Surf Perch

[Holg3107]

Headed out to the coast with my buddy from Idaho for the clam dig this past weekend. During the day we tried our hands at a little surf perch fishing and man was it a kick in the pants. Tons of fun and for 1.5 hours of fishing and our first time surf perching I think we did alright. Took us a while to figure them out but once we did it was on. The big one my buddy caught was just over 15.5" and over 2lbs. Stashes to maintain anonymity.

Used Berkley Salt Water Sand Worms, 1.5 oz pyramid wights, 12"-18" leader, and 8lb test.

[Fishstiq]

 

Fried in butter with some lemon pepper...

[johng]

Sweet!!!!  Nice catch to you guys.  I have yet to catch the "surf" variety of this fish but the ones out of Lake WA. are darn tasty.

[SeaRun1]

A couple of those are toads.  Those things taste pretty good but are wormy.  Nice job!

SR1

[Holg3107]

Thanks guys! Didn't see any worms in these, are they generally pretty visible?

[gaddy]

they will start dancing for you when the flesh hits the pan
just kidding, nice catch & how'd the clamming go?

[Holg3107]

Clamming was really tough. They were barely showing and I need to re-evaluate my lighting system for night time digs. Going to pick up a few 200 lumin tactical flashlights I think for the December digs. We did scratch out our limits but they were smaller than I'm used to. Also it was really nice since there weren't many people around where we were clamming and the people we did meet were really nice, made for a good few hours.

[SeaRun1]

I want to apologize if I sounded negative.  Those are nice fish you have there and i enjoy catching and eating them.  It's just that the worms are more visible in these guys.  I don't let them get to me and "forget" to mention them to my wife.

They are in Lings, Cabezon and Rockfish as well if you are looking for them.

SR1

[ICEMAN]

Holg, having somene else hold light for you while night digging is really optimal. It casts a shadow nicely across their "shows" . When we have held lights for ourselves, it seems to wash out the shows....no shadows...  Best IMHO is the good old fashioned gas or propane lantern. Then longer handle allows the carrier to carry it close to the ground, cast shadows on shows, plus, it is nice to warm cold hands above.... Diggers still wear head lamps to keep their hands free, but the light nearby a few feet away sure helps IMHO...

Great looking fish. Good Job!

[Rick]

Holg, having somene else hold light for you while night digging is really optimal. It casts a shadow nicely across their "shows" . When we have held lights for ourselves, it seems to wash out the shows....no shadows...  Best IMHO is the good old fashioned gas or propane lantern. Then longer handle allows the carrier to carry it close to the ground, cast shadows on shows, plus, it is nice to warm cold hands above.... Diggers still wear head lamps to keep their hands free, but the light nearby a few feet away sure helps IMHO...

Great looking fish. Good Job!

I agree,a lantern is where its at for clam digs.

LED type lights wash out any features in the sand and make it difficult to spot clam shows.

[Holg3107]

Holg, having somene else hold light for you while night digging is really optimal. It casts a shadow nicely across their "shows" . When we have held lights for ourselves, it seems to wash out the shows....no shadows...  Best IMHO is the good old fashioned gas or propane lantern. Then longer handle allows the carrier to carry it close to the ground, cast shadows on shows, plus, it is nice to warm cold hands above.... Diggers still wear head lamps to keep their hands free, but the light nearby a few feet away sure helps IMHO...

Great looking fish. Good Job!

Good call! I have a few propane lanterns I will take out for our new years dig!!! Thanks for the advise.

I want to apologize if I sounded negative.  Those are nice fish you have there and i enjoy catching and eating them.  It's just that the worms are more visible in these guys.  I don't let them get to me and "forget" to mention them to my wife.

Nope, didn't sound negative at all  . Just curious about the worms and what to look for thats all. Im pretty new to the salt so any and all info is great. Looking forward to 5 days at the end of December chasing steelhead, jetty fishing for rock bass, surf perching, and clamming.

[Encore 280]

I love fishing for the surf perch. I do the Long Beach derby each year,it's a blast! How do the Berkley worms work? I've always used razor clam necks or horseclam necks. Never seen worms in the meat though. Good catch guys.

[lokidog]

Nice fish, and on the worms, the good thing about smaller (thinner) fish is that if you hold the filet up to a light you will be able to see the little buggers and cut them out.  They will be less transluscent than the meat.

[Jamieb]

I've ruined a bunch of lanterns over the years from not washing the sand/salt off and letting the nut on top get so rusted I couldnt change a mantel.
A lantern is the only way to go for night digs, just dont set it down and let a wave hit it. Cold water will shater the hot glass.

[kisfish]

Nice perch