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| Subject: Jumbo"giant" squid fishing out of Dana | |
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Author: Jim Day |
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Date Posted: 1029391282PDT |
 | Short form: Norm and I took my skiff down to Dana. Fished from around ten or eleven to one am. Pretty much wide open from the time we turned on the lights until we left. Location: 2 miles south of Dana Point Harbor Long version: Norms taken me on a lot of trips so I've tried to get him on my boat for a a while. I figured the squid run was the perfect opportunity. For one thing they're close and the other I've got a killer light setup with twin 250 watt metal halides. With something like 40,000 candle power a piece I'm brighter then a sportboat out there. We got a late start due to traffic and a slight wiring problem. http://www.momentoffame.com/snapshot.html?id=18614 Norm had us on the road in no time. Got Down to Dana between ten and eleven, I didn't really check. There were a few boats out, a large group off the point and a few toward the south. Since it was a smoother ride and I don't like crowds I headed south. About a mile or two out (I didn't check) turned on the meter and it went all pepperoni pizza. From sixty to the surface it was a swirly mix of yellow with red dots evenly spaced through it. I've never seen a mark quite like it. (wish I'd taken a pic) I shut down, hung the lights and up they came. Norm saw them first about twenty blowing through the lights, then I saw some on my side. It's hard to explain how surreal they look in the lights. They change color constantly and glide through the water in a rapid fluid motion. It was common for one to shoot up to your jig out of nowhere, reach out and just touch it with it's long tentacles, only to shoot away again the next second. other times they grabbed it and dropped it or just plain impaled themselves on it. With my lights we could see about twenty feet down, there was almost always some squid in view, quite the show. I tried to take some non flash photos to get the feel of it but they came out pretty blurred. This ones about the best. Under the lights they looked silver with shades or flashes of orange, with the flash you lost the depth and they came out red. Still very cool. Some came out dim others really really bright. Though there was no wind but a ripping current heading NW. Though it seemed dead, we were actually moving pretty fast. After a while we went out too deep and the bite slowed down. I checked the GPS and we headed back down to the original spot. They were still there but it was getting late. Norm and I had to work in the morning. I hung the last one five to one am, and it turned out to be the biggest of the evening around ten pounds. Here it is all lit up. We packed it in pulled the lights and set them on the deck. Our total was 22 but we had a lot more then that on. Everything we tried worked but some things worked even better then others. I found the best way to catch them on iron was drop it down below the marks, then reel it up fast. Just below the surface I'd stop and wait. Of the ten or so squid that would follow it up one would usually grab it. They'd all sit there for a split second then one would jump on it before the others could. I got most of mine on top but also picked up some deeper on a glow scampi. They really liked the scampi but would hold it and try to eat it rather then hook up. By the end of the trip it looked like Red Drums triggers had been at it. Here's the jigs that worked for me. Norm was using squid jigs and his hookup ratio was better but I got a lot more hits, so I'd say apples to oranges. Basically anything you put down there is going to get them. Tackle wise you don't need anything that spectacular. One thing I did notice is that if you put too much pressure on them the hook would always pull. Guys advocating forty and fifty don't know what they are taking about. Twenty to twenty-five pound is fine. Anything over that and you'll be tempted to rip out the hooks. Another good trick is pull them half out of the water and let them spout a few times. They run out of water so they can't spray you once on board. I saw Norm get nailed good on his first one and developed this trick almost right away. I think I told him eventually With them squirting outside we ended the night with a fairly clean boat which was definitely a plus. I've heard that you don't need light but I think ours made a huge difference. When we switched on the lights you could literally see the squid come up on the meter. They stayed pretty solid most of the evening just below the lights but when you'd dropped down you could see them come up for the baits on the meter. We met some guys who did well following the sport boats but I'd say take your own lights.
It's good too. I've already eaten a whole four pound squid in a day, That's tentacles and all...LOL
Tight lines Jim |
