Offshore - Squid vs Occy
Submitted by crasny1 on Thu, 2015-04-02 14:08
Hi all
Just wondering regarding this question. Been up north and I mainly fish artificial now, but the decky/boss/Mrs likes bait. Always rig a Paternoster with a Mulie on top, and up north squid below. Occy up there was almost a waste off time. But down here not so sure anymore.
The Mulie on top is a must IMO as it almst acts as berley when the pickers attack it for the bottom hook.
Just wondering what the thought are between squid (I personally prefer this) vs Occy.
And also whether it is best to leave the suckers on, or skin them off (which is what I have done in the past).
A long term fisho can still learn new tricks!!!!
Neels
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Timwoody86
Posts: 129
Date Joined: 05/07/14
Mullet
fresh mullet is dynamite I never use squid or occy.
shut up and fish
crasny1
Posts: 7004
Date Joined: 16/10/08
I know other baits are better
eg fresh fillets, but realy after the squid vs occy question.
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
uncle
Posts: 9501
Date Joined: 10/02/07
have had more luck
on squid myself
all aggressive fish love bigjohnsjigs
GGs
Posts: 330
Date Joined: 06/09/14
+1 have had better luck on
+1 have had better luck on squid down south.
And with the occy ive always been told to remove the skin and suckers so your left with a white tube.
Madmerv
Posts: 672
Date Joined: 24/01/15
Horses for courses
Each has it's time and place.
I find fresh whole squid dynamite on the bigger dhu's and pinkies. It gets picked apart pretty quick during the daylight hours but at night and out deep it works a treat.
Dhuies, baldies, pinkies and black ass love a good finger of occy if presented correctly. That is my bait of choice in close and during the day. It will stay on longer than almost any other bait with a bunch of pickers around.
Skinning the occy, suckers also, will keep it from waterlogging and blowing up like a baloon. Doing that i think also takes a lot of the smell/oils off so, like you, i run a smelly bait with it. Mulie, strip of trevally. whole fish af correct size etc on the top hook.
Merv
Sometimes when the water is quiet, you can hear the fish laughing at you !
Gav475
Posts: 398
Date Joined: 16/11/11
squid
90% success on squid vs occy but have seen plenty of photos of good fish taking a slab of occy but have had very limited success with it my self, will take a box of squid with me every time. I did buy some small whole occies from the fish section of woolies which are meant for human consumption thinking they would be good individual baits. Couldnt get a bite on them and when I discarded them even the black flying rats at the back of the boat would spit them out, not a good sign.
D_d_001
Posts: 1522
Date Joined: 09/03/13
Have had great success on
Have had great success on both and really find whatever is freshest (as with all bait) wins.
last time in Coral bay bought some of the best occy I have seen and Reds loved it.
I only used to skin the crap from the bait shop to stop it "blowing up like a balloon" (don't buy this any more only use fresh bait or jigs these days.....more and more jigs...) I find there is no need to skin very fresh occy as it stays good
having said that usually b4 a trip north we do a bait run for squid in the sound and find the reds up north love that........ so sorry lol for me first sentence says it all.
Dale
Posts: 7930
Date Joined: 13/09/05
Depends on how you present it, a ball of occy or squid on the hook like a piece of slimy snot is not going to cut it. A well presented occy leg, skinned and presented as a snelled type set up with an upper and lower hook is very hard to beat. A whole squid can also be presented this way.
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Mr Wolf
Deleted
Posts: 6265
Date Joined: 26/04/14
whole squid stuffed with a
whole squid stuffed with a mulie
Madmerv
Posts: 672
Date Joined: 24/01/15
The name
Was fishing with a bloke a few weeks ago and there is a name for that bait.... Just got alsziemers ATM, forgot what it was called.
Sometimes when the water is quiet, you can hear the fish laughing at you !
timmy k (not verified)
Posts: 16
Date Joined: 01/01/70
Never caught shit with occy,
Never caught shit with occy, squid is preferred but mullet and herring is the winner imo
catchalittle
Posts: 1875
Date Joined: 04/09/08
cali squid if your going to
cali squid if your going to use occy skin it
Nathan
C.P
Posts: 345
Date Joined: 04/01/12
Occy for me
Theres been a hell of lot of Dhufish caught on occy over the decades. I havent had any luck on squid although there doesnt seem to be many squid around Mandurah. There are pro occy pots in the area where i fish so i guess its the natural prey here. Got to match the hatch. So occy works for me. Having said that, i also have a fillet of western king wrasse on the top hook. I skin the occy but dont spend a lot of time trying to get it all off.
Meeuwissen
Posts: 755
Date Joined: 29/03/13
i never rated occy as bait until..
I caught my biggest dhuie on a big tentancle with a 1 once jighead. Then used the same bait and got a big baldie. Defiantly skin it and belt it to soften it up a bit.
Down the Line
Catch the Experience
chris raff
Posts: 3257
Date Joined: 09/02/10
Catch fish on both but I
Catch fish on both but I reckon very fresh occy would be the duck’s guts .. it just so friggen exy unless your little Johnny lol .. typically I use cali squid and mulies , on my paternoster I have a single hook at the bottom dropper where I present the head and tentacles and the upper dropper is snelled with 2 hooks and the same as Gilly place mulie in the hood of the squid .. it’s the Cordon De Bleu for fishys I like to spoil them
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Timwoody86
Posts: 129
Date Joined: 05/07/14
I with Timmy k
Both squid and occy is shit. I fish mandurah ways and never catch on either but use fresh mullet and it dominates. Just saying though and personal choice. Plus I catch my own mullet on Wednesday nights so it cheap. Buy a block of squid and it's around 18$. I've spent money on this stuff and used mullet on one hook and squid on the other and always get the fish on mullet. The line always comes up with squid still in tact. Tip is fresh mullet not the servo crap
shut up and fish
D_d_001
Posts: 1522
Date Joined: 09/03/13
seems to go with what I was
seems to go with what I was saying further up....very hard to to compare the California squid and crap occy with fresh caught mullet....would be interesting to buy some old mullet bait and catch some fresh squid and see the difference.
I believe tip is fresh caught BAIT not the servo crap. :)
Timwoody86
Posts: 129
Date Joined: 05/07/14
I with Timmy k
Both squid and occy is shit. I fish mandurah ways and never catch on either but use fresh mullet and it dominates. Just saying though and personal choice. Plus I catch my own mullet on Wednesday nights so it cheap. Buy a block of squid and it's around 18$. I've spent money on this stuff and used mullet on one hook and squid on the other and always get the fish on mullet. The line always comes up with squid still in tact. Tip is fresh mullet not the servo crap
shut up and fish
Brock O
Posts: 3255
Date Joined: 11/01/08
I use both
with a 50 50 catch rate i would say, bottom snelled hooks...squid with a mulie shoved up it! top snelled hooks the fresh occy, read somthing years back about the top hooks and occy holding of the pickers giving your bottom bait...dhue lollie longer on the bottom.
Drift baiting is with the squid.
little johnny
Posts: 5362
Date Joined: 04/12/11
Occo
Catch to many sambos on squid.(Dhue fishing).cant beat squid for kgs and baldys .it all comes down to what you are confident in using .occy stays on better than most baits.1other bait I really like is big cuttle fish bodies.exellent for staying on hooks.dhue boys love it
crasny1
Posts: 7004
Date Joined: 16/10/08
Cheers Guys for the kind reply
Have used the sweet bread approach with mulie stuffed squid, and I do rate it highly. And IMO nothing beats a snell rig to drift a bait naturally in the current. Will stick with squid unless a buy one off the occy traps or two. Was told a Gulp crab works best in the trips. Go figure!!!
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk