WillN Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 I'm interested in getting into squidding, can anyone give me any tips? i've heard that fishing near kelp and seaweed is the best way to catch them, but how do you avoid losing your expensive lures? are there any specific times when squid are more active? are there any times where all i'll get is casting practice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinkymalinky Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 G'day WillN, Fantastic pastime to get into and one of the best things you can learn for getting bait too. Like everything else, squid fishing is about learning the patterns.... then repeating what works. The best way to learn is to spend a day or 2 only chasing squid... leave the other gear at home. You'll work it out pretty quickly and find a bunch of good spots in the process. The following is my recipe for squid (in particular Southern Calamari Squid) There are 4 ingredients IMHO for finding squid. The spot must have clean, clear water; hard structure; weed (kelp or ribbon weed... doesn't seem to matter) ; & sand patches. The hard structure is often rocks but can be jetty pylons, etc. If any one of these are missing you're much less likely to get squid. If I get to some of the spots where I catch a lot of squid for example and find that the water is cloudy, it's almost certain I won't find squid there. That leads to the next tip. Find yourself a bunch of likely spots around the shores of Sydney, Pittwater or most places on the East Coast, then when you go fishing for them move around until you find squid on any particular day. If you don't get a squid within about 5 minutes of getting to a location... move to the next one. You'll find them somewhere. The best fishing for squid is when bait fish are more active too... morning, evening, high tide, but you'll get them at all times of the day in all weather. Night fishing for squid is another option. When you do this add the ingredient of lots of light on the water like you get around some bridges and jettys. The light attracts bait fish which in turn attracts hungry squid. In answer to your specific questions: ... the only way to avoid losing expensive lures is to either buy cheap ones (which don't work as well although you'll get different opinions on that) and practice, practice, practice. You need to fish close to the weed which is where the squid hide. Too far away and you won't get as many, too close and . Also don't fish too light. I use 10lb fluorocarbon leader and 10lb braid which gives me some chance of freeing snagged jigs but if you don't lose one now and then you're probably not fishing in the right spot. I only lost 3 that I can remember in the last year. ... the times you're likely to just get casting practice is when you try flogging the wrong kind of water. Play the odds and you'll find squid. Another technique that works too is fishing with a paternoster rig with a jig or jigs above a sinker. This will let you fish deeper water and is the main technique for example at the Spit Bridge at night which holds good numbers of Arrow squid. Just drift and slowly 'bounce' the rig on or just off the bottom. It works on deep reefs too. Time on the water my friend, but hope this helps a bit to get you started Cheers, Slinky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arpie Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 Gorgeous photo, Slinky!! Many thanks for that info - I read up on anything to do with Squid!!! When are you coming thru??? We have supposedly the biggest ribbon weed beds in the Southern Hemisphere & I have seen them on occasion, chasing my hbs - one particularly large one played with my lure about 10 times before losing interest (& I couldn't hook him ) I think I need to watch you & your technique ...... good excuse to meet up, anyway! CHeerio Roberta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillN Posted July 8, 2008 Author Share Posted July 8, 2008 thanks for the tutorial slinky, its greatly appreciated, you make it sound so easy!!! can you tell me about actual techniques with the lure? do i just cast, let it sink and then give it a few flicks and then rinse and repeat? how far should i allow the jig to sink? should i keep the jig moving at a fast pace or bring it back slowly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinkymalinky Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 (edited) thanks for the tutorial slinky, its greatly appreciated, you make it sound so easy!!! can you tell me about actual techniques with the lure? do i just cast, let it sink and then give it a few flicks and then rinse and repeat? how far should i allow the jig to sink? should i keep the jig moving at a fast pace or bring it back slowly? Everyone has slightly different ideas so to some extent you'll need to experiment until you're happy but there are a couple of 'givens' and a couple of my own preferences... Fish your jigs sloooooow (that's a given). When you cast your jig let it sink until it is just above the weed (also a given), then retrieve it slowly enough so that it stays at that depth. You'll find you'll need to wind really slowly, then slow down even more. If your jig is coming back to the boat at the same starting depth... that's the right speed. That way you stay in the strike zone for the longest time. If the bottom has drop offs, you can even stop winding periodically to let is sink down the face... alternatively you can speed up to get your jig over shallower patches. You're basically trying to follow the bottom contours. Having said all that I've caught a few squid when quickly winding in a jig. Squid can swim surprisingly fast but usually don't take the jig like that until you see them behind it and stop it dead in the water. Try working your jig as you would imagine a swimming prawn or small baitfish might act (personal view). Periods of slow steady winding, with and occasional little rod flick or lift to make the jig twitch and dart. I don't overdo this... sometimes I don't do it at all and I might only give 2 or 3 twitches in a whole retrieve. Don't make them too big... think about how far the tip of your 6'-7' rod travels when you lift it from horizontal to vertical... it's a long way and that's how far your jig will move... that's not how bait moves so keep it subtle. I choose jig size based on water depth not squid size. A small squid will attack a huge jig and big squid will happily take tiny jigs. In shallow water around the harbour margins I'll mostly use a 1.8 or 2.0 jig. In slightly deeper water I'll move up to a 2.5 which will sink faster. In deep water like out around the heads I might go to a 3.0 4.0 or even 5.0 just to get the jig into the strike zone. I work on the principle of finesse so go as light and small as is practical... much the same as a lot of lure and soft plastic fishing. Opinions on colour will only be limited by the number of people you ask. In general I'll use fluoro colours in the dark or low light (often jigs that glow all over like some of the Yamashitas). As the light increases I'll switch to less loud colours and in really bright conditions I'll choose light natural colours. 80% of my jigs are either pink or the Yo Zuri 'Yakka' colour. Some swear by orange, some green, I've got a nifty new black Yo Zuri to try out... you'll just need to get a selection and like the rest of us, you'll end up getting a good result on one or two and they'll become your favourites. As a last comment you can try experimenting with scents. Again, everyone is different and you'll catch plenty of squid without any extra scent. From a bit of experimenting over the last year, often with BrettP on board, I've abandoned using Egi Max (didn't seem to effect results when fishing one with/one without it), but BrettP and I regularly add Stimulate/Ultrabite to our jigs. We fished a few sessions where the scented jigs outfished the unscented one at least 2:1, and we often get most of our hits soon after 'reloading' our jigs with scent (about every 20 or so casts). Cheers, Slinky Edited July 8, 2008 by slinkymalinky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brendong Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 The new jiggs in Natural colours i have found to be far more successful than the bright pinks particularly over the past 3 months as the water has cooled down....there have been sessions where I have been using Naturals and my fellow fisho's have tied on Pink and Green and they haven't been touched. I mainly fish kelp beds around headlands 2/3rd's of the way down the water column just giving the rod tip a lift every 30 seconds or so with the occassional double pump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donjuarez Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Great post! I have a handful of squid jigs, and haven't given squidding a serious run yet.. Have only caught 2 so far, one was about 50cm (took a little 35g metal, quick retrieve, intended for tailor... ) and the other about 30cm (took an unweighted ganged pillie) Have always wanted to give squid a more serious run.. with the info above, i think i'm just about ready to give it a shot! thanks guys! AJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodgey Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 As expected, another great contribution from Slinky. A terrific read, with plenty of useful information imparted in pratical and "user-friendly' language. Having never caught (or chased) squid, this will be my 'go to' information sheet from now on. Onya Tony! Hodgey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunder Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Great post Slinky. The first time I chased squid, I got one first cast and I thought how easy is this !!! I must have landed it on his head. I did the same thing for another hour without a touch. I have tried several times since, and have been unsuccessful using all different types of lures, with and without scent. I will have to give it another go - one day when I finally get back on the water. The more I read, the more tips I get, so hopefully with practise and persistence, I will get better. Cheers Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King slayer Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 Chasing squid is on the cards for many a Sydney fisho as a prelude to a jew or kingie session, or snapper etc off shore. I only really started to get into this seroiusly this year and have come to think of it as one of the most enjoyable parts of the fishing adventure. My mates and I have grown accustomed to getting out of bed at absurd hours to jig squid from the spit and around the shores before sun up, and have often been rewarded with beutiful fish later in the day we would have not come across if not for the fresh and live squid in the tank. Slinky's methods are very much like ours and I can definately vouch for the stimulate. I have a paternoster jig set up with two jigs, one cloth body and one smooth, so the scent only goes on the cloth one. This is the one that gets hit 90% of the time, but I leave the other one on for variety. I tend to reload every 10 or so casts or after a drift. Definately good advice to have 'squid only' voyages to learn the spots, that way you're not hurrying to get to the big boys and you will learn more. Take note of depth, time of day/night, tide and movement, light levels, water temp and time of year etc etc and just like any other species, if you practice in the one area and master it, it will be worth a lot to you for years to come. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillN Posted July 9, 2008 Author Share Posted July 9, 2008 ok i've got a couple more questions before i hit the water... is it necessary to 'set' the hooks once you feel some weight or does the squid hook itself? does a squid fight like a fish? and what does the take feel like? i caught an octopus before and that felt like i was just dragging up a rock, are squid the same? thanks for all the helpful posts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinkymalinky Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 ok i've got a couple more questions before i hit the water... is it necessary to 'set' the hooks once you feel some weight or does the squid hook itself? does a squid fight like a fish? and what does the take feel like? i caught an octopus before and that felt like i was just dragging up a rock, are squid the same? thanks for all the helpful posts! When you get a take from a squid, what you'll feel is a heavy weight kind of like you've hooked a big lump of weed. Lift your rod to make sure the prongs of the jig are in... but not too hard as sometimes the squid will only have hold of the jig with the ends of its tentacles and they are surprisingly delicate. If you strike hard you'll sometimes get your jig back with just a couple of bits of tentacle on the end. They don't fight like fish... you'll feel a slow pulsing pull against the line as they try to swim backwards away from trouble. Do NOT pump and wind... just steadily wind in. Jigs have no barbs so all that will happen if you try to pump and wind is squid will drop off as you release pressure on the down pump. Bigger squid may take little spurts of line against the drag but just keep on the steady pressure. You won't get squid that do long 'runs'. When you get the squid close, hold it in the water for a couple of moments. They will nearly always give a final squirt of ink at the side of the boat/shore, and it's better that it goes in the water than on you (unless you're Little Slinky in which case you bring them straight in and aim them at your father ). If the squid is clearly well hooked you can lift them out of the water but for bigger squid or when you can see they're only just lightly pinned, use a net. Always net squid from behind rather than trying to swim them into it head first like you would for a fish. If you put the net behind them and they try to bolt, they'll go backwards... straight into the net. The easiest way to get them off the jig is to just grab the jig itself, turn it upside down and give it a jiggle. The squid will usually drop of easily into your bait tank or bucket. You can grab Southern Calamari squid firmly behind the head with no trouble if you want/need to (they'll be pretty docile) but don't try it with Arrow squid (particularly big ones). They'll squirm around, grab you and potentially bite you. Cheers, Slinky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunder Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 On the paternoster rig, do you just have short loops off the main line (3-4") or do you use a 3 way swivel and a single line to each lure? Cheers Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amkulic Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 I was out on Tuesday and the squid were about, its very annoying when you can see them sitting behind your jig and they won't take it I even saw a group of about a dozen baby squid smaller than an inch long....i thought it wasn't breeding time now? Great post by the way! Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillN Posted July 10, 2008 Author Share Posted July 10, 2008 thanks for that slinky, with all your great tips i can taste the squid already Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brendong Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 Has any one ever used a squid spike with a Pillieover the top of it...saw it one Adventure Bound a couple of months back and they ot plenty. I've never tried nor do i own a squid spike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbielites Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 On the paternoster rig, do you just have short loops off the main line (3-4") or do you use a 3 way swivel and a single line to each lure? Cheers Greg I use a three way swivel, the line between the swivle and the jig needs to be shorter than the jig to stop tangles. Robbie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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