitreus)

Very closely related, but not the same, any more than a bluegill is the same as a green sunfish...

yes, yes, not the same, but both in the perch family.





Along the same lines,

Why when I go up north, are people catching sheepshead in lakes and rivers?


hehehehehehe

cause Yankees will decapitate farm animals & throw the parts in a lake ??

ps- I dont think its all that funny... poor sheep

i honestly didn't know the difference between perch and bluegills till this year... hahaha i think it's just a generalization that we texans put on everything - like when someone asks me if i want a coke, i ask what kind they have.