Bait Gathering Session

[sanger]

That sure does fishlexic ! So it looks like my crappy fibreglass rod won't be useful for much then except for the g/f to hold and catch yakkas for me !

What bout the leader strength .. I am guessing the squiddies get spooked with the heavier lines too, like fish .. ?

Im not 100% sure as i have caught arrows under the spit using some pretty heavy leader but squid are supposed to have some pretty damn good eye sight so i always try and use a flurocarbon such as berkley vanish or something similar to keep my jigs looking as natural as possible.... im a firm beleiver of using some scent on your jigs to and mostly use egimax after some of the other raiders put me onto it!!!!

[inhlanzi]

[Mugen]

Hi Raiders,

Had some free time so went out gathering bait. It was now midday when i arrived at Yarra Bay hoping to nail 3 or 4 nice ones however somehow managed my bag limit of 20 calamari in an hour or so. The buggers ranged from tiddlers to monsters with 42cm hoods and went crazy for the new Duel Pheromone Skin jig in size 4.0 The usual jigs received little attention and were given their marching orders on the spot .

Needless to say i'm a happy chappy with some fresh stocks in the freezer, bagged up and ready to feed to a jewfish or two. Now just got to keep them away from the good wife who has other ideas

Cheers

Red

Nice work Red....what time were you catching squid...???

[Chris 55]

Mike

You crack me up

Love your caricatures always good for a chuckle

Chris

[Red]

How many of you boys actually have a dedicated squidding rod ?

IS the best squidding rod be fast or slow action & fibreglass or graphite ?

I have only used a graphite rod in the past but want to put my older uglystik to use. I used 8lb leader and 8lb fireline before but have read that it may be wise to up it to a 15lb leader or so so that you can save those expensive jigs.

Stylo, i have one squid rod that does it all.....well almost. Its the mighty 7ft Daiwa Battler baitcaster, rated 6-8kg. These days its married to a little Daiwa Alphas and what a sweet featherweight combo it is. This brilliant rod weighs 120grams but is very stiff, easily the best squidding rod i've used to this day. The same stick gets a flogging on rat kings, jews, reds...etc. Its really the only outfit i need for bay work and inshore reds.

With squid, i like to get them to the surface quickly and then skip them to the boat with the rod up high. Much easier and quicker that way. Unfortunately this is impossible to do with the kilo plus kegs often encountered.

Use minimum 12lb unless you enjoy losing your expensive jigs. These days we use 15 to 20lb leader and catch rates have not declined at all. Years ago i always used 4kg mono and lost several hundred dollars worth of jigs Took me years to realise there was no future in that!

Now using 15lb braid i honestly can't remember the last jig donated to a snag. It would have to be close to a year ago if not longer.

Mike, i love your work . Brings back funny but bad memories

Regards

Red

[Niko]

I tried using my 4-6 kg stick but I just found I wasn't catching anything with it. It's a good flick stick but just too stiff to feel squid. The one I caught I hadn;t even realised till the last moment.

Moment I changed back to my 2 kg graphite stick I was pulling them in again.

I was desperate to use heavier stick as one less rod to pack when chasing kings etc.

I'm assuming you haven't had the same problem?

BTW I generally use 6kg Penn 10X for my leader....can't reember ever losing a jig. I don't have a separate squid stick as it's just another rod to pack ........my squid rod also serves as small SP rod.

Niko

[stylo]

Thx Red, good info .. I will look to upgrade my leader (and maybe my line too !!)

[Robbielites]

I use a hand line and a paternoster rig.

The line between the sinker (little tear drop jobby with a swivel in the top) and first swivel is 4LB, above that is heavier. That way when you get a snag you lose the wieght and non of the jigs.

Oh and the reason for the tear drop sinker is that it rolls in and out of the reefy bits with out hard edges to snag under stuff

I will check the exact weight tommorow when I am near one, but i find if you go light you won't get down to the bottom fast enough for your drift, if you go to heavy it tends to drag and not skip along..

Robbie.

Edited December 6, 2007 by Robbielites

[jewgaffer]

Mike

You crack me up

Love your caricatures always good for a chuckle

Chris

DITTO !

Mike. You've got a vivid memory for faces. We know that character. We've struck him at Gunyah and behind a counter in Brooklyn. That's him alright Mike, the squid looks a bit like him too

Cheers mate

Stylo I go along with Red.

Choosing a rod when fishing for squid is more of a compromise. It is best to use a more rigid rod to keep the pressure on throughout the retrieve, rather than using the perfect rod for flicking squid jigs which results in too much softness and play in the tip. This interferes with steadiness and holding the squid up straight during the retrieve. An overly whippy rod allows squid to have more lateral movement and puts less pressure on overall, and would not be the best rod to use when squid are hard to come by .

jewgaffer

Edited December 6, 2007 by jewgaffer