I’ve had pretty good luck with sand crabs or small, fresh shrimp. Actually tied into a 35-pound striped bass once using sand crabs, and it’s not unusual to come up with halibut too.
Sand crabs and mussels are probably the two best baits for surf perch. For mackerel; chunks of anchovy, chunks of sardine, clams, squid, mussels, etc. will pretty much work.
If you’re fishing off a pier, a sabiki rig should work for both perch and mackerel, along with a big jack smelt.
I’ve had pretty good luck with sand crabs or small, fresh shrimp. Actually tied into a 35-pound striped bass once using sand crabs, and it’s not unusual to come up with halibut too.
Sand crabs and mussels are probably the two best baits for surf perch. For mackerel; chunks of anchovy, chunks of sardine, clams, squid, mussels, etc. will pretty much work.
If you’re fishing off a pier, a sabiki rig should work for both perch and mackerel, along with a big jack smelt.