Striped Seaperch
Species: Embiotoca lateralis (Agassiz, 1854); from the Greek root words embios (living) and tocos (to bring forth) and the Latin word lateralis (lateral, due to their blue stripes).
Alternate Names: Striped surfperch, rainbow perch, blue perch, striped surf fish. Early-day names included squawfish and crugnoli. In Mexico called mojarra azul or perca.
Identification: Striped seaperch have about 15 narrow orange and blue longitudinal stripes on the body with blue spots and stripes on their head; fins are coppery. Their dorsal spines are low and their body is deep and compressed. Dark and light color variations.
Size: To 16.4 inches and around three pounds; most caught from piers are 9-13 inches long. The California record fish weighed 2 lb. 11 oz. and was caught at King Salmon, Humboldt Co. in 2019. Two fish are tied for IGFA World Record. Both weighed 1 lb. 12 oz. One was caught at Tiburon, California in 2016 while the other was taken at Westport, Washington in 2016.
Range: Arrecife Sacramento, central Baja California, to Klakas Inlet in southeastern Alaska. Somewhat common in northern Baja California but rarely seen on mainland California south of Point Conception. Most common from northern Channel Islands, southern California, to Haida Gwaii, British Columbia.
Habitat: Typically found in shallow-water, rocky-shore area, most often near the bottom. Recorded to a depth of 312 feet. They feed throughout the day on a variety of food—small crabs, shrimp, marine worms, mollusks, and even brittle stars. When young they school with blank perch and other species but when adults they compete with black perch and force black perch from their home area out to a depth of about 18 feet.
Piers: Common at central and northern California piers situated near rocks. Best bets: Cayucos Pier, Santa Cruz Wharf, San Francisco Municipal Pier, Elephant Rock Pier, Point Arena Pier, Trinidad Pier, and Citizens Dock in Crescent City. The Point Arena Pier is undoubtedly the top pier in the state for striped seaperch; late winter to spring will almost always yield perch and most are fairly large fish.
Shoreline: One of the main catches for rocky shore anglers in central and northern California.
Boats: An inshore species rarely taken by boaters.
A striped seaperch from the Monterey Coast Guard Pier.
Bait and Tackle: A high/low rigging is most commonly used for these large perch. Use a size 6 or 4 hook, a weight heavy enough to keep your bait stationary, and fish on the bottom near the pier. Striped perch most commonly travel in schools; if one is caught more are probably around. These perch will often make a sharp first strike without hooking themselves. Be patient, they will return and often keep pecking at the bait until hooked. The best bait depends on location. North of San Francisco the best bait is fresh mussels, raw shrimp (small pieces), live rock crabs, live pile worms, frozen tube worms and crab backs; in the Bay Area live grass shrimp and fresh mussels are the top baits.
Food Value: Large enough to eat with flesh that is mild in flavor with small flakes and soft texture. They taste best during the non-spawning season, are low in fat content, and can be cooked using most methods. Many try to remove the loose hair-like bones as much as possible through filleting the fish (if large enough). We recommend returning all pregnant perch to the water if for no other reason than their meat is generally subpar during their pregnancy (the nutrients in their system being used for the babies which they birth live).
Comments: Reaching a good size, these perch are very popular among sport fishermen compromising up to 10 percent of the recreational fish catch (excluding salmon) north of San Francisco. At the same time some anglers are hesitant to fish for them, at least during spring months. In the spring, the largest perch will often be females loaded with live young; when landed, the fish will start to give birth and the angler will be faced with the question of what to do with dozens of small live baby perch. A few anglers save them as bait, many throw them in the water, and some simply refuse to keep the mother perch preferring to let nature work its answer to the question of survival.
A striped seaperch from the Trinidad Pier.
Species: Embiotoca lateralis (Agassiz, 1854); from the Greek root words embios (living) and tocos (to bring forth) and the Latin word lateralis (lateral, due to their blue stripes).
My foreign exchange daughter Kimiko and a striped seaperch from the Point Arena Pier
Alternate Names: Striped surfperch, rainbow perch, blue perch, striped surf fish. Early-day names included squawfish and crugnoli. In Mexico called mojarra azul or perca.
James Thomasson and a striped seaperch from the Point Arena Pier.
Identification: Striped seaperch have about 15 narrow orange and blue longitudinal stripes on the body with blue spots and stripes on their head; fins are coppery. Their dorsal spines are low and their body is deep and compressed. Dark and light color variations.
A striped Seaperch caught at the Trinidad Pier by David Shigematsu.
Size: To 16.4 inches and around three pounds; most caught from piers are 9-13 inches long. The California record fish weighed 2 lb. 11 oz. and was caught at King Salmon, Humboldt Co. in 2019. Two fish are tied for IGFA World Record. Both weighed 1 lb. 12 oz. One was caught at Tiburon, California in 2016 while the other was taken at Westport, Washington in 2016.
A striped seaperch caught by my fishing buddy Mike Granat at the Monterey Coast Guard Pier.
Range: Arrecife Sacramento, central Baja California, to Klakas Inlet in southeastern Alaska. Somewhat common in northern Baja California but rarely seen on mainland California south of Point Conception. Most common from northern Channel Islands, southern California, to Haida Gwaii, British Columbia.
A striped seaperch from the Eureka Boardwalk.
Habitat: Typically found in shallow-water, rocky-shore area, most often near the bottom. Recorded to a depth of 312 feet. They feed throughout the day on a variety of food—small crabs, shrimp, marine worms, mollusks, and even brittle stars. When young they school with blank perch and other species but when adults they compete with black perch and force black perch from their home area out to a depth of about 18 feet.
During the spring large catches of striped seaperch can be made at the Point Arena Pier.
Piers: Common at central and northern California piers situated near rocks. Best bets: Cayucos Pier, Santa Cruz Wharf, San Francisco Municipal Pier, Elephant Rock Pier, Point Arena Pier, Trinidad Pier, and Citizens Dock in Crescent City. The Point Arena Pier is undoubtedly the top pier in the state for striped seaperch; late winter to spring will almost always yield perch and most are fairly large fish.
Shoreline: One of the main catches for rocky shore anglers in central and northern California.
Boats: An inshore species rarely taken by boaters.
A striped seaperch from the Monterey Coast Guard Pier.
Bait and Tackle: A high/low rigging is most commonly used for these large perch. Use a size 6 or 4 hook, a weight heavy enough to keep your bait stationary, and fish on the bottom near the pier. Striped perch most commonly travel in schools; if one is caught more are probably around. These perch will often make a sharp first strike without hooking themselves. Be patient, they will return and often keep pecking at the bait until hooked. The best bait depends on location. North of San Francisco the best bait is fresh mussels, raw shrimp (small pieces), live rock crabs, live pile worms, frozen tube worms and crab backs; in the Bay Area live grass shrimp and fresh mussels are the top baits.
Food Value: Large enough to eat with flesh that is mild in flavor with small flakes and soft texture. They taste best during the non-spawning season, are low in fat content, and can be cooked using most methods. Many try to remove the loose hair-like bones as much as possible through filleting the fish (if large enough). We recommend returning all pregnant perch to the water if for no other reason than their meat is generally subpar during their pregnancy (the nutrients in their system being used for the babies which they birth live).
Comments: Reaching a good size, these perch are very popular among sport fishermen compromising up to 10 percent of the recreational fish catch (excluding salmon) north of San Francisco. At the same time some anglers are hesitant to fish for them, at least during spring months. In the spring, the largest perch will often be females loaded with live young; when landed, the fish will start to give birth and the angler will be faced with the question of what to do with dozens of small live baby perch. A few anglers save them as bait, many throw them in the water, and some simply refuse to keep the mother perch preferring to let nature work its answer to the question of survival.