FISHING
What I (Think I) Know About Surfperch
Surfperch can be caught up and down the Northwest Coast, but some locations are better than others, including Beard’s Hollow. At low tide look for areas with pockets, pools and long narrow channels that run parallel to shore and then fish them as the tide floods back in. (WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY)
The wheres, whys and hows of catching coastal panfish from a guy who more or less – maybe less some days, more others – has it dialed in. Ish. By MD Johnson
D
uring the 50-plus years I’ve been involved in this thing called fishing, I’ve learned one thing. Actually, I’ve learned a lot of things, but one thing in particular stands out, and that’s that some people catch fish. All. The. Time. Day in and day out, these folks are catching fish. Don’t know why; maybe it’s the way they smell or the way they hold their mouth just right. Maybe it has to do with the gear, the bait, the gear and the bait. Again, I’m not sure I understand, but some folks always seem to have the hot stick.
I’ve seen it happen with walleye. With fall Chinook at the so-called Meat Hole on Cedar Creek of the Lewis. On the North Jetty in September. Hell, one year, I watched an older gentleman, spinning outfit held upside down and reeled in reverse, catch silver after silver … after silver. Never got off his butt. Never got excited. Fish after fish. What was I doing 50 yards away? Throwing the same hot pink Mepps Flying C the dude was, and … nothing. I even sat down and reeled my Pflueger backwards. No dice. Ugh! But with no other species have I seen this “some got it/some don’t”
aspect hold truer than with surfperch. Redtail. Striped. Doesn’t matter. Some folks, it seems, just have the knack. They know where to fish. When to fish. What to throw. What not to throw. Phase of the moon. How to dress. Hell, I don’t know what it is, but these are the folks with – yep, sure enough – a cooler full of redtails, each about a pound, more or less. You know this guy? Am I that guy? Some days, I am; I’m a hero. Others … well, it’s more like that big fat zero. If nothing else, and when the topic turns around to surfperch, I’m consistently inconsistent. But I’m getting better. I think. So this month, I’ve decided to let y’all in on what I may or may not know about catching surfperch. My AO – area of operation – is the Washington coast from the North Jetty at the mouth of Big River north nwsportsmanmag.com | JUNE 2022
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