As a teenager in the 1950s, I subscribed to all three of the major outdoor magazines — Outdoor Life, Field &Stream, and Sports Afield — and devoured their contents avidly every month. The publications of that period apparently refused to believe there was fishing and hunting of any value west of the Mississippi (except for Montana elk and Arizona mule deer), but I read every word of the east coast-oriented stories anyway.
I developed a first-name relationship with writers such as Lee Wulff, Ted Williams, Jack O’Conner, Robert Ruark and others, and developed a taste for Atlantic salmon on a fly in Nova Scotia, tarpon in the Florida keys, redfish and sea trout along the edge of the Gulf of Mexico. And 50-pound striped bass in the Atlantic surf at Hatteras, Ocracoke, Montauk and a dozen other exotic-sounding surf fishing hot spots.
Oh, to own one of those beach fishing dune buggies, bristling with rod holders. Oh, to stand butt deep in the Carolina surf, wind up with my 14-foot rod, and chuck bait and weight a half-mile out into the Atlantic.
I’ve put a fair dent over the years in my teenage fishing to-do list, including catching a beautiful Atlantic salmon on a fly, but I’ve not managed to wade the east coast surf. So it’s fortunate that one can duplicate the experience, at least to a degree, on our own Pacific shoreline and, while a 2- or 3-pound redtail surf perch certainly isn’t a striper or bluefish, the pounding surf and the immense sweep of sea and sky create an experience as awesome here as there.
Which is a wordy way of introducing the annual Westport Surf Perch Derby, coming up May 31st, and to try to convince you that it’s a very enjoyable little fishery and well worth the trip to the coast if you’ve never given it a shot. Jim Jackson at Angler Charters in Westport is the prime mover, 1-800-422-0425; www.anglercharters.net; 2401 Westhaven Drive, P.O. Box 1126, Westport 98595; across from Float 8 on the Westport waterfront; e-mail fishingwithjim@anglercharters.net. Derby rules and info are on his Web site, along with an excellent rundown on how to successfully fish redtail surf perch (put your cursor on “On Shore Fishing,” and click on “Beach Fishing”). For accommodations or general activity information, call the Westport-Grayland Chamber of Commerce at 1-800-345-6223.
The derby will run from sunup to the 4 p.m. weigh-in deadline at Angler Charters. Open water will be any beach from Westport south to Tokeland. Jackson said favorite spots include near the jetty in Westport, Cranberry Beach in Grayland, and near the jetty in Tokeland.
Tickets are $20 and must be purchased by 9 a.m. derby day online at the Angler Charters Web site, at the Chamber of Commerce, Angler Charters, Alaskan Motel, the Hungry Whale Gas and Grocery, Englund Marine, or the Local Store. Three-quarters of net entry fees will be awarded as cash prizes, and there will be a substantial list of additional merchandise prizes. Top awards will go to the single heaviest perch, and the heaviest five-fish catch. There will be a separate kids category, under 14, with guaranteed prizes.
Jackson is expecting 100 to 120 entrants this year, he said, but many people come simply to watch and learn.
“It’s cheap entertainment,” he said. “A day on the beach, with maybe a picnic lunch, letting the kids and the dog run, and watching the action.”
Westport has become a first-rate tourist attraction, with antique and kite shops, good restaurants, a maritime museum and lighthouse tours, a dune trail, agate hunting, go-cart rentals for the kids, and a lot more. Rent a crab trap and throw it out in the Westport Marina, or drive down to Grayland and check out the family-owned cranberry bogs just east of Highway 105 (ask at any Grayland business), a unique and historic situation you won’t find anywhere else on the West Coast.
A state fishing license is required for surf perch, and the limit is 15. They’re an attractive fish, with pink fins and dark bars on their silvery sides, averaging 1 to 3 pounds (the state record is 4.03 pounds) and are excellent on the table, with firm, white flesh.
You’ll need chest waders, a waterproof jacket long enough to cover the top of the wadeers, a tight, elastic-type belt over both jacket and wader top to keep water out if you fall, a long rod (although an 8- or 9-footer will do in a pinch) and a saltwater reel loaded with 10-pound test line or so. A spinning reel is probably best, since you want to really whale that hummer out there, maybe 100 yards, into the water where the fish are feeding.
Rig with a 1-ounce slip sinker, swivel, a couple of feet of leader and a 1/0 or 2/0 hook. Or a two-hook dropper setup, with a 1-ounce pyramid sinker at the end. Use a circle hook with clam necks (available at the Angler Charters bait shop), or a longer-shank bait hook with sand shrimp. The clam necks are tougher and stay on the hook longer, and the shrimp may need to be fastened to the hook with thread, a rubber band, or fine copper wire. Generally, Jackson said, the lighter the gear the better. It will both catch more fish by letting the bait move around, and be more enjoyable as well.
Wade out as far as you safely can, being very, very careful to watch for undertow (“rip tide”) and to not go too far. Cast as far as you can and watch which way, right or left, the tidal flow is going. After that, cast “upstream” and reel in slowly as the bait arcs around to about a 2:30 position — usually in 3 to 5 minutes.
Move up or down the beach with each cast, until you hit a fish, then work the area hard. With a little experience, Jackson said, you will learn to read the water and look for the troughs or depressions the fish favor.
Jackson said heavy surf is an excellent reason to back off and try again another day. When swells are breaking too far out, he said, fishing is usually poor and it becomes much more dangerous to be in the water.
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