Now that the weather is finally getting better, I am planning on taking the wife and kids out for a day at the beach. While there doing the beach combing I want to spend my day Surf Perch fishing. Anyone out there know of any GREAT places to go. My current plans are to go to Kalaloch since they have a nice camp grounds. I am bring some sandshrimp for bait. I was told that white plastic jigs work well. Open to any advice. THANKS

I have been looking for a good place also. My son wants to give it a shot.
I know that alot of folks fish for perch at Ocean Shores, and I have seen a few caught off the jetty at Westport.

There are some really good shrimp beds and some small channels/sandbars in Grayland by the State Park.

You can also find some info through google.com.
Bring lots of shrimp, at least 4 or 5 dozen. You can dig em locally or get a pump. They actually work.
Good Luck.

Surf Perch! I could catch 20 steelhead easier than 1 surf perch. This little guy gives me trouble. I've gone after them to please my girlfriend and my kids-they could have a great time and I could fish. Difficult to catch or not, I've had fun casting into the surf.

A friend of mine gave this advise-he knows how to catch them. First, you need some good bait like clam necks (very tough)or sand shrimp. Then, get to the beach at low tide and find the "buckets" (depressions in the sand-usually parrallel to the surf line). Why? When the tide comes in these "buckets" create feeding zones. Finally, as the tide comes in and washes into and over these buckets, try to remember where they are and throw your your bait in there.

Makes a lot of sense. It's a big ocean and you need to find the places that attract the fish to be successful.

Good luck! Please post a follow up if you get some.

Killerdave is right on, but you don't need to have a bucket to find them. I've caught them at Ocean Shores and Beach Trail 4 north of Kalaloch (same beach were they dip smelt). The best bait is a kind of tube worm found on pilings, but I don't know where to find them. A piece of razor clam is also excellent and sand shimrp work too but are hard to keep on the hook. My Dad used to use pieces of bacon when we stayed at Kalaloch, and he always caught a mess of them right out front of the cabins. It's a cool little fishery.

Amazingly enough, raw frozen prawns from the grocery store also make good surf perch bait. Remember, they have tiny mouths, so any bait you use has to be small. Cut shrimp into dime size pieces, and use hooks sizes 6-8. Another good bait is pile worms, which you can find by looking under rocks at the beach. Frozen shrimp is the best back up bait in case you can't find anything else, though. A pound should last for several trips, since each one provides 3-4 baits. When fishing for surf perch, I like to use crappie rigs with metal arms on them. They allow you to use two hooks without worrying about them becoming tangled in the main line.

Thanks for your replys. I will give it a try and let you know how I do. Last time I tried surf fishing I didnt do to well. I caught 3 while I saw others with what seemed to be a bucket full. They were really good to eat and it was fun fishing in the surf.

A cool little fishery that I took up a couple years ago to pass the time when salmon/steelhead fishin wasn't happening.

Like the other fellas mentioned, there are a couple of basic things to pay attention to and if these things are done, a bucket full of the little critters is not hard to come by.

Some may disagree, but here is what I have learned:

1) All the baits previously mentioned work but I think sandshrimp are the most consistent for getting bites every trip. If rigged properly (I use an egg loop on a #4 octopus gammie hook) the shrimp will only come off from a bite. I consistently get 10 or so casts out of them if they aren't bitten. By then, it's time for a new bait anyway.

2) I've caught them at different parts of the tide but without a doubt, I have done best an hour before, during and after low tide. When fishing low tide, I also look for depressions in the beach and once fish are located, I usually don't have to move to far. I think low tide "bunches them up" a little and they don't seem to scatter as much as on a high tide.

3) You don't need heavy gear. I typically use my 9 1/2 foot steelhead spinning rod with a cheap k-mart spinning reel that I don't have to worry about saltwater ruining. 8 lb. test, 1-2 oz. cannonball sinker and your favorite bait. It's easy to feel the bites and you can actually have fun playing them.....especially with a double.

I mainly fish Grayland but have caught them up and down the coast.

Good luck

Have any of you tried fly fishing for surf perch? I remeber reading about it one time, I think the book was by John Shewy. Also, I've heard people have caught Ling cod off the jetty in Westport on flyrods. Is this really possbile, or would I look like a fool out there swinging a bug rod?

they catch them all the time in front of my house. its at the mouth of joe creek. next to pacific beach. there is a state park there, with camping spots, and lots of motels. they use pieces of clam for bait, or sand shrimp would work.

I caught 4 of the little buggers on Saturday in Westport. Saw others who were really doing well.

Everyone was using sandshrimp. Even caught a nice sea bass in the same spot.

Yes sandshrimp is the best bait, but those little silver perch are masters at stealing shrimp off the hook. If you're after lingcod bait then straight sandshrimp works the best w/#6 or #8 baitholder for those little suckers. But if you're targetting the larger red-tails use a larger hook (#4 or #2 baitholder) w/ two baits on the hook. One bait should be either clam necks or squid strips. This should be pushed up past the double barbs on the hook shank. Then finish off by tipping the point with a piece of sandshrimp. Fish two droppers w/ two kinds of baits on each hook. This baiting system allows you more time in the strike zone because the minute your rig hits bottom the little ones will be on your shrimp in two seconds. I can miss three or four hits and still be confident that I still have bait down there. With straight shrimp I'd have to recheck...

I used to fish for them on my days off from deck handing. Fished from the jetty at westport, find an overhanging big rock, start with a 1oz weight then about a foot up from the weight run a leader about 6" to a sandshrimp then jig it straight down the overhang on the incoming tide. Works pretty well.

I've caught them fly fishing. One old guy told me that they like anything red so I tied up a red woolly bugger. Sure enough that thing worked pretty good. Bait will probably work better, but if you want to fly fish tie up some red woolly buggers.

~ Dr Pepper