Thinking of taking my son out to Santa Cruz (probably peir unless better recommendation) for a change of scenery as he's never fished the ocean.

What should I be expecting here this time of year? From quick looks it seems like pearch are around but looking for something funner.

I'll be bringing some lighter gear (6' w/spinner 10lb) and a medium salt pole (used to use for salmon/albacore when we had a boat).

I'm completely new to surf/pier fishing so any advice is welcome.

I'd go for perch off the shore. Your gear is perfect for it and it's the fishing that's most likely to bring you success. Pick up some Gulp! sandworms at your local tackle shop or dig up some sandcrabs.

It's pretty fun -especially on light gear

Yea perch sound like my only option until I get on a boat. I've been itching for something big for a while, guess I just have to get lucky with the cats at Amador next weekend.

fort point in san francisco id always a good place to fish. also pier 7 in sf and the pacicifa pier arw also awesome. hope this helps you out.

Aye, try those sandworms on a long leader. I use the three loop swivels to ad a small pyramid weight. It worked for me first time I went out for the perch.
You might be suprised. They can fight pretty well on medium action bass gear.
Remember the water so you don't soak your reel in it like i did when I caught a nice one out there. Good luck to you.
( Also no need to cast a mile for them. They feed closer to shore. )

also try carolina rig with an 1oz. egg sinker, a #4 baitholder hook and paddle tail grub for perchin.

Id really like to try surf fishing too. Wheres a good place to catch some surf fish?

I guess that depends on what you're trying to catch. The only surf fishing I've done is for perch, and you can practically find them at most beaches along the california coast from my experience. A lot of people go to Manresa beach, but I've only caught dinks there (hand sized fish), which makes me think its overfished at this beach, but who knows. But when you find a hole, the action is on, catching fish on every cast.

You can try half moon bay as well, I've caught some decent sized perch around there.

Do they still bite in the winter?

How are saltwater curly tail grubs different from freshwater curly tail grubs?

Yes they do!
They bite all year round! Its fun, but you have to keep moving until you locate them.
The only thing that may be the difference is color and maybe some are salt impregnated while others aren't. Help me out here guys!
I've had good luck with the Gulp sandworms. If you can find the 2" versions great! If you can only find the 4" and 6" versions just cut them up to about 2" and you should be good.
Try it out. Its fun and rewarding! Use lite tackle...it makes it a lot funner!
Tight Lines!

Yep, Ghostslayer is right, they bite all year round...but like he said, it might require some searching to find the hole where they're gathered.

As for the color, I'm not sure if that really matters as I don't think theres much time for the perch to see the color of the grub as its moving through the surf, but Glenn might be a better person to answer that for us...I'm curious now...haha.

And yes, try to find the 2" gulp sandworms, those are the perfect size in my opinion. Although for some reason, most places seem to only carry 4" & 6".