I had a great time during the last two hours of the incoming tide off the beach. 6 perch on about as many casts including my first double header on perch! I wasn't there very long but I did try a few things. Here's what I found out:

The key was getting out far enough. For anyone who's been following my skunk collecting expeditions I think this has been the key of my problem. I want to catch them on light weight rods rather than surf casting gear. My problem is I can't cast that gear far enough to get out where they live with lighter rods. Using a 9' Tica surf spinning rod and a couple ounces of lead I could fling a standard two hook bottom rig out far enough to connect with the schools. Once I did that it was nearly a perch a cast. I moved up and down the beach, same result. I switched to a light casting rod and the bite shut off because I wasn't getting far enough out there. I'm not saying they don't come in shallow but I'm convinced that there are times when they're out there and if you don't reach them you won't catch fish. I also noted that if I was going to get a hit it came almost immediately. I never had a cast where I caught a fish where the bite didn't come in the first 30 seconds.

I used a number 2 Gamakatsu circle hook and not a single fish was gut hooked. All were released unharmed. That's important to me as I'm letting them go anyway and don't want to injure any. The #2 hook wasn't too big for even the 5" ones (the smallest I caught) to easily get into their mouths. I only had one nibble that didn't result in a bite so I'm pretty sure I wasn't missing fish because of the size of the hook. It takes some control not to set the hook with those circle hooks but I managed it and connected every time. I didn't flatten the barbs but I might do that next time.

I used store bought shrimp and clam necks this time for bait. At first it looked like the shrimp was kicking clam neck ass but the last three were on clam necks for a tie.

A great day. One of those sunny days with fog blowing in. A few people wandering around but certainly not crowded. Plenty of time to throw the ball for the dog and just watch the sun, wind, and waves.

John

Bay wolf

6/14/2014 8:16:00 AM

Great report and thanks for the tip about the circle hooks. I'm gonna give that a try on the next run up. What beach were you fishing?

jmpurser

6/14/2014 8:40:00 AM

Sorry Bay wolf, I was sure I entered that. It was Roosevelt beach North of Ocean Shores. It's a stretch of beach with a mile long drivable section off Roosevelt Beach Road. The turnoff from 109 is a mile past Iron Springs Resort. Pretty flat beach with nothing I could see to distinguish one piece from the next. I moved just North of the entrance on foot as it's a no driving zone this time of year. I expect my results could have been duplicated anywhere for a mile South of me. I don't know about what happens North but as far as I could see it was the same gradually sloping beach with no obvious bars or cuts to concentrate fish.

Mark Collett

6/17/2014 1:50:00 AM

Great report. Thanks for sharing

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