Squid taking plastics but not squid jigs

[Aardvarking]

I went for a fish at Roseville yesterday for another crack at getting my first Jewfish, and got by far the closest I have ever gotten. I got a hit on a 100mm squidgy fish from what I am 90% sure was a jewfish, and later on hooked a jewie on a yakka before he spat the hook. Frustrating stuff, but at least I'm getting somewhere!

One thing that got pretty annoying was the squid that would attack basically everything I threw at them except jigs. I started out throwing a squidgy fish, and every 2 or 3 casts I would get a weird bump which didn't feel like a fish, but I assumed it was my lure hitting a rock. Eventually as I was pulling my lure in I saw three squid following it, and realised they were the culprits. I rigged on a squid jig of a similar size and colour, and casted it for 20 minutes without even a sniff. I switched back to another soft plastic and continued to get hits from squid, and then changed to another jig with no results again. This same thing happened another two times, not a single hit on a jig while my plastics seemed to only attract squid. I was fishing the jigs with a pretty standard retrieve, casting them out and doing a double or triple twitch, before giving them time to sink and repeating. Is there any reason my squidgies were so much more appetising that any jigs?

[big Neil]

1 hour ago, Aardvarking said:

I went for a fish at Roseville yesterday for another crack at getting my first Jewfish, and got by far the closest I have ever gotten. I got a hit on a 100mm squidgy fish from what I am 90% sure was a jewfish, and later on hooked a jewie on a yakka before he spat the hook. Frustrating stuff, but at least I'm getting somewhere!

One thing that got pretty annoying was the squid that would attack basically everything I threw at them except jigs. I started out throwing a squidgy fish, and every 2 or 3 casts I would get a weird bump which didn't feel like a fish, but I assumed it was my lure hitting a rock. Eventually as I was pulling my lure in I saw three squid following it, and realised they were the culprits. I rigged on a squid jig of a similar size and colour, and casted it for 20 minutes without even a sniff. I switched back to another soft plastic and continued to get hits from squid, and then changed to another jig with no results again. This same thing happened another two times, not a single hit on a jig while my plastics seemed to only attract squid. I was fishing the jigs with a pretty standard retrieve, casting them out and doing a double or triple twitch, before giving them time to sink and repeating. Is there any reason my squidgies were so much more appetising that any jigs?

Just one of those mysteries that keeps us going fishing, I guess.

 bn

[recurve]

Your jig may have not been getting right to the bottom. When this happens use the plastic to bring them up and even better if you can bring them to surface then present a jig to them. 

Have caught loads of squid doing this. 

[masterfisho7]

I have found squid also have been taking small slugs lures

[Gabm]

15 hours ago, recurve said:

Your jig may have not been getting right to the bottom. When this happens use the plastic to bring them up and even better if you can bring them to surface then present a jig to them. 

Have caught loads of squid doing this. 

Agreed. When fishing SPs, we would often get them following all the way to the boat, even in up to 15 metres of water! Have a rod rigged with a squid jig ready to drop within view. It's amazing to see how aggressive they are.

Ps: They also drop an amazing amount of ink when hooked close to the boat.

[Great_White]

You can also try using a small stinger rig trailing the plastic, you will hook more squid this way , if they are chasing your plastics !!

Just use a treble on a small length of leader, and attach a swivel to it, clip it above the jig head !!!

Then if the Squids disappear, unclip it !!!

Great_White

[rickmarlin62]

What size jig compared to your sp ? I only use 1.8 and 2.0 in estuary...2.5 in ocean...rick

[Aardvarking]

5 hours ago, rickmarlin62 said:

What size jig compared to your sp ? I only use 1.8 and 2.0 in estuary...2.5 in ocean...rick

I was using a 1.8 and a 2.0 jig, both roughly similar in size to the soft plastics I was using.

[Aardvarking]

8 hours ago, Great_White said:

You can also try using a small stinger rig trailing the plastic, you will hook more squid this way , if they are chasing your plastics !!

Just use a treble on a small length of leader, and attach a swivel to it, clip it above the jig head !!!

Then if the Squids disappear, unclip it !!!

Great_White

This is a great suggestion, thanks. I might even try a jig as the stinger. I'll run the squidgy wriggler they kept attacking, and attach a jig behind it with a metre of leader. I'll have to see how it actually swims in the water, but I reckon it's worth a shot.

[Yowie]

What you can also try in a situation like this is a strip of fish bait slid up the line (puncture the strip a couple of times and thread the line through) then tie a treble on the line so the hook points stick out, no sinker needed, and throw it out and retrieve with a stop/start motion.

Squid are aggressive  feeders at times, and I have also seen them become rather timid in shallow or clear water during the daytime.

[rippinlips]

Most plastics have some sort of scent in them these days. Buy some EGIMAX and spray your jigs or dip your jigs in plastics scent....will make a difference...

 

[Smasher]

49 minutes ago, rippinlips said:

 

Most plastics have some sort of scent in them these days. Buy some EGIMAX and spray your jigs or dip your jigs in plastics scent....will make a difference...

 

The poor mans version of that is to smear some of your fresh bait over your jig. Esp. raw prawn meat.