How To Catch Squid In And Around Sydney

[mattycoss]

hi there

a mate and i have spent the last couple of nights down at balmoral jetty in middle harbour trying without too much luck to catch squid; using a variety of yo zuri lures as well as a yellowtail bait jig just casting out and slowly retreiving from the wharf on the side with the lights over what im guessing are weedbeds as seagrass keeps coming up on the end of the jigs every time they get reeled in

so far my mate's caught 4 squid; ive caught none (i dont count the HUGE one that i had that would have been atleast a foot long and decided it would be funny to shoot ink all over me once it got to the surface and then manage to escape anyway ha ha...when i catch him im going to eat him as revenge thats for sure) but basically everything i read is that the norm is catching around 10 in an hour...i keep reading that balmorals a great area for it; and even last night (we have both times been fishing/squidding on a rising tide at nighttime) you could see some squid coming up and following the jig; however no matter what we tried they just wouldnt take them

so i was just wondering if there are any tips or tricks to catching squid; is it best at any particular time, moon phase or tide; and are there any good areas/hotspots that regularly yield a decent catch in and around sydney, either on a boat or from land, preferably from land though?

thankyou very much!

hope to hear from some of you soon and post some pictures of a bag limit asap!

cheers have a good weekend and good fishing..

matt

also; would it be ok to just rip the heads off the squid and clean them as soon as we catch them; and then use the head part and tentacles as bait for fish or something and then cast it back out?

fresh squid heads would be fantastic bait i imagine; its more the squid tube itself im worried about - it wouldnt go off or anything if kept in a bucket of water for a couple of hours would it? still be edible?

thanks!

[shooterglock]

Use some stimulate spray on your jigs.

Also dont move them to fast, slow twitch, or let sink slowly, then retrieve.

[mattycoss]

Use some stimulate spray on your jigs.

Also dont move them to fast, slow twitch, or let sink slowly, then retrieve.

ah great thanks

after since reading of the dangers of eating seafood from the harbour, even around balmoral/middle harbour; was wondering if there are any good squid grounds around pittwater at all?

thanks!

[Mondo Rock]

everything i read is that the norm is catching around 10 in an hour...

Ha! I don't know what reports you're reading but ten squid in an hour landbased would be an excellent result.

Tips are as follows (although note for the future that you've posted this request in the 'reports' section of the blog - you should ask fishing queries in the 'fishing chat' section):

1. Fish over the high tide

2. Fish areas where there is little, or perferably no, wind

3. Fish dawn and dusk (night-time isn't as good as dusk) - in other words wait until you have a high tide around 7pm (early next week)

4. Use stimulant on your jigs

5. change jig size and colour often - if there are squid around but not hitting the jig then change down to a smaller jig of a different colour.

Stick to the above and you'll catch more squid.

[mrt11n@hotmail.com]

if you catch squid from balmoral i cant see any probelms with eating them especially with balmoral being open to the heads...

Try the spit at night or early morning there are always a few squid landed around there...

[Chaos]

Good tip's Mondo,

Cheers

Kurt

[Josh88]

If you see the squid following your jig then slowly stop winding it and let it sit stationary and if the squid doesn't attempt to grab it jig it a little. As for the 10 in an hour part, you could get 10 in 5 minutes on a very good day but it could also take an hour to get 1, just depends on where the squid are and how fussy they are. Around balmoral, the island is a good spot, as is Wy-ar-gine point, those two areas are probably easier to fish from a boat even though they can be accessed by land.

Good Luck

Josh

[Salami]

forget 10 per hour average.

if you don't get a squid in 10 minutes then move. personally i'll move after 3 minutes.

you have to find them & they'l generally come in groups of 3 or more.

difficult from the land, i've never tried. from the boat we look for areas of sand/weed patches rather than bulk weed.

we do well all over pittwater, try saltpan bay from the land, barrenjoey headland all around but preferably the lion island & ocean sides. palm beach wharf is also good. basically anywhere with weed/sandy areas.

by the way, the pink jig always wins.

good luck.