Squidding - How to hook up

[Kooks]

hey all,

I've been having problems of my squid staying hooked on the jig. I've read numerous posts here and other sites and have followed what they say do. I get hook ups but they always seem to some how get off. They don't seem to be losing tentacles.

What i use and do.

- a light flick stick with a mono leader

- light drag

- Yozuri 2.5 jig - yes the barbs are sharp

- I never strike hard...I just keep pressure on and wind at a moderate to slow speed.

So how do i increase my hook ups sticking? Should I wait a bit longer before I wind/strike?

I'm spending the next week or so trying to catch squid for a weekend away at Berowra...I'm dreaming of a big jew.

thanks

[Mr Squidy]

Hi kooks,

Doesn’t read like you're doing to much wrong. A couple of points though:

Its possible your drag is too light, with a really light outfit you don’t need to rely on the light drag as much.

Also, just making sure, don't use a pump and wind retrieve like you do on fish, just a steady retrieve.

Keep your rod tip high so there is a steady bend in the rod.

Last suggestion if none of the above work is head down to a busy squiding locale and ask someone who looks like they know what they are doing. That’s how I learnt many years back.

Hope some of that helps mate and good luck on that Jewie.

Rich

[dhype]

HI

I have caught a few squids in my time and one big factor I found is that if your rod's taper is too slow ie: too whippy, the squid will come off very easily.

I find you will drop less squid with rods which are a little stiffer through the body (fast taper), so when the squid pulses backwards it does not get any slack line...thus come off.

I use to use a samurai reaction 201 and dropped heaps of squid... currently use a Luvis 1-3kg rod and drop next to no squid~!

Try a differenet rod and see how you go

Trung

Edited February 2, 2012 by dhype

[tentonner]

I've got a theory about this, a few times I have found squid after squid hitting the middle of the jig away from the barbs and in some instances (like last week) have had 5 out of every 6 squid dropping off the jig as I wind them in because the barbs haven't hit the mark. This happened after me and a couple mates had already pulled about 5 squid from the area and we reckon the shadow of the boat/noise of the motor/the hooking of several squid in the area had made the squid less aggressive.

As a result we moved away to another spot for about 20 minutes to try and leave those spooked squid alone for a bit. When we came back the three of us had six squid in literally 2 casts each at the exact spot where we had lost so many before.

[Trapper Tom]

Hey Dhype.

Hit the nail on the head there mate.

Kooks, definately not a whippy rod.

And yes when you first feel its weight do set the barbs moderately strongly. Not too strong otherwise thats when you rip its tenticales off.

Then a slow constant retrieve and pressure, pump and wind is not necessary and not recommended as it is a different techneque to a hook in a fishes mouth thing.

Also try the razor backs they have additional barbs on their back and can increase catch rates when they are not quite as agressive.

Cheers

Trapper Tom.

[PM79]

hey all,

I've been having problems of my squid staying hooked on the jig. I've read numerous posts here and other sites and have followed what they say do. I get hook ups but they always seem to some how get off. They don't seem to be losing tentacles.

What i use and do.

- a light flick stick with a mono leader

- light drag

- Yozuri 2.5 jig - yes the barbs are sharp

- I never strike hard...I just keep pressure on and wind at a moderate to slow speed.

So how do i increase my hook ups sticking? Should I wait a bit longer before I wind/strike?

I'm spending the next week or so trying to catch squid for a weekend away at Berowra...I'm dreaming of a big jew.

thanks

So you're using braid?

Everyone who uses braid on their squid set up put some earmuffs on.

You're dropping squid due to the braid!

Try letting the drag off even more or switch to mono.

I've got a theory about this, a few times I have found squid after squid hitting the middle of the jig away from the barbs and in some instances (like last week) have had 5 out of every 6 squid dropping off the jig as I wind them in because the barbs haven't hit the mark.

This is when I strike hard, like the japs do, and the barbs hit the side of their head or body.

Also try the razor backs they have additional barbs on their back and can increase catch rates when they are not quite as agressive.

It's been my experience that Razor Backs decrease catch rates, I've watched the barbs for which these jigs get their name spook squid.

Edited February 3, 2012 by reLapse

[onearmedfisho]

Nothing wrong with using braid. I have always used braid and to be honest i dont lose many squid at all once hooked. Definately more to do with your rod selection...

[Mondo Rock]

Kooks - squid is pretty much my main target species and I can tell you exactly what's going wrong.

To understand, you need to know that squid don't attack their prey from behind, they attack it side-on. If you ever catch a squid using a yakka on a spike, or if you ever have a squid or cuttle grab a fish you've hooked, you will see that they always grab the bait from just behind the head and use their beak to bite through the spinal cord thus paralysing their prey. You'll also notice on old jigs that the cloth will fray around the middle of the back - the reason for this is that this is the point where the squid attempts to bite through the jig after it's grabbed it.

When a squid takes a jig it will generally not hook itself as its tentacles will be around the front of the jig and not at the back where the spikes are. Again this is proved by the behaviour of a squid immediately after grabbing the bait - it will happily hold a jig and swim away with it if you don't put any pressure on it, demonstrating that it hasn't yet noticed the two rows of razor sharp metal spikes at the back of the 'prawn' it has just caught. In order to securely hook it you must strike to pull the jig through so the rear spikes can get purchase in the squid's tentacles.

Think of it like holding a rigged jig in your closed fist with the spikes protruding out one end and then having someone yank on the line - the spikes would immediately dig into you. But if they just gently pulled the line you could move your fist with it without getting hooked, and could then let the jig go when you wanted.

Obviously you don't want to rip the jig so hard that you break off a tentacle, but you do want to give it a good tug until you feel the squid pumping away (having now realised that it's hooked). Almost EVERY time I lose a squid I realise it's because I didn't strike.

Sure you'll catch squid without striking, but you'll lose a lot if you just tow them in gently holding the jig side-on.

Good luck.

Edited February 3, 2012 by Mondo

[Hooked-Up]

Kooks - squid is pretty much my main target species and I can tell you exactly what's going wrong.

To understand, you need to know that squid don't attack their prey from behind, they attack it side-on. If you ever catch a squid using a yakka on a spike, or if you ever have a squid or cuttle grab a fish you've hooked, you will see that they always grab the bait from just behind the head and use their beak to bite through the spinal cord thus paralysing their prey. You'll also notice on old jigs that the cloth will fray around the middle of the back - the reason for this is that this is the point where the squid attempts to bite through the jig after it's grabbed it.

When a squid takes a jig it will generally not hook itself as its tentacles will be around the front of the jig and not at the back where the spikes are. Again this is proved by the behaviour of a squid immediately after grabbing the bait - it will happily hold a jig and swim away with it if you don't put any pressure on it, demonstrating that it hasn't yet noticed the two rows of razor sharp metal spikes at the back of the 'prawn' it has just caught. In order to securely hook it you must strike to pull the jig through so the rear spikes can get purchase in the squid's tentacles.

Think of it like holding a rigged jig in your closed fist with the spikes protruding out one end and then having someone yank on the line - the spikes would immediately dig into you. But if they just gently pulled the line you could move your fist with it without getting hooked, and could then let the jig go when you wanted.

Obviously you don't want to rip the jig so hard that you break off a tentacle, but you do want to give it a good tug until you feel the squid pumping away (having now realised that it's hooked). Almost EVERY time I lose a squid I realise it's because I didn't strike.

Sure you'll catch squid without striking, but you'll lose a lot if you just tow them in gently holding the jig side-on.

Good luck.

[dhype]

Nothing wrong with using braid. I have always used braid and to be honest i dont lose many squid at all once hooked. Definately more to do with your rod selection...

+ 1

Nothing wrong with braid... I have caught many hundreds of squid and all on braid

The only time I dropped squid was when using a slow taper rod

Trung