I received a private message requesting Washington Coast information, but decided to pass the answer off to everyone. Who knows, maybe some of the info can help someone else or someone fishing someplace else.

Washington surf fishing is pretty easy as like you said, perch is going to be your main target. Fresh water tackle is fine. I used a 2000 series Shimano spinning reel with a med. weight 7 foot 6 inch rod. Just use the longest casting freshwater rig you have, using 30 pound test braid. I just posted my favorite ground tackle, but will repeat.
Prior to going out I tie up several rigs. barrel swivel, 10 inches of 20 pound mono, #1 hook, 10 inches of mono, another #1 hook, 6 inches of mono and a barrel swivel safety pin to attach the weight. I start off with a 36 inch piece of mono, tie on the first swivel with a uni knot, then tie on the hooks drop shot style followed by the safety pin swivel tied on with a uni knot. I then wrap the rig around a piece of pipe insolation foam to store. I bait the lower hook with a Gulp Alive 2 inch camo sand worm. I put a chartreuse 4 inch curly tail gulp grub (mullet)on the upper hook as a large perch will eat it, but so will any thing larger that may be cruising around. (I occasionally use sand flee/crab just to do something different.) Unlike most surf fishermen, I do not want my rig to lock in the sand with a pyramid weight . I want it to swing left or right in the surf. That allows it to move through the fish zone. Note: Your rod must be attended this way as compare to a rod holder with dead weight. In the old days Tabaco bags for roll your own smokers were easy to find. I now sew my own. When filled with wet sand, they cast a country mile, but are not that heavy in the water, and roll along the bottom at a very effective speed. They are also cheap to make. If I do fish the sand worms and grub still or dead fishing, I treat them just like cut bait. Hint of advise: Never go to the coast in August or September without bringing a rod for silver salmon as well as a hand full of 2 and 3.5 oz. Point Wilson Darts or buzz baits if that is your preference. I prefer silver Wilson Darts with black back and red stripe. I put a slight banana bend in the lure when shore casting. If vertical jigging I put a slight S bend in the lure.

As for location, I have never found any consistency. I just start fishing where I can get to the water and work down the beach. If no bites in about 1/2 hour I move to the next access spot. It is always a good idea to talk to the local bait and tackle shop. Good luck
Remember, take a kid fishing

Quick Edit Delete

Cloudy cool and muggy at the ramp, 72°, water temp 82.4°. Tried 3 new spots in the north end, NADA, except for nibblers. Hit my favorite cove, nibblers there too. Hit the cove behind island #3, finally a real bite, got a 1lb 4oz Largemouth on a Dinger. Nothing else so I tried 2 of the deep spots for Smallies, and caught a large Sunfish, on a Dropshot. That's a first for me. At the second spot, caught a big Pickerel, who proceeded to bite through my dropshot leader at boatside. Retried all the earlier spots with no takers, so I pulled into a cove to eat my PB&J, and had a visitor for my whole lunchbreak. I figured I'd hit the spawning coves on the way out, but found nothing but nibblers. Suddenly, a dark cloudbank rolled in, and the breeze dropped to 0. The water turned to glass, so I figured I make a couple throws with the 90 size Whopper Plopper on my topwater rod. 2nd cast caught a little Largemouth, 4th cast caught a little Smallie, over the next half hour I caught a big Bluegill, and the fish of the day, a 1lb 8oz Smallie. When the cloud blew out the breeze picked up and I called it a day.

Made our first ever trip to Knox lake in Fredericktown Ohio. Beautiful lake and area.
After a 2 1/2 hour trip we arrived and launched the poontoon. This lake is a 10hp no wake waterway.
The wife had a great time catching many large sunfish/ bluegills. We tried some crappie jigging to no avail. (Still learning how to read new sonar).
After a long day of bouncing around and battling an air leak in my fuel line (motor didn't want to idle) I got a big surprise. I decided to throw a line out and see if I could catch a channel cat. Well what I got was a new personal best on a rod and reel. A 26 pound shovel head.
What a fight, I was fishing with a 6 foot lite/medium spinning rod. But we wore her out enough to get jer in the boat.
What a day.

Gary