Josenhans Fly Fishing Blog

Ralph with slab perch

I fished the Nanticoke River near Sharptown yesterday with good friend Ralph Bones looking for the big, pre-spawn white perch as they make their way upriver.  It took a couple of moves, but once we found the spot we settled on a nice school of fish, and some slab perch at that!  While the biggest we caught stretched the tape to barely 11-3/4 inches, most of those caught were fat females full of roe. If the typical spring pattern holds, the larger females shouldn’t be far behind. I think this fishing is just days away from busting wide open, but then in the blink of an eye the fish will have passed by and will be in full spawning mode. If you want to catch some of the largest white perch of the year, the next week to ten days will be the time.