Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose White perch

Any ideas on these guys? Been thinking about stocking them in my pond, and I have permission to take them from the local reservoir because some one illegally introduced them. Many tell me they are a junk fish but I love there fight and the taste.

Everything I read shows they destroy bass and walleye populations then stunt. They lay over 150,000 eggs at a pop.

Invasive species! This is why they gave you "permission". Take and eat all you want from this reservoir, but I would strongly suggest against introducing them into your own BOW.

Fight=good for the size
Taste=good
Transport=risky

These fish are mostly adapted to being pelagic. They are unlikely to thrive in a small BOW.

Too many negatives. I'd suggest against it.

A lot depends on if they will reproduce or not. In my younger days when I did a lot of bucket stocking, I stocked them in 8 different ponds. Of the 8 ponds, they only reproduced in 2. Those were larger ponds with gravel bars where streams fed them. I believe this is where they spawned. In smaller ponds, they aren't able to find spawning sites and therefore they didn't successfully spawn. In ponds where they were able to reproduce, they stunted badly. 5-6" fish were the norm with a big one going 8". I am sure they directly competed with the bass, sunfish and others for food. In the ponds where reproduction wasn't successful, they had little competition with each other and I was able to grow some over 16".

Remember, white perch are closely related to striped bass and are similar in many ways. In their native habitat they are coastal river fish. In the spring they migrate up rivers to the area of the fall line where they spawn on rocky gravel bars with a light current. After spawning, the larger adults migrate down river and hang out in the brackish bays and sometimes even full blown ocean areas. The small fish generally stay in the middle to upper reaches of the river. Come fall the fish start making their way back up river holding in the deeper areas of the middle to upper river before they make their spring spawning runs again.

I agree with Bruce, they have a good fight for their size(much like white bass and HSB) and a good taste. Deciding if you want to stock them is a weighing of the risks. If they do find a way to reproduce, they will be a challenge to manage. They have a very high reproductive rate. If you live on the east coast in an Atlantic drainage where they are native, stocking them would be less concerning. However, if you live in the Midwest where they are not native, I wouldn't stock them as this can lead to them spreading to other areas where they aren't native.

Here in the east, they are found in most reservoirs near the coast. When those reservoirs were dammed, the white perch were trapped and took hold. Much like stripers initially were found to be suitable reservoir fish when they were trapped in Lake Moultrie. In these reservoirs, they tend to average 6-8". Where as the river perch tend to average 8-10". The difference being the much richer food environment large estuaries are. So even under ideal conditions in a pond, you're going to struggle to grow fish bigger than 8".

Breaking it down, in the ponds where they didn't reproduce they were a fun bonus fish. Stocking them runs the risk of them reproducing and making a mess. Weigh the risks and decide... However, in a private pond that I spent $1000's if dollar to build and stock, the risk probably outweighs the benefits.

I live in upstate New York if that helps, last year while fishing for the white perch they were spawning in the mouth of a creek running into the reservoir and we would catch many 8inchers and sometimes using bigger lures you would catch them up to 15 inches plus, they must need running water?????

If they reproduce those little boogers will eat your pond clean. They eat like crazy.

Bruce, Omaha, aren't these the ones that essentially took over Branched Oak lake?

I believe so Bullhead. Pawnee too, but BO had the overrun, stunted population, while Pawnee didn't.

so do they randomly reproduce or do they need rocky bottoms or running water?

According to Travis and other sources, they do prefer rocky bottoms and running water. However, I think what cannot be stressed enough regarding this species, is it's a big risk and sometimes you just don't know. The lake Bullhead mentioned, Branched Oak, that has a white perch problem is 1800 acres. The other one I mentioned, Pawnee, is less than half that at 740 acres. Perch overpopulated and stunted in Branched Oak, but haven't reproduced and created a problem in Pawnee. I am unfamiliar with the fish habitat in these lakes, maybe Bullhead or Bruce could weigh in on the differences, but what it tells me is you just don't know. There was some extensive research by the state regarding why one became a problem and the other one didn't. I can't seem to find the results of this study at the moment, but will continue to look.

Maybe I'll take the risk, If over crowding become an issue then theres a little thing called poison

Your pond, you're decision. My points were made with insistence because I'm thinking of your investment and what they've done to the lakes they inhabit in my region. They're called cockroaches here. The lake Bullhead is referring to is one of the largest in this area and talking to other anglers who frequently fish it, consider it basically "ruined" because of these fish. They say it's all they catch anymore. And they're all small. Who knows, maybe they'll do great in your pond. For your sake I hope they do. It is not a risk I would take in mine however.

You have very good points, and they have ruined the hudson in my opinion, this is why I want to remove as many as I can from the reservoir or else they will ruin the Walleye population in there. There is also a great number of SMB in this reservoir due to its rocky and sandy bottom. My pond has no fish in it and instead of taking the perch out and leaving them on the shore or have them get freezer burn in my freezer I figured I mine as well try them in my pond, mostly as a test fish but if they thrive without reproducing cool, it will be a bonus catch.

Sounds like a plan. Good luck.

My I ask what is stocked in your pond?

3 feet of frozen water and dead tadpoles.



Still working on it. Going with smallies, yellow perch, redears and wipers.

sounds cool, redears live in cold water?

Other Pond Bossers I share a latitude with have had success so I'm going to give it a shot.

What I find interesting is walleye are not native to the Potomac River but white perch are. Walleye were introduced into the Potomac in the early 1980's. Since then, they have done quite well and spread from the upper and middle reaches of the river all the way to the tidal portions that run through Washington, DC. It is there in the fall line area that both walleye and white perch spawn. Both do quite well together. It has been shown in studies that white perch feed heavily on fish eggs in the spring. However, many reservoirs where walleye are found have no or very poor spawning areas for walleye to begin with. Throw in white perch and that may very well be the tipping point for walleyes failing to naturally reproduce.

This reservoir has reproducing walleyes, they spawn up several streams running into it and has many "native" walleyes, the white perch were illegally introduced and compete with the bass and yellow perch. As well as the other species in the reservoir

Most of the white perch in the Midwest were not illegally introduced but were oopsies by the DNR's. The white perch were mixed in with striped bass brought from the east. As fingerlings, white perch and stripers are very difficult to tell apart.

I think my pond will be fine, but some places like the hudson river, are now over crowded. I remember you could go down there and get nothing accept stripers and catfish, now all you can catch is white perch...

White perch have always been native to the Hudson River, so what ever is going on has nothing to do with white perch. Something else is going wrong if all you can catch out of it is white perch...

hmm maybe a decrease in the other species????