Sea/surf perch are more popular with fishermen further south in Oregon and California- there are at least 8-10 species you can target down there. Down here in BC they are not as popular but are good fun on light tackle. Besides the shiner perch, there are 2 larger species you can target here in the Lower Mainland: the striped sea perch and the pile perch. The striped perch is the more common of the 2, at least in Burrard Inlet. They are a beautiful fish and get up to about 15 inches max length, though most I've caught were around 8-10 inches..the largest one I've caught was about 11 inches. The pile perch gets larger (~18 inches) and they are reputedly the most difficult species to tempt, especially if you fish around piers. They seem to be less abundant in the Vancouver area- I've caught them in the Sunshine coast...the last time I caught them in Burrard Inlet was over 10 years ago at Belcarra pier!
In terms of habitat- perch like structure and are typically found around piers and marinas and along rocky shorelines that have abundant seaweed and invertebrate life (on which they feed on). I've had the most success at Belcarra though I've also caught them at Barnet Marine Park and New Brighton Park.
Best bait for them are sea worms- gather these at low tide and fish them during an incoming tide. High slack and the outgoing tides have also produced for me but are not as productive. I've also had success with small shrimp pieces and nightcrawlers. The set up I use for striped perch & greenling off the rocks is similar to a typical bottom fishing rig, with a small 3 way swivel, with a light sinker attached with about 10-12 inches of light line (a sacrificial link in case the sinker gets snagged on the bottom) and a #4-#6 hook attached to about 1.5-2 feet of leader. Use as small of a piece of bait as possible as the perch will first nibble at the bait for a bit before committing to it. If it's too large, the perch can tear off the bait without getting hooked! I prefer to use slightly heavier main line than what is recommended (10-12 lb test) as the barnacle-encrusted rocks can be quite abrasive. You can get away with using lighter line (4-6 lb test) when fishing off the piers. The perch usually hang out in schools so if you catch one, there are usually others around. You want the bait close to the structure/rocks, as the perch are usually feeding there so you don't really have to cast far.
Hope this helps and good luck!
Here is one I caught a few months ago in February:
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Topic: larger sea perch (Read 6718 times)