I usually use the 2.5-3.0 size jigs, like most other people.
Best time is usually at dawn or dusk, though I have caught one squid pitch black before dawn (they have excellent eyesight). At night is a good time if you can find some light shining into the water (say near a jetty or marina) as the squid lay in wait at the shadow waiting for baitfish in the light. You can still catch them during the day, fairly easy boat based but a little harder landbased so dawn or dusk is still your best bet.
You want to look for weedy areas, which is where the squid like to hang out (or near light at night).
You'll have best success using a good quality japanese jig. You'll still catch them on the clones, but not quite as much (they usually dont swim quite as well and the japanese ones have sharper finer hooks). I quite like the orange or pink colours for lower light times.
You can cast out and jig back, or put a squid jig under a float or put a squid spike + mulie (or fresh gar if you can) under a float. The good thing about the float is you can have one setup like that and cast and retreive with a jig as well
If you can, best to talk to Honsu at Oceanside (expert at all things squiddy)
it all depends on how deep your the water is, i do alot of squidding off rockwalls and jettys are i find the best size to use is 2.0
2.5-3.0 are way to heavy and will sink to the bottom quite quickly if you dont move it fast enough and you will get weed and crap on the hooks which all deter the squid.
having said that a 2.5 cheapie is different to a 2.5 good yo zuri jig, being that the yo zuris have better buoyancy and will sink slower then a cheapy.
i when your fishing around jetties there will hold alot of smaller squids, hence it make sense to use a smaller jig. Having said that ive caught 30+cm (tube) on 1.8
I get my jigs from annaconda in innaloo, as they got em for 13-15 bucks each, they have 20% off all the time as well
I've tried the good and bad yamashita and the H-something jigs and yozuri is all i buy now.
only time when i use a 3.0+ jig is when there is a bit of current or deepwater...
I guess I get a bit impatient so thats why I like the larger ones :p
Dont think that a smaller jig isnt going to get you squid (or good sized squid) though (as JoRn was mentioning). You can probably cast a bit further with the big ones though (big ones are further out i'm told).
The squid jigs I use are about $15-20. Might seem a bit compared to how much you can get them for, but then remember a decent hardbody lure for other fish would be about the same price. I hardly loose any lures though. You arent going to loose one to a squid unlike a lure for fish. On weedy ground you can usually pull the through the weed ripping it off. I've only lost them say by having a leader knot fail (no idea why) or dropping them in the ocean or something.
I like the yo-zuri squid hunters (reddy with a bit of orange colour is good/, but they're discontinued now. Mako make one that looks very similar, but isnt the same (e.g. doesnt swim quite as well and the hooks are thicker and not as sharp), but found some only $5 on special, and i've still caught squid with them.
Lots of different ones to choose from. If you talk to Honsu, he'll let you know which ones are good and which arent (Oceanside have a pretty good range of squid jigs atm too)
I dont have a boat or anything ... so there is two different jigs one for bait and one with nothing? (im going to local tackle store in a sec to grab one so im jw)
The jigs are the ones that look like a shrimp, while the squid spikes are basically a metal pole with spikes on the end. What you do is push the spike through a bait (fish best) then tie it off (or perhaps clip it, I dont know if they would be offput by a clip, but best not to use one with jigs at least).
Usually you leave the bait under a float (or balloon inflated enough to hold it plus apply gentle pressure). When the squid takes the bait, the float/balloon provides resistance to sink the hooks, then when you see your float go under you reel in your squid.
Jig you raise your rod, lower it then wind in. You can get more complicated retreives (e.g. by putting in some twitches), but thats the basic motion. You want the jig to move forward at a reasonably pace (like a fleeing prawn), then sink for a bit then repeat. Squid often will take the jig on the drop.
I have heard of using a scent, pen, or oil on the jig when the squid are fussy, but havent tried it. If they are fussy (you see them following your lure but no takes), it might help, but you could also try a smaller jig
When diving up the river this week I sat and watched squid stalking fish on the bottom and it was loose.
I was shining my torch on the little gobble guts and the squid were darting in and having a crack but didn't actually see one get a fish!Funny to watch!
They are pretty funny to look at when they are up close to a jig but haven't quite worked up the courage to grab it. They hover there waving there arms around and changing colours, trying to look tough I suppose. Just like some blokes on the footy field or down the pub
But when a mackie follows your lure and doesn't strike it is usually because your not moving the lure fast enough and they see the fake at the last second.
You see it up at Steep all the time, 2 blokes chucking the same lure and only 1 bloke catching mackies (shark Mac's) usually the second bloke who is not catching them is a bit lazy on the retrieve and once they are made aware of this and wind faster they start catching fish.
Could be the same as squid ?
This being said I have never worked a squid jig very fast at all.
I was reading a Western Angler or FWA article last night (cant remember which) and they were talking about setting up jigs and actually slow trolling for squid. The method described was basically setting up a dropper rig with a heavy sinker and a couple of jigs on the droppers and then towing them behind the boat at around 3kts.
Seemed unusual to me, maybe someone else saw the same article.
Also agree with Goat that some pretty big squid will have a crack at small jigs.
I have been finding that the squid are striking the jigs when a bit of line is given out.Jig every 5-10seconds as per normal but then let a metre of line out and i have found thats when they tend to grab it.During the day i'm finding the squid are grabbing the jigs more when the jig is a fair way out from the boat.
The place i usually fish you tend to see the squid, and watching them attack is awesome, they go black white black white and zoom...game over
but squid can be fickle sometimes...even worse then our respective gf/wives
theres a spot i go to where the is constantly 5 or 6 swimming around and they would not even raise a look at the jigs, come back 30mins later and you bag all of them...
same jig haha!
i forget what im was trying to say...oh yeah each man to his own, has his own way if it catches it catches!
they go for it on the drop. Sometimes if they are a bit tentative ( scared ), I reel in really quick and they follow it and when I stop they hit it, hit hard. A bit of trial and error is the go.
hlokk
Posts: 556
Date Joined: 04/04/08
I usually use the 2.5-3.0
I usually use the 2.5-3.0 size jigs, like most other people.
Best time is usually at dawn or dusk, though I have caught one squid pitch black before dawn (they have excellent eyesight). At night is a good time if you can find some light shining into the water (say near a jetty or marina) as the squid lay in wait at the shadow waiting for baitfish in the light. You can still catch them during the day, fairly easy boat based but a little harder landbased so dawn or dusk is still your best bet.
You want to look for weedy areas, which is where the squid like to hang out (or near light at night).
You'll have best success using a good quality japanese jig. You'll still catch them on the clones, but not quite as much (they usually dont swim quite as well and the japanese ones have sharper finer hooks). I quite like the orange or pink colours for lower light times.
You can cast out and jig back, or put a squid jig under a float or put a squid spike + mulie (or fresh gar if you can) under a float. The good thing about the float is you can have one setup like that and cast and retreive with a jig as well
If you can, best to talk to Honsu at Oceanside (expert at all things squiddy)
--------------
Always interested in someone to go fishing with
tommo77
Posts: 481
Date Joined: 20/06/08
how much are they hlokk
the ones you use?
JoRn
Posts: 91
Date Joined: 20/11/07
hey mate, it all depends on
hey mate,
it all depends on how deep your the water is, i do alot of squidding off rockwalls and jettys are i find the best size to use is 2.0
2.5-3.0 are way to heavy and will sink to the bottom quite quickly if you dont move it fast enough and you will get weed and crap on the hooks which all deter the squid.
having said that a 2.5 cheapie is different to a 2.5 good yo zuri jig, being that the yo zuris have better buoyancy and will sink slower then a cheapy.
i when your fishing around jetties there will hold alot of smaller squids, hence it make sense to use a smaller jig. Having said that ive caught 30+cm (tube) on 1.8
I get my jigs from annaconda in innaloo, as they got em for 13-15 bucks each, they have 20% off all the time as well
I've tried the good and bad yamashita and the H-something jigs and yozuri is all i buy now.
only time when i use a 3.0+ jig is when there is a bit of current or deepwater...
hope it helps
hlokk
Posts: 556
Date Joined: 04/04/08
I guess I get a bit
I guess I get a bit impatient so thats why I like the larger ones :p
Dont think that a smaller jig isnt going to get you squid (or good sized squid) though (as JoRn was mentioning). You can probably cast a bit further with the big ones though (big ones are further out i'm told).
The squid jigs I use are about $15-20. Might seem a bit compared to how much you can get them for, but then remember a decent hardbody lure for other fish would be about the same price. I hardly loose any lures though. You arent going to loose one to a squid unlike a lure for fish. On weedy ground you can usually pull the through the weed ripping it off. I've only lost them say by having a leader knot fail (no idea why) or dropping them in the ocean or something.
I like the yo-zuri squid hunters (reddy with a bit of orange colour is good/, but they're discontinued now. Mako make one that looks very similar, but isnt the same (e.g. doesnt swim quite as well and the hooks are thicker and not as sharp), but found some only $5 on special, and i've still caught squid with them.
Lots of different ones to choose from. If you talk to Honsu, he'll let you know which ones are good and which arent (Oceanside have a pretty good range of squid jigs atm too)
--------------
Always interested in someone to go fishing with
tommo77
Posts: 481
Date Joined: 20/06/08
cheers fellas
!
Stevef
Posts: 158
Date Joined: 27/02/08
Tommo, dont discount the
Tommo, dont discount the baited jigs, they are pretty deadly at times especially baited up with a sand whiting or herring.
tommo77
Posts: 481
Date Joined: 20/06/08
I would only go jetties
I dont have a boat or anything ... so there is two different jigs one for bait and one with nothing? (im going to local tackle store in a sec to grab one so im jw)
GOATRUTAR
Posts: 3865
Date Joined: 12/04/07
The big squid in the other
The big squid in the other thread was caught using a yamashita 1.8.
It works a treat with some chumline sprayed on and when the wind comes up a bit just add a piece of split shot for weight.
IF IT SMELLS LIKE FISH IT MUST BE GOOD FOR YOU!
hlokk
Posts: 556
Date Joined: 04/04/08
The jigs are the ones that
The jigs are the ones that look like a shrimp, while the squid spikes are basically a metal pole with spikes on the end. What you do is push the spike through a bait (fish best) then tie it off (or perhaps clip it, I dont know if they would be offput by a clip, but best not to use one with jigs at least).
Usually you leave the bait under a float (or balloon inflated enough to hold it plus apply gentle pressure). When the squid takes the bait, the float/balloon provides resistance to sink the hooks, then when you see your float go under you reel in your squid.
Jig you raise your rod, lower it then wind in. You can get more complicated retreives (e.g. by putting in some twitches), but thats the basic motion. You want the jig to move forward at a reasonably pace (like a fleeing prawn), then sink for a bit then repeat. Squid often will take the jig on the drop.
I have heard of using a scent, pen, or oil on the jig when the squid are fussy, but havent tried it. If they are fussy (you see them following your lure but no takes), it might help, but you could also try a smaller jig
--------------
Always interested in someone to go fishing with
GOATRUTAR
Posts: 3865
Date Joined: 12/04/07
When diving up the river
When diving up the river this week I sat and watched squid stalking fish on the bottom and it was loose.
I was shining my torch on the little gobble guts and the squid were darting in and having a crack but didn't actually see one get a fish!Funny to watch!
IF IT SMELLS LIKE FISH IT MUST BE GOOD FOR YOU!
Stevef
Posts: 158
Date Joined: 27/02/08
They are pretty funny to
They are pretty funny to look at when they are up close to a jig but haven't quite worked up the courage to grab it. They hover there waving there arms around and changing colours, trying to look tough I suppose. Just like some blokes on the footy field or down the pub
tommo77
Posts: 481
Date Joined: 20/06/08
lol
yeah i have never caught one so i thought why not!
good eating and can be used for bait too!
is there a legal size?
NoWorries
Posts: 3013
Date Joined: 10/10/07
I don't know about Squid.
But when a mackie follows your lure and doesn't strike it is usually because your not moving the lure fast enough and they see the fake at the last second.
You see it up at Steep all the time, 2 blokes chucking the same lure and only 1 bloke catching mackies (shark Mac's) usually the second bloke who is not catching them is a bit lazy on the retrieve and once they are made aware of this and wind faster they start catching fish.
Could be the same as squid ?
This being said I have never worked a squid jig very fast at all.
_________________
Here fishy fishy !!
Stevef
Posts: 158
Date Joined: 27/02/08
I was reading a Western
I was reading a Western Angler or FWA article last night (cant remember which) and they were talking about setting up jigs and actually slow trolling for squid. The method described was basically setting up a dropper rig with a heavy sinker and a couple of jigs on the droppers and then towing them behind the boat at around 3kts.
Seemed unusual to me, maybe someone else saw the same article.
Also agree with Goat that some pretty big squid will have a crack at small jigs.
Steve
GOATRUTAR
Posts: 3865
Date Joined: 12/04/07
I have been finding that the
I have been finding that the squid are striking the jigs when a bit of line is given out.Jig every 5-10seconds as per normal but then let a metre of line out and i have found thats when they tend to grab it.During the day i'm finding the squid are grabbing the jigs more when the jig is a fair way out from the boat.
IF IT SMELLS LIKE FISH IT MUST BE GOOD FOR YOU!
JoRn
Posts: 91
Date Joined: 20/11/07
The place i usually fish you
The place i usually fish you tend to see the squid, and watching them attack is awesome, they go black white black white and zoom...game over
but squid can be fickle sometimes...even worse then our respective gf/wives
theres a spot i go to where the is constantly 5 or 6 swimming around and they would not even raise a look at the jigs, come back 30mins later and you bag all of them...
same jig haha!
i forget what im was trying to say...oh yeah each man to his own, has his own way if it catches it catches!
max199
Posts: 743
Date Joined: 09/05/06
Yep
they go for it on the drop. Sometimes if they are a bit tentative ( scared ), I reel in really quick and they follow it and when I stop they hit it, hit hard. A bit of trial and error is the go.
.......Maxy.......