rubber lip , pile and rainbow perch

in the early seventies as kid I would occasionally fish santa cruz harbor. I tried every kind of bait with limited success targeting the schools of perch I could see congregating around the dock pilings.
 then one day I observed their feeding habits. during the tide changes in the wake of the coming and going boats would cause the docks to bang against the barnacle covered pilings smashing barnacles and occasionally knocking a couple off. I could see the perch chase sinking barnacles and gobbled them up.
 tried barnacles with limited success because I was using traditional methods hook line and sinker. Then I eliminated the sinker for a more natural freefall. I finally had the recipe to get them to strike but still had one obstacle. single shank hook through a barnacle didn't leave much of the business end of hook exposed so I began using a treble hook and I had perfected method. I think it would work in all bays and harbors wirh likewise conditions. id catch 20 or 30 big ones in under one hour. was great fun as a kid. good luck



























 switched over to a trouble hook because a single hook 3

Great idea - thanks for sharing ! I find that super finicky perch will often take a bait that's either freelined or presented under a bobber without any weight so that it drifts naturally in the current. A small (nickel sized), freelined shore crab with a #4-#6 bailtholder hook can be a good way to go as well.

Did we all have the same revelation as a kid?  In my case, it was <1/2" mussels, whole in the shell, and freelined.  I eventually added small shore crab and barnacles to the mix.  But yes, freelined was the ticket!

-Allen