Surf Perch Fishing

Photo by Sara Ichtertz

With many of our fishing harvest opportunities shrinking or completely vanishing, there's one in particular that has moved into the spotlight in recent history. Casting from the surf can be a fun alternative to chasing unicorn meat among a myriad of jetboats in the spring. Surf perch provide an abundance of harvest opportunity, with an aggregate limit of 15 fish in Oregon, which is home to 9 different viviparous species classified taxonomically in the family of Embiotocidae. For those who don't speak greek, the family name comes from embios, meaning "persistent," and tokos, meaning "birth," because they are one of the few fishes that give birth to their young. The embryo as well as the yolk are both nourished directly by the mother. They typically give birth during the fall, so spring is the perfect time to gather a few for the table. This is also the time of year when surf perch typically begin to form schools tight to the shoreline to begin spawning.

As these fisheries grow in popularity, internet groups and forums specifically categorized for westcoast surfcasting or Oregon surf perch fishing are more relaxed on offering reports and information to improve your success, so by all means, utilize them. These small communities are often very welcoming to new members, and great ambassadors to the sport of fishing in general. While the catch may be plentiful, much about the Central Oregon Coast population of surf perch is still a mystery, so ODFW encourages keeping a few for the dinner table and releasing the rest. Redtail surf perch take 3 to 4 years to reach sexual maturity and the quantity of young they bear is relative to their size. Starry flounder, petrale and sand soles are sometimes a by catch, and also offer a very generous harvest limit of 25 fish.

The two most common species of surf perch are redtail and striped perch. Smaller species like the Walleye and Shiner perch are also quite common, but snack sized at best. The best part is all species of surf perch live within fifty feet of the shoreline, so you don't need a boat to target them. Having a surf rod that can handle slinging heavy weight long distances is definitely an advantage, but something sensitive enough to detect strikes in the churning waves is also helpful. Sandshrimp, sidewinder crabs, clams or mussels are good bait options, but their diet mostly consists of Pacific mole crab or "sand flea" or "sand crab." If you can find a sandy area with these critters, they make great bait, and there's probably surf perch around.

If you're fishing bait, a crappie rig and snell rigged baitholder hooks work just fine but a sliding weight can give you an advantage at detecting strikes in heavy surf and allows your presentation to move around a little more freely without being washed away. As far as hook size is concerned, consider if you'd like to catch more or bigger fish, and choose an appropriate size. Clawfoot or medallion weights are vital at keeping your presentation from being tossed around in the surf. Harry's Bait & Tackle in Newport is my favorite pitstop for all of the above, and don't be afraid to ask for a few suggestions on where others are having success. Horsefall Beach and Sparrow Park Rd are good starting points on the south coast. Vehicle and recreational ATV access offers some opportunity to be a little more mobile up and down the coastline in those areas. Ona Beach and Fishing Rock are good places to look along the central coast, while Seaside and Gerhart. are starting points for the North Coast.

Try to avoid large concentrations of people, as many of the popular parks and recreational areas will be full of looky-loos asking what you're doing every five minutes. If you can find access to a beach near residential areas, you'll have a little more space to work with, and you won't have to keep such a close eye on whatever you have back on the shore. Always check the local regulations for where you're planning on fishing just to make sure you're not entering a marine reserve. 

If you're targeting redtails over the sand, look for areas with a depression in the waves, or flat water just beyond the breakers. That sweet spot is where you find schooling redtails. They are more likely to move up and down the shoreline than in and out, so if you find a school and lose it, move to your left or right instead of just trying to cast out further. Wearing waders is a good way to get a little closer, but respect the element of danger to being out there and don't turn your back on the ocean. Having a stringer you can carry and keep with you will also help keep your catch from washing away, or becoming a seagull snack on shore while you're focused and casting into the waves. Once you learn to read the water, you'll be able to spot "holes" in the surf, which could be as simple as an area where waves seem to meet from two different angles and just sort of die on the water's surface. Anywhere a creek or estuary dumps into the ocean is another safe bet, as there's a steady flow of food sources pouring into the surf.

Timing is everything. If you're not fishing on the incoming tide, the odds are stacked against you. All the little critters along the shoreline that are washed into the surf when the tide comes back in create a feeding frenzy. It may take a while for that frenzy to start or find a feeding school, so if you're not getting bit in a few minutes, bounce around a little bit and try some different presentations. Using a dual presentation can give you an advantage of trying a couple different baits at once to find out what they want they're on a finicky bite. Swells are almost necessary to churn up food for redtails. Anything beyond 5-6 feet swells aren't worth it to risk it for the biscuit. Not just because it's dangerous, but big swells will also churn up lots of salty vegetables that make it frustrating to impossible to fish.

Don't rule out soft plastics or scent either. A small mister twister curly tail grub with a motor oil color is a classic sand crab imitation. Berkeley gulp sandshrimp or sandworms are an excellent bait for redtails. You really only need about a 2" sized bait, so you can split them up and be a little more conservative with them. UV can sometimes make a difference as well.  Rob Brown also sells a soft plastic creature bait that resembles a hellgrammite on his Custom Tackle Works website or on the shelves at Oregon Rod Reel & Tackle. ORRT also carries a wide selection of thirsty beads, which rigged above your presentation can aid in holding scent.

While all of these work great on the sand for redtails, striped perch tend to favor live bait over soft plastics, and hold tighter to outcropping rocks or pilings. When the surf or the wind picks up, you can still find areas tucked away behind geographical wind and current breaks where you'll find striped perch. Read the water like you would for salmon or steelhead. If there's something there to break the currents of the incoming (or outgoing) tides, fish the breaks in those currents or just beyond them. Small fingers or pilings off the jetties in estuaries are prime territory. They are opportunistic feeders that will often hold in that soft water waiting for food to wash over the structure. While redtails tend to hover along the bottom, striped surf perch will often be suspended, so a crappie rig with the weight on the bottom is more ideal than a sliding weight setup. Cast, reel the line tight, and raise the rod tip up so the two baits are suspended off the bottom. If you're crawling out on the rocks, make sure you can get back when the tide begins to rise.

If you're interested in a little friendly competition, YouTube user Pk Yi (who has a following of 41k subscribers) puts on annual surf perch derbies. His event last year brought in 90 participants, and he's planning another for July 27th at Ona Beach State Park. If you're in Washington, check out SurfPerchDerby.com for an annual event on May 19th in Long Beach. If you've got a busy schedule and can't make it to those events, you can also enter the month long derby in May held by Tony's Crab Shack in Bandon. All species of surf perch are accepted from Humbug Mountain, Port Orford to Horsefall Beach in Coos Bay at this event. Good luck!

This article was published in the March 2019 issue of Northwest Sportsman Magazine