White Perch
Morone americana
If the striped bass is the Bay's celebrity, the white perch is its bread and butter. They are small, abundant, cooperative, and better on a plate than fish twice their price — a panfish that has fed Chesapeake families for four hundred years.
The spring run is the event. As water temperatures climb into the fifties, perch push up the tidal rivers to spawn in the fresh reaches, stacking into predictable spots where anyone with a light rod and a bit of bloodworm can catch a cooler's worth. Through summer they scatter onto oyster bottom, piers, and rip-rap, where small jigs, spinners, and beetle spins keep them honest.
They are also the ideal fish to hand a child. Perch bite readily, fight above their weight on light tackle, and do not require a long boat ride to find. A great many Chesapeake anglers can name the pier where they caught their first white perch.
Gear for this fish