# Squid - Cephalopod of the Month



## Southerly

Paddy asked me to write about squid, but I don't know why you would want to catch them. My clothing is ruined by ink, my lovely yellow yak has indelible grey/black splotches all over it that resist any attempt at cleaning and my previously white squid bucket is blacker inside than a dunny in the dark. So give up thinking about them now....
Alright since you have read on I suppose I have not been successful in scaring you off, just be warned, squidding is addictive. I started squidding way too many years ago on Manly wharve copying the local Italian community, with a 40lb handline and hard plastic jig with a ring on both ends used by professionals to daisy chain many jigs. The technique was to cast as far as possible let the jig sink to the bottom then rip it in very fast short sharp jerks, with a drop to the bottom after each rip (SP jigging techniques are not as original as you may think!). This method caught a lot of squid and probably would today, but finesse fishing is a lot more fun.

Name/UserName: David/Southerly

Where I fish: Sydney region, especially Sydney Harbour.

Area I fish: There are 2 primary squid types in Sydney. The first is the Southern Calamari which is wide spread along rocky and weedy shores especially those with kelp as well as offshore reefs. They are most common at the front of the harbour and along the ocean rocks but will travel well up a river system such as the Lane Cove River, they like a lot of oxygen in the water and tend to stay in clean water (though I have caught them in coffee flood water above Roseville). The second most common squid is the Arrow Squid, it is longer and narrower than a southern and has a more rigid tube (Southern's are 'floppy' to handle when live, Arrows are rigid), Arrows like deep estuarine water with current, the classic and well known location for them is the Spit Bridge at night (they can be caught elsewhere so go looking).










Rod/Reel I use: My 6lb bream outfit is perfect for squidding, I have a Daiwa TD-S 2500 matched to a 2kg Daiwa Exceller Rod. My daughter Tayler who is also an excellent squidder uses a Shimano Sienna 2500 and a Penn 6lb flick stick. The softer the rod the better as once hooked constant even pressure is essential to successfully land a squid. The custom Japanese egi rods look perfect as they are long and soft, I suspect a light fly rod with a tiny spinning reel on the end would also be a squid weapon. In the yak my squid stick also doubles as a 6lb spin outfit so there is a trade off. I used 6lb braid with a 12lb fluro trace, this is way heavier than needed for squid however I fish the jigs very close to the weedy/reefy bottom so I often snag up and the heavier gear allows me to retrieve the expensive jigs 9/10 times.










Hard Body Lure/Soft Plastic: For most I my squidding I use the cloth covered squid jigs, my favourites are Yozuris, Esmareldas and Yamashittas in 1.8 and 2.0. I don't think colour makes much difference, I favour pink jigs out of habit. Spend the money on a good jig. I don't touch the cheap jigs in my tackle box except when fishing from the ocean rocks where the jig attrition rate is very high. The key to a good jig is an even sink rate with the jig remaining horizontal (just like a prawn) though the water column. I use the lightest jig I can get away with in the prevailing conditions. I always buy double crown (two rows of barbs) jigs, I found the single crowns on the small jigs resulted in 5/10 capture rate compared to >9/10 on the double crowns.










Bait I use: I will use dead yakkas or slimies on a unweighted squid spike when squid are repeatedly killing my livies. This is usually offshore or in deep water and the squid are usually huge. I slowly pull them up from the depths while placing the yakka on the spike just on the edge of sight below the yak. I then switch bait the squid as it comes to the surface. You can also use a jig to switch but I find the spike more effective. This also works well on big cuttles (though they are often hooked by the livey rig).










Technique: I am going to suggest two techniques for southern as I often fish with my daughter Tayler, we both have different techniques and on any day one of us will out fish the other 3:1.
Southerns by Tayler - She uses a 2.0 or 2.5 jig and favours a white or pearly colour. As these jigs sink quite quickly she fishes with a fairly constant slow retrieve. She also fishes away from tight structure (as it is easier to cast and less chance of a snag) in more open water than I fish.
Southerns by David - For me this is finesse plus fishing, one cast may take 3-5+ minutes to retrieve. I let the jig waft and very gently give it a little slow jerk to feel the jig. I watch the line intently (if you dead stick for bream you will know the technique). Cover all water from deep to hopping the jig off dry rock into the water, I like zero wind to fish this way, if windy I put on a heavier jig and use Taylers technique.
Arrows - Can be caught in shallow water as above but are more common in 7-30 mtrs. Most boats use a paternoster and I use often hang one just off the bottom in a rod holder and jiggle it by rocking the yak. A much more effective method is to rig a small sinker (0-2 depending on conditions) about 30cm in front of a 1.8 jig. I cast this across current as far as I can, free spool to let the jig sink to the bottom then jig it slowly back to the yak. Most people fish nights for Arrows, don't be afraid to fish for them during the day you may get a very pleasant surprise.










My hot tip:
1.	Sight fishing for squid will teach you more in one night than a year of blind jigging. Find a place with lights over the water and fish there or watch your jig carefully as it comes to the yak during the day as squid will often follow it up and you can watch them attack the jig.
2.	Put on some goggles and go see where they live, it will improve your fishing.
3.	I like high tide in early morning or late evening best, high tide at any other time is good as well.
4.	They often travel in groups so cast in the exact same spot after capture. Once 3 or 4 have been taken from a spot the rest become shy so I move on.
5.	I find they stay alive better in the mirage drive well on my hobie than in my live bait tank.
6.	Leave some for next time, while squid grow very quickly and make millions of babbies they are easily overfished in a particular area, so only take what you immediately need.


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## jayman

excellent i really enjoy these threads squiding has never really appealed to me probs coz ive never known how but now with the right advise im gonna give it a go.
thanx very much.
jay


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## Barrabundy

What a great choice of seafood for the month....... now I just need to find out if they're available within paddling distance here.


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## FishinDan

Barrabundy said:


> What a great choice of seafood for the month....... now I just need to find out if they're available within paddling distance here.


Find your good Fingermark spots local to you & start there ;-)


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## Barrabundy

FishinDan said:


> Find your good Fingermark spots local to you & start there


Cape Upstart is too far to paddle, Camp Island a possibility??


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## Zed

We have two types of squid off CA. In the colder water months (temp dependent) we have market squid and in the Summer, warm water months we get the jumbo squid or Humboldt.

Market squid are caught at night, under lights and are either scooped with dip nets if the float is thick, or corralled with a crowder net and are generally used as bait more than for direct food. This vid shows the most effective way to "catch" market squid on RnR, using a squid jig called a candy catcher. We have a commercial squid fishing fleet in SoCal that will sell a scoop of squid for $60US to fishermen, but the majority go to market. 
Squid fishing about 20sec in.





Humboldts are also caught w/ squid jigs, but much larger and heavier. Up to half a kilo and 12in long. Humboldts are nasty mean animals called Diablo Rojo in Spanish: Red Devil. They are openly feared by MEX fishermen. Fall into the water in a Humboldt frenzy and you will possibly show Jesus a thing or two on walking on water to get out as fast as you can.

Me, in Baja MEX, Sea of Cortez, with a Humboldt that took a large trolled hardbody lure.


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## Southerly

That is a serious squid there Quint what do you do with them?


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## Zed

That one released itself. I wasn't going to grab it. They've got teeth on their suckers and the beak is as big as a McCaw.

They are commonly cubed and used for chum, or stripped and used as bait. Whole they are baited using a kite on the surface for tuna or downrigged for broadbill. The mantle is thick, nearly 2.5cm, so they are usu pounded if you want to eat them. They taste good, but 1 out of 3 or so taste like piss, similar to shark that isn't treated right.


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## paulthetaffy

Excellent article Dave! Definately must try deep water squidding around the spit some time.

I'm addicted to squidding now - I've just come back from a "long lunch" session to get a few for this weekend  I managed two in quick succession and then spent an hour casting every lure I own at a school of maybe 8-10 that were sat in 1m of water 3m from my feet. They wouldn't touch a thing!! Any idea what to do in this situation or is it simply a case that they're not feeding and leave them?


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## Southerly

Hi Paul,
You can try a scent, I use egimax, I find it very mixed on the southerns, sometimes it puts them off and I often don't use it, Tayler does not use any scent. On Arrows scent is almost essential, I often get one first drop after reapplying scent. The big problem with egimax is that is seems to rot the cloth on the jig very quickly, so the jigs die after 2-3 months of use. One trick I have been told about is to put jigs and other lures you plan to use into a zip lock and spray the egi in, avoids waste so the stuff goes further and aslo avoids hot spots of scent on the jig.

The other trick is to cast well away from them, sometimes they will see it in the distance and chase.

You could also try hiding behind a tree aka trout fishing and cast from there.

And often nothing works so I move off to find another school.

David


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## WattaReelDrag

Just a suggestion but could we possibly get a "fish of the month" forum if this is going to be a regular post?
There is a hell of alot of threads in the main section to go through in order to find relevant fishing info on specific species, and finding each "FOM" thread may end up being near impossible in the future...


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## imnotoriginal

I asked it earlier in this forum but does anyone have a reliable spot for squid on the Sunshine Coast?
Joel


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## jayman

WattaReelDrag said:


> Just a suggestion but could we possibly get a "fish of the month" forum if this is going to be a regular post?
> There is a hell of alot of threads in the main section to go through in order to find relevant fishing info on specific species, and finding each "FOM" thread may end up being near impossible in the future...


There is one I'm pretty sure it's in fishing tackle section
Cheers jay


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## jayman

WattaReelDrag said:


> Just a suggestion but could we possibly get a "fish of the month" forum if this is going to be a regular post?
> There is a hell of alot of threads in the main section to go through in order to find relevant fishing info on specific species, and finding each "FOM" thread may end up being near impossible in the future...


There is one I'm pretty sure it's in fishing tackle section
Cheers jay


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## WattaReelDrag

Ahh cheers mate, found it.
Got a bit of reading to do now lol
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=32266


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## jayman

WattaReelDrag said:


> Ahh cheers mate, found it.
> Got a bit of reading to do now lol
> viewtopic.php?f=10&t=32266


Haha no problem mate there's tones of info in there. 
Cheers jay


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## Southerly

Barrabundy said:


> What a great choice of seafood for the month....... now I just need to find out if they're available within paddling distance here.


Seems like you have a few squid up your way including the Northern Calamari Squid, heaps of references on the web like this one,

http://www.brisbanefishing.com.au/tackl ... -squidding

Go get em, David


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## Squidder

Wonderful write up on my favourite target Southerly 

My best catching jig for the last few years has been the little 1.8 Emeraldas, for shallow water squidding in <3m it is perfect for long slow retrieves without sinking too quickly. Other good shallow water jigs are the smallest size Kanji Clicks, and the smallest size Yamashita Egi suttes. The bigger size Emeraldas jigs are also good for deeper water or fished under a float, also the 2.5 Yo zuri shrimp hunters in pink, brown and green.

Colour can play a role in my experience, but not all the time - some days they'll hit everything you throw, some days only brighter colours, some days only dull/natural colours. I have had many sessions where the choice of brown over pink and vice versa has made a huge difference.

I always try and have a second jig out the back under a float while casting, and some days you get more on the one under the float. Makes you feel a fool if the float rod goes off after you've just spent several minutes on a really complicated finesse retrieve, but some days they don't play fair.

Often the sign that a squid has grabbed your jig isn't a tap or an obvious lunge, but more of a 'presence' which is hard to describe until you've felt it - they can sit on your jig for ages and just hold it and chew the cloth - I used to wait until they took off and hooked themselves but I reckon I get better hook ups giving a firm upward lift when I feel the 'presence'. Forgiving rod work and a light drag will help you land the ones that are only hooked on the tips of the candles.

The tiniest bit of weed or debris on your jig will turn a squid right off, clean them as often as needed and also try and clean off the ink/slime from previous victims as best you can.

On the days when they follow and tap your jigs but won't commit, I usually go through these two routines:
-Sink the jig to near the bottom, twitch a few times then furiously wind the jig for about 2 metres then dead stick it (burn and kill)
-Slowly wind the jig back to the kayak, then open the bail and feed it straight back down on a slack line and watch it.

They don't always work but have helped on the tough days. Also keep changing colour and size - smaller is usually better.


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## baitwasta

i have found that squid move around a lot depending on tide and conditions of the day/night - as Squidder stated colour can be a major factor in a feed or a donut trip - i usually troll two jigs until i locate them and have had lots of success on southern calamaris with the el cheapo pinks in a 2.5 ... but not always. 
( i'm taking Squidders advice on board here and am up for a few new smaller jigs) My technique on landing them is to tap them once or twice with the rod tip while they are pointed away from the yak so they squirt off at least twice before i grab them around the head and put them in a sealed bucket. You don't really need a net and it can save your yak looking like Squidder's if you're a bit fussy - i'm not keen on cleaning up too much. Squid - top fun & a top feed, cheers JohnO


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## Southerly

Squidder said:


> The tiniest bit of weed or debris on your jig will turn a squid right off, clean them as often as needed and also try and clean off the ink/slime from previous victims as best you can.


Very wise words of wisdom Squidder, also if my jig gets too inked up I change it for a clean one.

David


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## Guest

I do the opposite. My favourite jigs are covered in tuna oil and squid ink.
Weed on a jig will put squid off, but I don't find ink has any effect. The trick is to get the jig out there are quickly as possible after landing a squid. I don't worry about cleaning ink off the jig as I could be pulling in another squid in that time.

Regularly I bag my limit here in Adelaide. The trick is to pull in as many as you can before the school moves. I also use teasers and mainly fish a jig 1.5m under a float.


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## GoManGo

Awesome, been looking for some good info on these critters, thanks.


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## hackonayak

ahhh good ole squiddie's addictive buggers to catch huh..... if you want to see some awesome squid fishing type into youtube....adventurebound giant southern calamari the late great neil tedesco gets into a school of biggies at Flinders in vic.....He is on a stinker but we have caught them in the yaks and its great fun...cheers Paul


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## tightlines

Hey squidder, I would love to have a yak that looked just like yours. Black with ink that is.
It has been years since i had a session on the squid, this thread has got me all fired up again.
Nothing better than fresh chilli squid on the BBQ


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## haynsie

One thing that is worth mentioning, is that squid is very high in bad cholesterol. I only learnt this last year after a visit to my GP revealed that my cholesterol had jumped off the scale due to all the calamari I was eating. Bugger!

Oh, well, more fresh bait I suppose!

Cheers

Tim


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## keza

Here is a bit of a squid question.
In most of the pictures I see the squid are hooked right in amongst the legs quite deep but pretty much all the squid I catch are hook only by the end of the feeding tentacles.
Why ?


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## Guest

Squid feed by shooting out the two long feeding tentacles and pulling their prey towards their beak. They then wrap all their legs around whatever they have grabbed and start eating.

Sometimes they are pinned just on the tip of the long feeding tentacle. This happens more if they are shy and only just touching the jig. When they are in a feeding mood they usually grab more firmly and the hookup is closer to the head.


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