the quest for brackish water white perch

[MassBass]

Planning my fishing for the year ahead, I will find myself at university on the south coast of MA in the spring. I have found potentially good water during a scouting/casting expedition this fall (in-between studies). My luck is that there is a kayak rental place right off the road next to this river. When I went to the river it was rather pleasant, easy parking and a grassy slope down to the water. However the water was rather miserable when I went. I forgot to check the tides, the tide was low and the water was shallow as heck. Casting my lure was without confidence, but the mission was not for fish but for scouting. I did see some small minnows. I am confident that if i got in a kayak I would quickly come upon good water, with access to the open ocean if that was my destiny. Find the water, find the fish. My plan for ice out and spring weather is white perch. I am nearly certain the brackish white perch is in this system. The stripers will come up this system to; "during a certain time in the spring" a local on the bank told me. But my target before the striper run will be the white perch, and I am looking for info on brackish white perch.

 

I have caught white perch before in big lakes but only by chance when targeting bass. My plan is to spool up a surf casting outfit with light mono and huck spinners off a kayak. My main mission with a kayak rental will be to find and scout water. If I find a expansive deep hole for example, i will venture there on bike/foot without spending the rental money. For the white perch I would cast a crawler under a float in the deep eddy and see if I get bit. Would a white perch hit a crawler on the bottom with lead? Is the inline spinner go to for brackish white perch? I love fishing spinners in moving water so i am confident and have a good collection of in-lines. I will pack my striper box, what would a white perch box consist of? White grubs to? thanks for advice.     

[Catch 22]

I do well with a piece of blood worm,# 4 hook,small spinner blade with some red or green beads. Crawlers work too.Use enough weigh to hold bottom. Falling tide seems to be better.Small blade baits work too.

LOL C22

 

[Red Bear]

i know white perch in lakes will destroy nightcrawlers. and yes they will hit them on the bottom with a lead sinker. even more so, i catch them on a drop shot with a piece of nightcrawler. i like to use the small gold abeerdeen hooks by eagle claw. white perch are pretty aggressive feeders, take a lightweight rod and have a blast.

 

i once caught two white perch at the same time one a single hook using nightcrawlers. one fish was hooked in the mouth normally, the other fish bite the hook shank and was just hanging on for the ride. i pulled them on the dock and watched one fish open his mouth and just drop to the dock flopping around, was quite amusing, my uncle fishing with me couldnt believe it...

[fishwizzard]

I live by the Chesapeake bay and we just had an insane fall perch season.  I fish the the brackish rivers that feed it out of a kayak and my go-to lures are inline and normal spinners in the 1/16-1/8oz range and small cranks around the same weights.  I usually replace all the trebles with single hooks as the perch just slam the lures and I don't think I have ever had to actually had to set the hook on one.  You can use any color you want to so long as it is chartreuse or white.  A few local guys make small spinners specifically for our white perch, I will try and remember to post some pictures when I get home.  

 

My plan for next season is to work on a few scheams to get the smallest spinners to cast further and run deeper.  I am going to try to make some up using 1/8-3/16oz tungsten worm weights as the bodies and adding a 1/16oz pegged weight in-front of the spinners I already own.