Re: When to fish squid?

Posted by Jonny King on 2012-03-16 15:15:19 in reply to When to fish squid? posted by Phil Brna on 2012-03-15 14:26:30

Phil -- I fish squid patterns a lot, and, like some others have said, I believe fish eat them quite a bit more than we realize. There are obvious times, like stripers crashing squid in the rips, where you'll see them, but I've also caught many stripers and blues that have coughed up squid or pieces of squid where and when I'd never expect them. A couple of years ago a Montauk in the fall, while albie fishing, squid themselves kept taking swipes at my albie fly, and there weren't supposed to be any squid around at that time of year. The thing is that you often don't see the squid, either because they are deep or nocturnal, but they are favorites of lots of fish. They do inhabit shallow waters and swim near the surface too. Also, although I didn't fish them in Baja, I've tied them for Baja fisherman who've done well on them for various species too. I fish them in rips from a boat, on the beach, in outflows, and all kinds of places. And I will say that they tend to catch biggish fish. I've never caught a dinky striper on a squid fly -- they are always nicer fish relative to what else is around at that time, regardless of whether there's any obvious "squid run." They are also incredibly fascinating animals that change colors in an instant, swim forwards and backwards, and are apparently the most intelligent invertebrates around. So, while I wouldn't toss them on a skinny flat, I'd have no trouble fishing them in any kind of structure anywhere. They can hover but can also burst with incredible speed. Here in the East, we mostly see Longfin Squid, but many squid are similar in makeup. They tend to be about 2/3 body or "mantle," and 1/3 tentacles, with a huge set of eyes on the head. It's the tentacles and teh swimfins up front that move, whereas the mantle is relatively stiff (it has an internal "shell" call a pen that makes it fairly rigid). I make them out of bucktail -- Hollow Fleye or Bucktail Deceiver Style -- or like Kinky Muddlers or with other synthetics, and they've all been great to fish with. So go for it!!! I bet your Alaskan salmonids will slay a saltwater style squid fly.

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