6 Jan 2013 Humbolt Squid trip
 

I headed out tonight for the squid despite the forecast for nasty weather. All I could think about was the previous two nights numbers on the squid. I took my pinhead head seeker rod( big mistake) bc he had my biggest reel on it. I was in for a little surprise when we first got there when they were telling everyone to completely empty their spools. We were fishing in over 1000' of water. I dumped out over 1200' of line and still did not hit the bottom. I was the first guy to hook up and of course it had to happen when I had 1000' of line out, :shot:... It took a few minutes, but managed to get it all the way up to the top. The deck hand went to gaff it for me and dropped it half way up. This was how my night started. The kid ended dropping my first 5 squid :ahhhhh:, and he was doing the same to everyone else's squid. I was a lil flustered :banghead, so I just started slinging them over myself. I ended going 20/21 slinging over the side myself. It was a little bit of a slow night though, hardly anyone was catching them. Did not help that 5 or 6 people were sicker than a dog. Half way through the trip over half the people were sitting out. The last 30-45min only 6 of us were even fishing. Oh, we only fished for like 2 1/2hrs. We left around 4:15pm and were back by 8:00ish, we floated in place for about 20min so they could finish cleaning. So not a whole lot of fishing. Oh, did I mention it rained, more like poured! Plus the 10' swells was what was kicking everyone's butts and the wind. Luckily I had my little friend with me for a back up plan, dramamine, :the_finger:, to everyone else who was doing this with one another :boxing_smiley:!!! I got to the point were I was just shaking the squid off at the side of the boat till I got in trouble, they told me to keep them so they could give to everyone else who wasn't catching anything or was sick. "KINDA" felt bad for them :(... None the less it was a fun, crazy, and shitty trip all at the same time. The squid that I kept were about 8lb-10lb average. Almost all squid being caught were around an 8lb average....


*** Here is a tip***
I brought the squid home to clean myself. I watched them do it and looked easy. Took maybe 2min a squid at my house, for the part they were doing. Once I got the steaks in the kitchen I noticed a couple of things extra to do. Here are a couple pictures and hope that it helps you out if you do catch big squid and take them home. remove anything shinny. There is a real tough but really thin white piece of film implanted on the top under the skin. Pinch it with your finger nails on the corner to get it started so that you can pull it away. Then on the belly side, there is a very very thin coat as well. It is a lot harder to take off the the top. Once you take both of them off you will end up with a off white piece of meat that is actually pretty tender and you loose the smell once you remove those two extra parts. The deck hands on the boat did not tell anyone to do so once they get home.

I hope that helps out a little bit.















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-----So the big squid are in town and was thinking of going out and having a little fun. I saw where the party boats started night trips last for them and want to get the wife out for some action. Has anyone caught any big ones, not little guys? How hard do they fight or would it be a waist of time? I see it as a good way to get some calamari and load up on ground fish bait for the yr. any and all feed back would be much appreciated. I would think a big one would have a little spunk to them.----

I also woukd like to go and get in on some squid action. Are they in la jolla, if so what area?

I think so, not sure. I'm just going to go on a party boat with my wife and let the deck hands mess with them. Keep my hands clean for once!

I have been trying to go out fishing for these for the last 6 years. If there still around come Monday night I'm going to go out.

Ya they fight! If they are in thick you end up pulling in more than one because they grab each other and try to eat each other. They taste pretty good but are very messy. Has anyone caught them in la jolla recently? I hope they aren't here....

I wanna go! get a squid rig and put a 4-6oz weight on the bottom and drop it down. yo-yo it like an iron

Its probably not a good idea to mess with one on a kayak. Their beaks could easily mutilate your hand if not careful and as long as their bodies touch water they can keep pulling their way down deeper. Its also probably not a good idea to put any part of your body around you in the feeding frenzy that follows any catch.

It's a blast I recomend everybody try it at least once,it can feel like a 30-40lb fish with out running up and down the boat.It almost looks like something out of a science fiction movie to see them coming up from the bottom.I would wear some rain gear because they squirt water and ink when they come up and you can easily get wet from the from the guy's catching next to you, it's pretty exciting the first time you go.

The first boat took out 8 guys last night and they boated 140 good size ones. I'm thinking of going out tomorrow for sure.... Thanks for all the feedback.

Il be out tomorrow night!

Wish I could go tomorrow night. I have work at 3am Monday... I'll go Monday night though!

Is it true that they need to be prepped to remove the urea? My friend told me that the smell of the meat reminded him of a kitty litter box. I want to go, but I won't harvest if I can't eat the dang critters.

Hmm only took my kayak out to la jolla once so far but this sounds exciting to do on a kayak, the danger and difficulty factor intrigue me. Thinking about heading out tomorrow night

There great for calamari but i heard :bigear: there the worst thing to us for bait, something about the scent they put off scares the fish away.??

Doesn't work for Bait
 

He's right. They catch scent of the red devil , and flee for there life. As far as catching them, I went on party boat and tried it. Won't do it it again. They are heavy and will put a bend in rod , but it is not the same as catching a fish. Can't tell you what they taste like , I couldnt figure how to properly prepare it. Tight lines.

I don't know about all that.... That is all I used this past season for ground fish was strips of humbolt and I had very very productive yr of very nice size rocks. Either your just guessing or your were fishing in the wrong places at the wrong time. I even had some goats and white fish in the mix. Also the sand bass tore them up. I just cut them into strips and pin them onto lucanus jigs. The whole reason I started using humbolt was bc they were a lot thicker and lasted throw a few fish vs one fish

Last year I fished for them using a trap-rig and dead sardines. Cast it out and let them latch on and chew on the dead bait a while. Pump the tip, set the hook(s) and you'll hook em enough to get them to the side of the yak for a gaff.

what you do after that is your choice they squirm around a lot.

Bait up and repeat.

i asked this question on another forum last week.. i got zero replies... but i'll let you know what i know.

1. using big squid jigs is awesome. (use a glow stick too.. it attracts them)
2. the squid are hanging out from dana point to newport. maybe higher up
3. the squid are random. one day will be dead. the next day will be WFO.
4. dana wharf landing got a few last night.

They're Back!
 

Seaforth Sportfishing Update for Jan 05, 2013 at 5:49 PM
Game On with the Giant Humboldt Squid!

The New Seaforth with 59 anglers has already put 700 Giant Humboldt Squid on the boat, it's as good as it gets. These trips depart at 4pm aboard the New Seaforth. Make sure to bring at least 40# test line, a 4/0 or larger sized reel and of course a squid jig or two.:eek:

Told ya so!!!