Best bait for surf perch?

[Eugene]

Hi Guys! What anybody use to catch surf perch? I tried a fresh shrimp that works pretty good for flounder and sculpin, but looks like it doesn't work for surf perch. Any recommendations/opinions are appreciated. Thank you!

[aceshi21]

take a lookie here

http://www.leeroysramblings.com/Surf_fishing.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[spokey9]

clam necks or sandshrimp would be my choice

[natetreat]

Sanddshrimp, hands down.

[machewbacca]

Berkley GULP sandworm... camo color

[Eugene]

Thank you guys! So, looks like a sand shrimp is pretty good choice. But where to get them - harvest or buy?

[machewbacca]

sand shrimp is great bait, but tough to keep on your hook... you'll go through a lot of them. the GULP sandworm is the way to go.

[The Quadfather]

I am a fan of razor clam necks. Yes, it is expensive bait. But, can't deny it catches surf perch.
I just wanted to mention that you should look into some of the sticky thread material that is sold for purposes of tying bait to your hook when river fishing. I forget the name of the stuff, but it's in my garage.

[natetreat]

Magic thread.

I'm not kidding. I've been fishing with multiple folks throwing all that other stuff. I bet them that I could catch a limit before they got their first three. I won every time.

Dig you own shrimp. If you're going to spend the gas to go out there, don't come unprepared. There's a great video on how to do that, and then another article I wrote on how to set up your drop shot rig. All on this site.

If you use the sticky thread, it works real well. I never do, because when there are fish, you don't need it to last that long. Careful on your casts. If the shrimp flies off, it's because you're not letting the rod do the work and you're putting waaaay to much power into it.

[Bay wolf]

Nate has it dialed in. If there is one thing I might add is this: We've found that instead of using magic thread we buy a spool of elastic thread at the local fabric shop. (JoAnn Fabrics in our case). We cut lengths of about 4 inches, and tie one end to the eye of our bait hooks. You'll have to burn the cut ends of the thread because it is elastic and will ravel if you don't. (Like Nate said, "Prepare ahead of time will greatly increase success") We pinch off the sand shrimp heads and thread the tails on the hook tail down. Then wrap the "package" with the thread. Pull the tread taught as you wrap and it will stick to itself. No need to knot. The bait stays on really well and you can re-use the tread over and over all day.

Don't worry about presentation. The surf perch don't care what it looks like, they will smash it. And YES, sand shrimp is like Perch Candy. We've been fishing surf perch for many, many years and sand shrimp out fishes anything.

Here is a youtube on how to build a sand shrimp gun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgmh4ztISu0

[natetreat]

Hey Bay Wolf! Long time. We gots to get out again on the river this season once it heats up!

[jaywhy]

Try the Gulp sandworms......I used them a little over a month ago and hooked into a couple dozen nice fat surf perch in a couple hours. Squid, shrimp, and plain nightcrawlers work too but the gulp worms stay on the hook and work excellent

[Eugene]

Thank you guys. Ordered Gulp alive sand worms, shrimps and crabs. Hope they will work