Catching Squid-Using Live Squid

Bullshipper · Mar-04-2006, 12:05 PM

Couple of questions, if anyone knows.

What is the best Squid jig to use if you hope to catch and keep small squid for live bait in Mexican waters?

Can you use a squid jig as the weight on the bottom of a sabiki rig to catch wwhat you see on the fish finder-fish or squid?

Can the squid go in the tuna tubes and the fish in the livewell- do you keep them seperate?

Do they hang around the same types of drop offs and structure?

Where you you hook a live squid to extend its life with circle hooks?

Are party ballons on squid better to keep them on top and more visable, or do you weight the line to get em down to where you see the fish?

I know, dumb questions, but please humor me.

Thanks

rojodiablo · Mar-04-2006, 02:03 PM

As for coastal baja, I have made squid in areas similar to areas where we get them in Ca. Inside Colnett cape, I have gotten them. Pta. San Jose, and outside La Bufadora. As to the sea of cortez, I have seen some small squid, the smallest being about 1 lb, maybe 16-18" long. And they went into my bait tank with my mackerel. And... they attacked my mackerel after a while. The giant squid are just agressive! Most of the squid I run into in the cortez are 3-7 ft. long, and NOBODY but whales will f*%k with them once they get that big. They do work well for cut bait, and chum.

Kidjurel · Mar-04-2006, 04:00 PM

MMMMM Pacific side or my side?? (Cortez) god dam squid capital of the world here!!! right now hard part is not catching them. Some are small and bait useable size 7-12 inches, and some a whole lot bigger too. Don't fall in the water to be sure. Mike

justinw · Mar-05-2006, 01:08 AM

I'm probably totally offbase here, but off San Francisco and Northern California we have "market squid" which I would guess at about 8 inches long. At night if you have a bright light you shine onto the surface the whole school will come up to the surface and you can dipnet for them catching bunches at a time. If you have market squid down there I would think that would work, but maybe its summertime only.

Kidjurel · Mar-05-2006, 05:10 AM

Yes that's what goes down here... however they fish squid here almost year round. Right now with cooler weather they are leaving in the morning and returning mid day. No lights needed these monsters are everywhere. During summer they fish at night with lights.. it's about air temps and not to spoil the catch. Each panga with 2-3 fishermen do about 1-1.5 tons a boat (wet weight) !! and then gut them with a net weight of 700 kilos. I fished it once and never again. OH My Fucking God that was wayyyyyyyyyy toooooooo much work.

Bullshipper · Mar-05-2006, 08:55 AM

Mike,

I am looking for the smaller market size where most of the poundage comes from the 50 lb Humboldts. The dead ones in the markets suck beyond being dead, so fresh caught liveies would be great if possible.

I know the long range boats try to catch squid to use on tuna, and am wondering if using a squid jig as a weight on a sabiki rig might catch em so that we can throw em in a bucket with holes that floats in the water to keep em seperate from the macks and fish that might also come up on this combo fish/squid bait rig.

Since the fish finder doesn't tell if the bait ball and bigger fish around them are squid or sardines, I was also hoping that this rig would identify and catch what the fish are keying on that day.

Brains working overtime, I know, but basically just just trying to match the hatch.

Bullshipper · Mar-05-2006, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justinw

I'm probably totally offbase here, but off San Francisco and Northern California we have "market squid" which I would guess at about 8 inches long. At night if you have a bright light you shine onto the surface the whole school will come up to the surface and you can dipnet for them catching bunches at a time. If you have market squid down there I would think that would work, but maybe its summertime only.

Well I carry a light and have a dip net, so that sounds like something to try. Thanks!!!

rojodiablo · Mar-05-2006, 11:55 PM

You will know right away if there are big squid in the area. Within a few minutes, they will show up under your lights, or will attack your mackerel, sabikis, anything they can get their tentacles onto. I have never seen an area in the cortez where the small squid are plentiful, and catchable. On most trips, I would be happy to get squid that were only 12-18" long. But every time I have found them, a bunch of 30lb. thugs move in, and spoil the party. It would be interesting to find some small ones for bait in the cortez.

Kidjurel · Mar-06-2006, 07:01 AM

^^^^ Yes I agree small fishable squid in the cortez would be as good as using dynamite, however after nearly 15 years here and about 250+ days on the water a year!! I have only been able to get ones small enough to fish with live........ oh maybe 4 times!!! we do have a different specie of small squid here that come in as bi-catch on the shrimpers..... caught one before on a sabiki rig. Mexican commercial hand liners use slabs (big slabs) fresh caught and do very well on yellowtail here at times, but that about a paragraph or so of info on how to do it right.

Right now the fish here are piling up squid at both Islands...... just use red/orange/brown colored surface iron and you'll catch fish.

Bad Dog · Mar-07-2006, 08:40 AM

We just whacked them Friday night March 3rd. 4 of us boated 21 Giant Humboldt Squid in two hours on the Banda Bank at night. They were all over 30 pounds. Two weeks ago we did the same thing 50 miles west offshore Ensenada and they were all 40 pounds and bigger. Yes, they eat squid but if you use bait, they will come off at deep color. You must use a special squid jig. These jigs can be purchased on line. I am a columnist for Fish Rap and I just wrote an article about all this and it's in the current The Log in the Fish Rap section. Everything you have ever wanted to know about catching these nasty creatures. Go to http://www.thelog.com and then go to Fish Rap and then go to other articles it's in there somewhere. Friday night I found them by going to the Bank and slowly moving around rock cod spots with my meter on. These fish pull drag on Penn 4/0's with the drags hammered down. In the frenzy, four times we reeled up heads, squid with tails missing, and squids with bite marks. We concluded that they were eating each other. We filled the boat and kill sacks to the brim and were back in the slip by 10:00 p.m. to go back out to Todos Santos Norte at 0500 for 4 barracuda and then back out to the Bank for some reds. We took the squid, the barracuda and the reds to Bahia de Mariscos Ensenada and had a fabulous dinner. My written article will advise you on how to find them, where to find them, and how to catch them. The little light jigs they sell in tackle shops won't cut it, you need the jigs I reported on and use each time. Also important is how to rig them. Best of luck, we can't wait to get back out there in 2 weeks. Steve Ross/Bad Dog....San Diego and Marina Coral.

Stuart · Mar-09-2006, 04:38 PM

The Humboldts are definitely extending their range. We caught them in Puerto Penasco this year. Middle of the day, on the surface. When I checked my fishfinder, I couldn't believe the sheer immensity of the biomass down below us. What we were catching on the surface was just the tiny tip of the massive squid iceberg below.

I didn't have any BIG squid jigs, so we just wire-leadered a couple of Tady's that had treble hooks and were able to hook as many as we wanted. It was funny to watch the cannabilistic bastards come in and attack the one you had hooked up! Sometimes, you'd be fighting three squid at once! They make a real mess of your boat!

I cut 6" wide strips, about a foot long, tapering down to a point out of them. Put that on a 14/0 circle hook and dropped it down to the bottom. Instant bendo! BSB and WSB. They couldn't seem to get enough of that fresh squid and were hitting on it better than the live macks.

But alas, I too have been unable to ever catch any small live squid for bait in the Cortez. Lots of sardines and macks, but not the candy little squirters.

longrod · Mar-10-2006, 04:32 PM

Go to www.candycatchers.com Have jigs for catching california market squid and two big ones for the big humboldts. Quality on these jigs is outstanding. Have a few of the classic jigs and everything they use to put them together is top quality.