Amazingly enough, raw frozen prawns from the grocery store also make good surf perch bait. Remember, they have tiny mouths, so any bait you use has to be small. Cut shrimp into dime size pieces, and use hooks sizes 6-8. Another good bait is pile worms, which you can find by looking under rocks at the beach. Frozen shrimp is the best back up bait in case you can't find anything else, though. A pound should last for several trips, since each one provides 3-4 baits. When fishing for surf perch, I like to use crappie rigs with metal arms on them. They allow you to use two hooks without worrying about them becoming tangled in the main line.