Re: When to fish squid?

Posted by Darian on 2012-03-15 16:38:09 in reply to When to fish squid? posted by Phil Brna on 2012-03-15 14:26:30

By no means am I an expert in this but over many years of bait fishing in SoCal while growing up and using Squid patterns at La Ventana, I've got some observations. When available, almost all of the bait boats out of SoCal try to have some Squid (Sea Arrow) mixed in with the other live bait. I've seen Albacore, Tuna, Yellowtail and White Seabass caught on Squid and I've caught Skipjack on a Squid pattern. I use the squid fly at La Ventana when nothing is visibly active at the surface and chumming hasn't brought up any fish and I'm looking for Yellowfin Tuna. A Squid pattern should work well when you're down there in May when the yellowtail are in the area. Yellowtail do seem to prefer Squid over Anchovies or sardina.... The colors of these patterns could vary from all white to shades of brown/orange/maroon. The latter combo of colors may match Humboldt Squid. Several years ago I found a bunch of small Humboldts (up to 18") swimming in inches of water next to the hotel. They were all colored as noted. Seems like that would be a good impression to try. Not sure why everyone tries to tie long tentacles (in proportion to the mantle) on these flies. In live specimens and photos I've seen, the tentacles are never more than half of the overall length of the Squid; shorter when tucked in and moving. Like Doug, I believe that anything will work when fish are jacked up but I caught Skipjack last fall on a Squid fly when nothing else was working.

Follow ups:

• Re: When to fish squid? - Phil Brna - 2012-03-15 17:01:55 (1)
  • Re: When to fish squid? - Darian - 2012-03-15 23:23:26 (0)