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Random Quote: Wife says " sob your half drunk again!"I say its not my fault I ran out of money.
While it looks as if the rest of the country is snowed in, we have been invaded by big Humboldt squid. These squid are 3' to 5' long and can be caught jigging with big jigs, spoons, or special squid jigs:
I hope to get out and get some; besides being strong fighters and dodging their ink, they make great bait for mako, threshers, and swordfish in the spring and summer. Plus, you never know what might be feeding on the squid when you are fishing for them
__________________ Kevin
2002 GW Sailfish 282 w/twin Yamaha 225 4-strokes
In the meantime, beachgoers were advised not to eat...them.
folks must not be too bright out there in newport beach!
What about the sand?
Didn't anyone advise them not to eat the sand either?
Come on people, Children could be hurt here. We need an Emergency Inedible Item Identification Response Team that will be alerted anytime anything new washes up on the beach. They will investigate the item and advise beachgoers if they can eat it or not.
It could cost 3-5 million per year, but if we can save just one child, I think it is worth it.
We see them here over 60 lbs regurly, and they will break 50 lb class rods. When you pull them clear of the water, be ready to do a rope a dope as these babies have a 2" ink squirter and they have had some practice shooting.
The locals just fillet of the nose piece and tentacles for eating as they are in abundance.
These squid are being caught right north of the harbor where I keep my boat.
As for being edible, I have heard that they have a strong ammonia taste and other times I have heard that they are good as calamari. Either way, they fight good and make good bait for bigger fish.
John - With regards to El Nino phenomenom, last summer and fall we saw a lot of dorado and yellowtail show up and this year, the bonito and yellowtail are still being caught off the Southern California coast; bonito have not been seen in this abundance since 2000 and big yellowtail have once again showing up. This may be due to the mild El Nino we had last year or it could be due to lack of commercial fishing pressure south of the border targeting this fish.
Some people studying the squid feel that this mass movement of them north is lack of their predators due to the overfishing of the billfish, sharks, and big tuna done by the mexican/foreign commercial longliners/gillnetters in the Sea of Cortez, Pacific side of Baja, and waters off the Pacific side of Mexico. This has enabled the squid population to explode and the squid are filling in habitats they previously could not compete in or survive in.
__________________ Kevin
2002 GW Sailfish 282 w/twin Yamaha 225 4-strokes
I saw the discovery channel dealy last night ... evidently the humboldts are special because (1) they're pretty damn big and (2) each of the suckers on their tentacles is ringed with hard, POINTY little teeth! ouch! calamari that bites back.
Rookies! After you clean them, you blanch them in almost boiling water with sugar in it. SKin peels right off. You can pound them out thin for calamari strips, or thicker for steacks. Taste GREAT. And they are big. . . . . .
200 feet of water on 50lb gear
__________________ "a doughnut is only one step above a rent rod"
Catching big squids off Southern California 
