My Stepdad up in Maryland fishes for Rockfish in the Chesapeake Bay all the time. He troll's for them using planer boards, if you know what those are? He catches a lot of Rockfish, he caught a 50" Rock like a year and a half ago, it was huge. I talked to him yesterday and he told me the spring Rockfish season opens in a couple weeks, he can't wait.
My Stepdad fishes for Perch also(White & Yellow), he said they haven't started running yet because of how cold it's been in Maryland, not sure about NC, though. How do you guys fish for Perch? Hook and line? You ever see those baskets people make out of two 10 speed bike rims and chicken wire? They work great for Perch, we used them in Md. Now, I think my Stepdad mainly uses hook and line, with little grass shrimp for bait. Him and my mom went last spring and caught like 75 Perch in a couple hours, lol.