My uncle is taking me white perch fishing. Are they easier or harder to catch than crappie, and what would I do differently?

Local anglers who have fished for white perch head out the moment they know the spring run has begun! They do fish similarly to crappie, but there are some key differences too. Bits of sea worm make great bait, but keep the size of both your bait and your hook relative to the size of the fish. If you get your bait or your hook too large, they will just nibble the bait right off the hook and never get on the hook at all. You can find white perch hanging out over muddy bottoms, and they can literally be at any depth, so you might have to do some hunting, but once you happen onto their depth, the fishing will be fine! Once the spring run has begun, present your bait at about fifteen to thirty feet over the muddy bottom areas where you fish. There will be lots of insects coming out of the mud at this time, and the whites will be hungry and taking advantage of that. If you can find a lure to mimic that, or fish their natural forage, success is practically guaranteed during spawn. If you try this, and you are just not having any luck, just keep moving short distances until you happen on a bite. Once you locate one white perch, you will find more, because they run in heavy schools, and the fish are hungry and a little reckless at this time. When they hit, they hit fast, and you will have to act just as rapidly. The thing about the white perch is that while the action can begin in the blink of an eye, it can end just as rapidly and leave you wondering where they all went. If this happens, don’t hesitate to move, because the white perch certainly have moved to new territory. About sundown, try to troll streamers of wet flies. If you decide to use spinners, they should be no larger than an inch long. Just keep them small, and use the thinnest you have. If you are fly fishing, cast, let your fly drop all the way to the very bottom. Your retrieve should be gentle, and use short strokes until your fly reaches the surface.