Squid at the piers/kingy hunting

[Mike89]

Had an hour to kill early this morning and decided that a quick squid bash at the piers seemed much better than early morning TV. Hadn't been for a serious squid in a while and with some recent Facebook reports of squid firing at Walsh Bay, I felt I was in with half a chance.

Stuck a small pink Yamashita on a paternoster and worked a couple of spots until I hit a nice patch of lollipop-sized squidlets. They were very aggressive, with one or two chasing the jig all the way up behind the hooked squid each time I was on.

Ran up the pier to tell a bloke I'd chatted to before getting started that I'd found a good plot, but with the same setup and a different jig he was unable to get any hookups. They must have loved pink this morning.

Managed a nice fat one to make it five before heading off.

Later this afternoon headed to one of my blackie spots where I'd seen a couple of guys pull in a good-sized king a few weeks earlier. Had some good runs on the squid but unfortunately no kings were to be had.

Did land a decent bream (released) and a nice tailor (recycled) which was good fun. Think I had a pretty solid croc on the end of my line at one point but it spat the bait as I was winding her up.

Fished until I ran out of squid. Looks like I'll have to get back to the piers tomorrow morning and restock!

Edited February 15, 2017 by Mike89

[samjames95]

Not a bad way to kill an hour! well done mate

[kiwicraig]

Good effort. How do you work the jig when it is on a paternoster? I've always used (with fairly limited success) a rig with the jig on a floro leader below a swivel. Cast out an retrieved slowly with lifts and pauses. Interested to learn about your method. Do you tie your paternoster with a big dropper loop on the side? That would make it really easy to swap out jigs to try different sizes & colours.

[Guest Guest123456789]

I think you're real close to landing a monster 

[Mike89]

17 minutes ago, kiwicraig said:

Good effort. How do you work the jig when it is on a paternoster? I've always used (with fairly limited success) a rig with the jig on a floro leader below a swivel. Cast out an retrieved slowly with lifts and pauses. Interested to learn about your method. Do you tie your paternoster with a big dropper loop on the side? That would make it really easy to swap out jigs to try different sizes & colours.

I started using the paternoster at Walsh Bay just to get the bloody jigs down all the way to the bottom. First time I fished there another bloke told me that was the best way to fish it. He didn't work the jig at all, just made sure that the distance between the dropper sinker and the loop was sufficient enough that the jig would sit off the bottom. He just let the current do the work. Small jigs in the 2.0 size or smaller seem to be the go here.

The basic rig is a swivel down to a surgeon's loop on a trace of about 1 to 1.5 metres. Put the dropper loop just 20cm or so below the swivel, and attach a swivel clip to the dropper loop so you are able to change the jig easily. I cast it out pretty far, wait for it to hit the bottom and work it just as I would a regular squidding rig (no swivel, just a clip to a jig). It hits the bottom faster, but the current gives it a bit more action.

When the jig is right in front a simple lift and drop can be enough to get some attention.

Interested in any suggestions for improvements on this or other techniques! Most people squidding this spot use a paternoster, so I'm simply copying what I've seen others do.

@flatheadluke - cheers mate! I do hope so!

 

[kiwicraig]

9 hours ago, Mike89 said:

I started using the paternoster at Walsh Bay just to get the bloody jigs down all the way to the bottom. First time I fished there another bloke told me that was the best way to fish it. He didn't work the jig at all, just made sure that the distance between the dropper sinker and the loop was sufficient enough that the jig would sit off the bottom. He just let the current do the work. Small jigs in the 2.0 size or smaller seem to be the go here.

The basic rig is a swivel down to a surgeon's loop on a trace of about 1 to 1.5 metres. Put the dropper loop just 20cm or so below the swivel, and attach a swivel clip to the dropper loop so you are able to change the jig easily. I cast it out pretty far, wait for it to hit the bottom and work it just as I would a regular squidding rig (no swivel, just a clip to a jig). It hits the bottom faster, but the current gives it a bit more action.

When the jig is right in front a simple lift and drop can be enough to get some attention.

Interested in any suggestions for improvements on this or other techniques! Most people squidding this spot use a paternoster, so I'm simply copying what I've seen others do.

@flatheadluke - cheers mate! I do hope so!

 

I am keen to give that a try.  I'm thinking it may also work from a drifting boat.  One of the places I drift for flatties I have had squid follow my plastics and baits on many occasions but have not been able to raise them with a squid jig there because there is quite a bit of current and the jig sinks so slowly that it barely gets down to the strike zone before the drift of the boat is pulling it up again.  At anchor the jig drifts so fast it is hard to keep in touch with it.

Another spot I have tried land based because it looks so squiddy also has a fair current running through it for most of the tide cycle so I will give it a go there. 

Definitely something to experiment with, both land based and from the boat.

Thanks for writing it up @Mike89.

 

[mdevitt88]

Pink has been the only colour working for me over the last couple of weeks. All other colours don't even get a touch but when the pink one hits the water its almost instant hookup. I must try the paternoster rig, I'm usually fishing from my yak working one jig with another one over the side just drifting.

[papafish]

nice one mike!! your leveling up mate!, come over to balmain for a flick tomorrow if you got time.

[Fernando]

Besides the paternoster rig, what else is suitable for squidding? I'm gonna have a try on a wharf in Cronulla.

[happypaintball]

Nice effort cant wait to see you crack the big one!