While kayak squidding, I have not found associations between squid and surface action of other animals (birds/marine mammals, etc) or surface indicators like currents/weed lines/rips/upwelling, etc. In southern California you can often see rafting sea lions over very dense areas of spawning market squid, but still rely on a fish finder. Yes, you may see an auklet or a seal or sea lion in the area, however that will not determine where you decide to drop your squid jigs. In that sense daytime squidding is pretty different to fishing for salmon.
I have been kayak fishing in WA for over 25 years, mainly chasing birds, baitballs, jumping fish, or surface indicators of potential salmon presence to jig, spinning cast or fly fish for with enough succes to keep on doing it. Only added a fish finder maybe 7 years ago to my kayaks and that opened up other posibilities, like daytime squidding, other finfishes, but I still mainly chase surface signs for salmon.
Most squid marks you see in the fishfinder during the day are at or very close to the bottom, they can be suspended but either way they move fast so you use your fish finder to decide when to drop jigs and when to start searching for a new school. Baitfish are also deepdown on the finder. You also use other kayaks near you to see where the school is moving by keeping track of who is catching and who is not. In fact, other than having a fish finder the best indicator of squid in an area is other boats squidding. People tend to be friendly when squidding on the water, particularly among fellow kayak fishers, so you could introduce yourself and follow a group catching squid. Just stay away from anchored power boats (you may snagg your jigs on their anchor line, don't ask me how I know) or drifting power boats (oftentimes clueless about a smaller vessel near them). Jigging at night from a pier is a whole different animal, social dynamics can get intense about who has a light, who is where or near who, who knows who and allows or invite someone else close to the hot spots or near their lights. On the water is definitely a collaborative group effort. Happy to provide tips or resources on how to set up a kayak fish finder if you decide to go down that route.
. Keep fishing, eventually it just becomes a permanent callous. I’m a desk jockey by trade so I have “city hands” as Captain Quint says. During the height of coho season, my hands start to look like I might actually work for a living thanks to salty fly lines. The tape and reusable finger sleeves do work well.
...ends up getting a SRC but misses out on some classic surface topwater disarticulated pumpkin action....
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