From 1987 to 1998, gill netting was conducted annually in Jordan Lake, North Carolina, usually 3 times per year with 9 nets distributed over 3 reservoir sub-basins. White perch (Morone americana) began appearing in gill-net samples in 1988. By 1993 they were the second-most abundant species (11.2/net night), following black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) (21.2/net night). White perch catch rates in 1994 (16. I/net night) exceeded rates for other fish captured in gill nets. White perch continued to constitute a large percentage (21.1%) of the gill-net catch from 1995-1998. Analysis of variance of log-transformed white perch catch data detected significant year effects (P=0.0001). No significant season or sub-basin effects were detected. Neither interaction between sub-basin and year nor interaction between sub-basin and season was significant. The 3-way interaction between year, sub-basin, and season was not significant. Interaction between season and year was significant (P=0.0001). Concurrent with increasing white perch abundance during the 12-year study were decreases in abundance of white crappie (Pomoxis annularis), bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), and flat bullheads (Ameiurus platycephalus). However, this period also corresponded to early succession of the reservoir which was impounded in 1981.
