Puget Sound

Kfish said:
I’m new to squid fishing myself and have learned this is what squid looks like on sonar. A big school shows up as horizontal stripes near the bottom, this is a bad picture but you get the idea.

View attachment 173164

I use 3 jigs with he heaviest on the bottom, about a foot of 40lb mono in between them and half ounce sinker below the bottom jig.
You drop it to the bottom, give it a couple cranks up and start jigging. When squid hit there is a slight tug or heaviness to it, reel it up and let it squirt out all its water and ink before you drop it in the bucket.

Where do you guys get the mesh basket from? I’m using just a small ace hardware bucket.
Unlike with fishing, with squid you do want to group up with the crowd :) and when it slows you can spread out to find that next school.
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Sportco or Outdoor Emporium should have the bucket/ basket combo.
 
Burt Dagger said:
You’ve got my full attention, honestly! I’ve started going down the internet rabbit hole and will be bopping on down to Bass Pro to get some squid jigs tomorrow.

I should probably hit a pier first to watch and learn, but on a calm morning I could see myself taking the packraft a couple hundred feet offshore and giving it a try.

Appreciate all the tips posted in this thread!
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I’d skip the Bass Pro jigs. There are a few people that usually set up tables selling jigs at Les Davis and are there pretty much every night.
 
I work downtown and will go off the piers after work if the evenings are nice. There is a surprising nuance to squid jigging and it’s always humbling when you are standing shoulder to shoulder with other people and they are pulling squid out when you aren’t. I have a UV light that I use to patch waders and it seems to help make the jigs pop.
IMG_4638.jpeg
 
Kfish said:
I’m new to squid fishing myself and have learned this is what squid looks like on sonar. A big school shows up as horizontal stripes near the bottom, this is a bad picture but you get the idea.

View attachment 173164

I use 3 jigs with he heaviest on the bottom, about a foot of 40lb mono in between them and half ounce sinker below the bottom jig.
You drop it to the bottom, give it a couple cranks up and start jigging. When squid hit there is a slight tug or heaviness to it, reel it up and let it squirt out all its water and ink before you drop it in the bucket.

Where do you guys get the mesh basket from? I’m using just a small ace hardware bucket.
Unlike with fishing, with squid you do want to group up with the crowd :) and when it slows you can spread out to find that next school.
Click to expand...

I use a similar setup, there's a 4 jig maximum allowed so if you can manage that many it's better. I use either 3 small unweighted jigs plus a weighted one on the bottom (see picture of jigs with 2 squids in one of ny previous posts), glow in the dark if possible. If fishing snaggy areas it works better to have a ball weight with maybe a foot of line after the bottom jig so you can feel the bottom without snagging. I have also used the Yo-Zuri mini squid jigs, you rig them sideways using dropper loop knots and attach a foot of line and a ball lead at the bottom, they require less jigging motion so it's good for tired shoulders. You can make your own jigs fairly easy too.

Nothing fancy required for the bucket/mesh basket. Dollar stores have them, although the wire gauge may be a bit light. I have been using half of a crayfish trap I had at home and it works.
 
SteelHeadDave said:
I’d skip the Bass Pro jigs. There are a few people that usually set up tables selling jigs at Les Davis and are there pretty much every night.
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Great to know. I already bought a few, which I suppose is good insurance in case no one happens to be there selling, but I’ll bring some cash to sample the local wares.

Planning to try Les Davis, but I might catch the incoming from 4am-6:30am to fish around high tide. Mostly because I expect fewer people will be there, and as a newbie I don’t wanna be in the way.

Those who have fished from piers without sonar aid, are you typically always letting your jig tap bottom, or are you fishing the whole column? Also, worth bringing a rope and flashlight to try and have something of my own shining on the water?
 
Burt Dagger said:
Great to know. I already bought a few, which I suppose is good insurance in case no one happens to be there selling, but I’ll bring some cash to sample the local wares.

Planning to try Les Davis, but I might catch the incoming from 4am-6:30am to fish around high tide. Mostly because I expect fewer people will be there, and as a newbie I don’t wanna be in the way.

Those who have fished from piers without sonar aid, are you typically always letting your jig tap bottom, or are you fishing the whole column? Also, worth bringing a rope and flashlight to try and have something of my own shining on the water?
Click to expand...

When I used to squid jig with my dad as a kid, we always used a lantern on a rope. There has to be way more efficient lighting options available today.
SF
 
Stonedfish said:
When I used to squid jig with my dad as a kid, we always used a lantern on a rope. There has to be way more efficient lighting options available today.
Click to expand...

Burt Dagger said:
Those who have fished from piers without sonar aid, are you typically always letting your jig tap bottom, or are you fishing the whole column? Also, worth bringing a rope and flashlight to try and have something of my own shining on the water?
Click to expand...
Back when you could squid from the Seattle Aquarium pier, a work buddy and I would hit it up before and after work when time allowed. The hardcore squidders had some elaborate systems involving work lights or big neon lights that could be attached to the railing or lowered down a bit. As for technique, I never really mastered it, but sometimes it helped to pitch the jigs out underhanded and sort of let them swing through the water column until you found a depth and distance where the school was. Dropping all the way to the bottom worked sometimes, but it was also a good way to lose jigs, catch a ratfish, limebike handlebars, etc.
 
Calibrate me here, you guys. How hard is it to catch a squid? Can a no name first timer get out there and slay them? Does it help if he’s super handsome? How long before trying a different pier?

The race to 10 lbs begins. Place your bets on fanduel now!
 
Burt Dagger said:
Calibrate me here, you guys. How hard is it to catch a squid? Can a no name first timer get out there and slay them? Does it help if he’s super handsome? How long before trying a different pier?

The race to 10 lbs begins. Place your bets on fanduel now!
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I had a coworker who lived on Alki. He saw people out there doing it so decided to try. His first time out he got 3 in the time it took the old lady next to him to fill her bucket.
 
There is certainly much technique and nuance, like all fishing. I have never caught more than 15 or so off Les Davis, though the elderly guys next to me went 10:1 on me sometimes. Even though I watch what they are doing like a hawk, I haven't figured it out. I go once or twice a year.

I have heard stories of people buying $500-1000 fly rods just for squid jigging, though I haven't seen a nice one like that out at Les Davis yet. When they are in thick on a Friday night with a good tide, it's kind of fun to see the 200+ people out there together. It's a different sort of community.
 
Tallguy said:
I have heard stories of people buying $500-1000 fly rods just for squid jigging
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Lol

I heard of people buying 1000 dollar fly rods, never knew what they used them for...
Any light action rod will work fine, most use spinning reels, some use upside down ones.
:)
 
OK, I will take another stab at it. Piers can be a zoo, it can be like walking on squid row. Most people are friendly, so if you are not catching, somebody will probably give you some squid of theirs, then when you catch some yourself you give some back, that's what squid pro quo is all about. Now if you catch your squid limit, don't be Humboldt about it and tell us all about it. Just don't take them to market as they are inkcredible to eat!
 
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BassBarbell said:
I work downtown and will go off the piers after work if the evenings are nice. There is a surprising nuance to squid jigging and it’s always humbling when you are standing shoulder to shoulder with other people and they are pulling squid out when you aren’t. I have a UV light that I use to patch waders and it seems to help make the jigs pop.
View attachment 173179
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I used my uv fly tying light too :)
 
VMP said:
OK, I will take another stab at it. Piers can be a zoo, it can be like walking on squid row. Most people are friendly, so if you are not catching, somebody will probably give you some squid of theirs, then when you catch some yourself you give some back, that's what squid pro quo is all about. Now if you catch your squid limit, don't be Humboldt about it and tell us all about it. Just don't take them to market as they are inkcredible to eat!
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Now this is way better than squidily didily!!
 
Burt Dagger said:
Calibrate me here, you guys. How hard is it to catch a squid? Can a no name first timer get out there and slay them? Does it help if he’s super handsome? How long before trying a different pier?

The race to 10 lbs begins. Place your bets on fanduel now!
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Being a Dirt Bagger incognito I would say you have a good start already:)
 
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