Im using a Carolina Rig.. i cast out as far as i can and i just reel it back in slow.. when i feel a hit i just leave it there for another hit before i set the hook... what kind of bait can i use for perch if i try and bait fish.

i use the same rig (carolina) with a 1" paddle tail grub, but if you want to baitfish....try some grass shrimp. Perch loves em.

Yea, grass/ghost shrimp works well, thats what I use. I have tried fishing the Carolina rig and it works, but in my opinion, I've had more luck with the bottom rig, since it allows you to have the hooks at different heights.

The Carolina seems to be popular but will only work when the surf is calm. When we were out the other day I had a C-Rig tied with two hooks -one at the end and one on a palomar (like a drop shot). The seas tangled the $@%& out of it with every case. It was at least part of the reason I got skunked.

And the fact that you didn't listen your buddy who was simply trying to help. Maybe next time you'll have your rig ready to go and not miss the prime time for fishing.

it was ready to go. my gear was just all jacked up. my 1/8-3/8 oz x-fast action rod can't handle 3 oz weights .

how are you guys fishing for them? bait fishing? or using a gurb and reeling it in slow? can you use 2 poles at the beach? i know that you cant use 2 poles in the bay but not sure about the coast.

One pole a piece. I am not sure if the regs allow you to use two.

We were baitfishing with shrimp, squid, and Gulp! sandworms/pileworms. Bang caught 'em all with shrimp and squid. I lost one on the Gulp!

Bang had a bottom sinker with two hooks off short leaders. I tried a modified C-Rig (with two hooks) but the waves were too gnarly and were producing a lot of tangles.

I'd like to try the C-RIg and grub slow retrieve next time if the waves are calmer. The lighter weight in the surf should provide more coverage and keep it in the surf zone. Plus the lighter gear should make it that much more fun. The waves were just way too crazy this last time.

Skunk, just a suggestion, but maybe next time you might want to leave out the 2nd hook. Also, when doing the Carolina rig method, it definitely helps to have the leader not too long, I'd say no longer than 3ft. Also, another variation of the c-rig for heavy waves that I've tried and works is to replace the sliding sinker with a pyramid sinker on a clip to keep the rig planted in the strike zone. which can also be slow retrieved still. Pretty much, I'd have to say that baits most important for these suckers. Every beach I've gone to, the perch have a different preference, but any of the baits mentioned by Skunk in his post will work. I have not tried the Gulp sandworms yet, but I know that these suckers love pile worms more than anything in the world. At my secret spot, I would pull in huge perch, sometimes 2 at a time every 5-10 minutes off the real live pileworms. I'd have to say, nothing can beat the real deal. Too bad that place is a good drive away, but I'm planning on making a trek over there soon...very soon.

where is the strike zone?? I just cast as far as i can and just reel in slow until i feel a hit.

well, when i refer to the strike zone, i mean the area that you want your bait to hold. but i usually go with the same approach, I will cast out as far as I can and retrieve slowly if I do not get any bites. but if you search on the net, you'll find more detailed information about how to identify trenches and pockets that are likely holding perch by looking at the waves, but still trying to figure that part out more. also, if you get bites, try recasting in the same area...i caught all 4 casting right into the same area i believed the perch to be hanging out.

Hey Skunk,
Perch for the most part feed close to shore so there really is no need to cast out as far as you can. Keep on the move and keep casting until you find them. I use to pay attention to time of day, tides, troughs, holes, full moon, no moon, morning, nights......

I've caught perch during all times of the day, incoming out going tides, from the flats, from the holes....from water so shallow you wouldn't think fish were in there. Just to give you an example of a fat sack I caught at Carmel Beach. It was low tide. Every time the waves would wash back out you would see the sand bars and flats. I would wait until the next set of waves came in and would cast out in the white foamy water which was only about a foot deep and was killing the 2-3 lb barred perch.

It was crazy.... the school of fish would follow the wave action in and feed then swim back out only to return with the next set. This went on for a good 30 minutes in the same spot. You never know with those perch.

Tie up a c-rig and keep on the move. If your leader is getting tangled or knotted up it could be because it's too long or you are using light line for your leader.

You don't need any more than a 24" leader max . Use 12 lb fluorocarbon leader. Now that the stripers are showing up I've set my perch pole up with 20lb fluoro. The heavier leader doesn't make a bit of difference when the perch are feeding. They are aggressive feeders and don't care much about leader size. The stiffer line will eliminate your tangles!

Fan cast an area. Slow down when your bait gets close to the edge and let it sit there for a minutes. If you don't get any bites keep on moving. You can't beet a motor oil grub with red flake. Everybody has their favorite grub that one is mine. If you don't mind spending the money, Gulp Sand worms are great!!!!!!!

Hope this helps! Glenn

Thanks for the tips Glenn.

I've read all the stuff online on Perch but it's hard to believe they come that close to the water. Based on your advice, I'll start letting it sit longer and in the shallows.

Also, thanks for the tips on the leaders. I've been using 8 lb flouro but it sounds like I can go thicker. The tangles were a HUGE headache for me last time around. Every cast I spent like 15 minutes sorting the mess. It doesn't help that I use Samurai braid as my main line and that stuff doesn't respond well to tangles.

What size weights do you use? My dropshot rod is rated at 1/8-3/8 and I was casting a 1/2 oz no problem. A lot of people use 1/2 online. Is that what you use? The waves were pretty gnarly last time and 1/2 oz was getting washed up fast. Do you have a problem with this or just recast when the waves spit out your rig?

Skunk,
Even though a rod is rated for a certain weight it can cast a lot more. i use a 1 1/2 oz egg sinker. This allows me to fish in rough water with no problem. What you need to do is time your cast according to when the surge/wave comes back in. As the water rushes out to sea just wait. As the next set of waves come in cast just behind the first wave to come in and work your grub back in slowly. I guarantee you will increase your bites.

Keep on the move. No sense sitting in one place more than a couple of minutes with no bites. You have to move around and find the fish. Sometimes a school of perch will sit in a hole for 30-40 minutes and never move out. The most fish I caught out of one school is 32. I fished as school of perch that did not move for 30 minutes. Once the bite slowed down I had a 50/50 chance of moving left or right to find them

Let us know how you do.....and post some pictures of your catch!

im going to start off in sunset sunday morning.. anyone want to join?? im going to bring 2 rods. 1 for perch set up and 1 for stripers! i will report back on how i do sunday night!