There is a fairly large Facebook group for oregon surf perch fishing that would probably be better. I use a 9' spinning rod with a smaller shimano reel and 20# braid to 8' leader with three hooks spaced out and 4oz weight at end. Use gulp sandworms. Walked down and caught a few last night. Pretty easy but the wave energy can effect the fishing.
GL.

 

Surf Perch Fishing the Long Beach Peninsula

I've had couple questions from folks on the techniques I used to catch surf perch on the Long Beach peninsula. Pole & line: Seeing as you will be tossing 3-5 oz of lead a good salmon pole will do you fine. I use my salmon spinning setup and have had no problems. Just be sure to clean your...

www.ifish.net

Here is a good rundown.

 

I use 8-12 foot rods with 4000-5000 size spinning reels. I use 15 pound braid mainline with 8 pound mono leader. I tie 3 quick surgeon loops even spaced on the leader to which to attach size 2-4 hooks with gulp cammo sandworms and have a 1-2 oz sand dollar weight on the bottom. Even though I bring a home-made rod holder (pvc, hose clamps and rebar), I only use it to keep my rod and reel off the sand when I am not fishing or doing re-rigging. The technique is pretty simple - cast and slow retrieve until you feel a nibble. If you dont get nibbles after a couple casts then move. When you find a school, it can be fun to catch doubles and even triples at a time. A lot of the fish can be really close to shore.

Lately, I am not real motivated to keep any perch as I find they are at the low end in meat quality for table fare - kind of mushy meat. But I think they would be great for the smoker.

 

Lately, I am not real motivated to keep any perch as I find they are at the low end in meat quality for table fare - kind of mushy meat. But I think they would be great for the smoker.
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You said it there, brother. I was really into SP fishing for a couple years but I never could find a way to cook them to my satisfaction--not even fish tacos. That is my litmus test for fish. If it's not even good in a taco, I am just not going to mess with it. Now kelp greenling or black rockfish? Those are good any way you fix 'em, so I concentrate my ocean-fishing efforts in that direction nowadays.

 

Lately, I am not real motivated to keep any perch as I find they are at the low end in meat quality for table fare - kind of mushy meat. But I think they would be great for the smoker.

You said it there, brother. I was really into SP fishing for a couple years but I never could find a way to cook them to my satisfaction--not even fish tacos. That is my litmus test for fish. If it's not even good in a taco, I am just not going to mess with it. Now kelp greenling or black rockfish? Those are good any way you fix 'em, so I concentrate my ocean-fishing efforts in that direction nowadays.
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If you fish with an assistant so you can fully clean and ice down Red Tail immediately after catching them, they taste pretty good, at least I think so as there's a huge difference, kinda like Bococia that get super mushy if not given tuna type treatment right away.

They are a blast to catch, especially the hogs.

 

Best fish for Ceviche ever created. Shoulder strapped kill bag w/small block of ice and a 1/2 size bleed bucket is all you need. Catch, bleed, chill. MMMMMMMmmmmm.....

 

Surf perch are much better eating when they are caught in February, March than summer months

 

Thank folks ... great helpful stuff here!

 

I love eating surf perch, for me the key is to only keep the bigguns 12-13" and up.
The smaller ones definitely have a softer texture.
I haven't fished for them much the last couple months, the females are giving birth.
First time I gutted one and had 20 or so fully developed fry come squirting out kinda freaked me out.
Here is a pic of 3 that I caught of which 1 is a male. They have an indented anal fin.
This is the only way to accurately identify them if you choose to avoid the pregnant females.
Try an egg wash and panko coating in an air fryer at 400 for 4 to 5 minutes per side.
I've converted a few skeptics!

 

I’ve found when I give the fillets the panko treatment they taste fine. They are softer cooked otherwise but I don’t mind it especially whole with various seasonings. As far as fishing gear I like a salmon rod that can fling 2-6 oz as opposed to the two handed surf rods.

 

I use a shimano clarus 9' rod paired with a shimano baitrunner 3000. I never liked using a monsterous rod and my clarus has been worked just fine.

 

If you fish with an assistant so you can fully clean and ice down Red Tail immediately after catching them, they taste pretty good, at least I think so as there's a huge difference, kinda like Bococia that get super mushy if not given tuna type treatment right away. They are a blast to catch, especially the hogs.
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Thank you for the tips, I will try again. Based on some of the other posts, I may have been keeping fish that were too small. They are really fun to fish for and gosh knows I blew enough money getting set up to fish for them, $100 bucks for a 10-foot surf pole and another $100 on a salt striker reel. I also like the ceviche idea, I will try that too.