Catch The Lake

 I am not a "numbers guy" particularly, when it comes to fishing. I routinely seek quality over quantity, be it in my trout fishing; often head hunting or streamer fishing rather than nymphing or fishing a dry dropper; or my striper fishing which especially in the spring revolves around forgoing the massive amounts of schoolies in favor of a shot at 35 inch fish or bigger. I'm ate up with Atlantic salmon and sea run brown trout... if that isn't a quality over quantity game I don't know what is. But that doesn't mean I don't also love to catch an excessive amount of fish sometimes. Conveniently, quantity is also occasionally the avenue to quality. One such occasion sets up on my home lake in the fall. It can still be very possible to catch big bass on the reefs, ledges, and points in the fall, but sometimes the best move is just to go where the biomass is. On this lake, finding the biomass means finding the white perch.

One day this fall Noah and I were having a hell of a bad time on our typical bass spots. After a bit we opted to start hitting areas we knew would be loaded with perch. It was a consolation option, we thought, forgetting that both of us have often caught larger fish; be it bass, walleye, or pickerel while on top of the white perch biomass. 

The first spot we fished didn't produce anything but white perch. After the first few we decided to start keeping. White perch are both delicious and, in CT's landlocked waters, a destructive invasive. While our native tidal anadromous populations are in sorry shape, our landlocked introduced white perch are excessively overpopulated. As such we had no qualms about killing a whole bunch, and soon decided to fill the boat. There is no limit on white perch in non-tidal water in CT, since they are introduced fish, easily overpopulate, and not considered a game species. So we were going to fill the boat. It wouldn't even put notable dent in this lake's numbers, as much as we wish we could. 

After running dry at the first location we wandered a bit before deciding to head over to a spot where Noah had found another pile of perch a week prior. They were still there and we started really hammering them. We were both fishing pretty simple, light presentations. I was running simple streamers tied on 1/32oz Eurotackle tungsten jigs, on two rods: one with an indicator, which I set down and dead sticked, and one that I actively cast and figure eight retrieved. Sometimes I was doubling up and fighting fish on both rods simultaneously. Noah was fishing jigs with strait tail soft plastics. We were really putting a beat down on these fish. It was a lot of fun. 

Then, suddenly, I hooked something that felt different and bigger. From the dark green water a monster black crappie rose up into view. Moments later, Noah hooked one of his own. Finding the biomass had just proven it's worth in locating trophy fish.

We continued the perch slay fest but it wasn't all that longer before I was into another quality fish, this time a smallmouth which put up a hell of a nail biting battle before we got it in the net. This was exactly the sort of fish we'd been hoping for this day. 

As the sun began to near the horizon, we made way to the boat ramp with a literal boat load of white perch, a few yellows, and two trophy crappies and one smallmouth released. In not long we'd be doing the dirty work of cleaning more than 100 white perch so they were freezer-ready. 

Sometimes finding big fish means forgoing small ones, but sometimes it pays to catch the lake looking for big fish... even if most of the lake is 8 inch white perch. There are often big fish wherever the biggest biomass is. 

Until next time,

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

And stay safe and healthy.

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