Sorry to hear that wasn't you Tamster....I'm sure we'll run into one another sooner than later. That area and even further north and south have been great for the perch. I'm off this weekend and hope to get back out there. Just bought my annual parking pass from State Parks. it should be in the mail any day now. I'll PM you when I know which day I'm going.

Thanks for the report!

I was out there this evening...Bite was a little tough but still managed about 10 fish and kept 4. All on grubs. I also had a monster bite which Im sure was a Striper. Set the hook, it zipped of some line and SNAP! Broke my leader. It was only 6lb test. That sucked...

Great Post JohnnyB!,

I hate when that happens. I was out there last week and I'm sure I had a striper hit my little grub. My line went down the beach sideways which perch don't do. When setting the hook I must have pulled it out of the stripers big mouth. It's amazing how a striped bass will hit a small grub. I know why they do it though. The striped bass I've caught all had small sand crabs the size of a nickel in their stomachs. The grubs are very close in size. I'm hoping to get out there this weekend. The tide will be perfect for a later afternoon session.

Glenn

Hello All,

Manresa Beach is off the hook for perch! Went out two days last week and caught 30 fish each day. Went back today and found the school again. Fished from 0800 - 1pm. Motor oil grub with red flake did the trick. Biggest fish was a solid 2 lbs if not a couple of ounces more. Missed a striped bass. Hard to keep them hooked up on a #2 hook.

If you want to be successful fishing from the beach you have to be willing to move around. It took me about 35 minutes before I found the school. From there, I worked an area of beach about 25 yards walking back and forth. The fish stayed in that zone for hours.

Sunset Beach to Capitola Beach is producing good size perch. Great way to introduce a youngster to fishing. The fish are biting like crazy.

Glenn

Great job Glenn!!

Man your killing them. Do you bring a bucket with you or where do you put them?? Where you by the railroad bridge again?? I'm planning for tomorrow!

Excellent report again Glenn!! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks bassnfliiip!
tamster, I wear a back pack with a tall bathroom size plastic garbage can in it. If I'm going to keep fish I will fill 1/3 of it with ice. I was about 100 yards past the railroad bridge when I found the school. I'm heading back out there tomorrow. The gate opens at 8 am. I usually start fishing at the railroad bridge then work north if don't get any bites. The hole just before the railroad bridge and beyond is great for the perch. I got another striper hit but couldn't hook the sucker. Hope to see you out there.

dang...all you guys are killin it! haha. i really need to go and check this place out. hopefully next weekend if i dont get stuck at work again.

I hit Manrea Beach this morning in hopes of another 30 fish day. The water was still low at 0820 but it gave me a chance to look at all the holes and troughs. I could see where all the sand crab beds were. I've been surf fishing since I was 10 years old so that's 30+ years give or take a few and I've never seen a crab on the beach. I thought I was walking over a sand crab bed when to my amazement I saw about 30 dime size little crabs burrowing into the sand when the waves would go back out to see. The little crabs were a perfect circle the size of a dime with pinchers and all. A local guy told me he uses them for perch bait. They were right there mixed in with the sand crabs and about the size that a perch could eat so I guess they would work.

Anyways, i waited for the high tide to rise and it did but with no wave action. That's not good for perch fishing. Needless to say i was out of there by noon. Only caught three very small perch that I let go. You never know what other nature will do......

Glenn

Same report here... Went out at 10 and fished til 4... Only 4 little guys pulled up. Tried to locate the schools but could only find a couple o stragglers... Thats why it's called fishing and not catching!

Thanks for the report JonnyB!
I'm fairly new to fishing that area in Watsonville/Santa Cruz. Some of the local guys told me that the big 2 plus pound perch are alway running around up there. Last week a couple of guys using grass shrimp caught 19 big 2 plus pound perch. The couple that I have caught so far had no problem taking in a #1 bait holder hook. The added bonus this time of year is being able to catch a striper too!!!!!!

Yup...I covered the beach for about 300 yards throwing a Miki but no hits. As I left, I saw 2 guys fishing poppers but still no fish. Might try again this evening.

Tamster and I went out to Manresa for perch fishing yesterday between 3:30-6:30. Pulled in a total of 10 fish. It just sucks that so many kids happened to be surrounding one of the best holes we found. They were hitting every cast, but the waves were taking the line towards the kids so we moved on and found another hole couple hundred yards down.

Hey Glenn, where are all the big perch at...did ya catch them all?? haha. caught buncha smallies yesterday with only couple decent size. hope to get out there again soon, it was fun getting out to the beach again.

Nice Report!

The big perch are out there you just have to move around to find them. Lately I've been catching all small fish so I'm not sure where they're hiding. My last couple of outing at Manresa has been so...so. Even though the tide tables show a 5.6 high tide it's been flat as a pancake on the beach. Not good for fishing at all. A 5.6 high tide at Marina beach would chase you into the parking lot..LOL!

I think the bay has been flat in general. Some guys think it has to do with the moon cycle. To technical for me. I just like to fish.......

Post some pictures and keep given the reports. I like reading them as much as I like posting them.

Thanks Glenn

First time perch fishing today. I was going to fish for stripers but I have always wanted to catch a perch so I came on here to look for tips right before I left to the beach.
Jay at Coyote Bait hooked me up with some custom grubs made by one their buddies. Followed the advice Glenn and others have put up here and it helped me catch fish! SJB at it's best.

Went to Zmodowski again. Showed up right at high tide. My first bite was a surprise because it happened right away. I did what I heard to do, look for holes, parts where the waves aren't breaking, sure enough. Get bumped and it took about 20 minutes to figure out when to cast out. After that, I was getting all kinds of hits....finally hook one, it was big! Caught maybe 5 more and they had no comparison to the size of the first one. These lil guys are awesome. My buddy Sam caught a few too.

Definitely going to make a better perch fishing rod. Thanks again Glenn for providing the motivation to hit the beaches.