Though I haven't tried catching pile or striped perch in years your post brought back some great memories of my childhood. I spent nearly every weekend and many weekdays during summer vacation fishing Kayak Point pier south of Stanwood for pile perch. In fact I spent so much time there the rangers gave me a summer job cleaning the park one summer.

My bait of choice was always pile worm, though other shore invertebrates work well.
Interestingly, I was never able to catch one on fish of any kind a very few on terrestrial worms. Shore crabs were always a standby when the tides were too high to get other bait but didn't work seem to as well.

Pile perch densities, like many other marine species that were once common in Puget Sound, have been depleted. Today it is rare to see more than a few caught each summer day on the pier I can remember the migratory fish entering Port Susan Bay in June/July each year spawn. Another bit of interesting information about pile perch that makes them so interesting is that the females are fertilized internally resulting in the birth of live fish. Anyone who has caught a ripe female in August can most likely remember the experience.

Oh yeah, where can you catch them. Not many places this time of year. Though I used to catch a few in the winter near Deception Pass. Bait.......pile worms, sand shrimp, mussels, tube worms, crabs, and clams all work well.

Thanks Old Fisher...............Mykissed