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Squid city central
  |  First Published: July 2017



We are well into winter and, boy, the calamari have decided that this is their time to shine. The amount of squid reports over the last month has been nothing short of insane! They really provide a legitimate target when everything else winds down for the cooler months.

THE OTHER SPECIES

Before I get to all of the squid spots, it’s worth mentioning a few of the other species still finding their way to a few of our baits.

The gummies continue to bite fairly well but we have noticed the size drop off just a tad. There are loads of fish up around Bouchier and Boultons Channel but it can be frustrating at times wading through undersized fish to get a keeper. It is worth sitting it out but I would go easy on the berley and fish slightly bigger baits. Nice chunks of trevally or a nice fat fillet of salmon will hold long enough through the pickers to hopefully tempt one of the bigger fish.

The odd snapper continue to show their bumpy heads but big fish at this time of year tend to be by-catch to those targeting the gummies, we will certainly still claim them though! Andrew Ketelaar was sitting out the front of Boultons and stumbled across one if these big winter reds. Andrew sat through the run-out tide and on a fresh piece of couta ended up with a massive snapper that weighed in at 7.5kg! Lovely work Andrew!

The whiting still continue to switch on and off like a light but the most consistent reports are coming from the Middle Spit. Plenty of moves and plenty of berley is a must but the rewards are still there. Squid strips are working well and you can’t go whiting fishing without pipis!

One of the more interesting captures of the month goes to Trent Dickinson. While fishing in 13m of water out from Warneet for gummies he did end up with quite an unusual capture for this depth of water. A massive 3.5kg cuttlefish took a liking to one of the gummy baits and for those who have never seen a cuttlefish, they are insane, especially at that size.

CALAMARI

Squid are everywhere! It’s like someone found the great squid switch and smashed the hell out of it!

Pat Ellaby out in some hours on the Quail Bank and dominated. Not only did he find the squid but also managed a cuttlefish on the jigs as well. The bigger squid were nudging 45cm in hood length and there were plenty of that size around.

The charter boats have been up on the Tyabb Bank and they may as well change it to ‘Cephalopod Bank’. Shaun Furtiere has been smashing it and he has found any jig with a red foil has out fished the rest.

Hastings has been the other hotspot for the calamari. Local gun, Kye, set up a nice drift in 2m of water and no drama at all catching himself a feed of Western Port’s finest squid rings and Kane Zienkiewicz headed out from Hastings in order to catch his first squid ever! Kane, with a little bit of local advice from the boys at Tackle World Cranbourne, not only managed to catch his very first calamari, he ended catching his first eight calamari! Well done Kane, it’s always a wicked feeling nailing a few on the first crack, well done mate!

I get asked a lot about what colour squid jigs to use and there is a very simple philosophy behind it. In murky, dark water and low light conditions, tie on your darker jigs. Black, red foil, purple etc. These colours create a great contrast in darker conditions and make it very easy for the squid to identify them in the discoloured water.

On the clear days with cleaner, crystal clear water it’s time to tie on the transparent, natural colours. White, gold foil and pink are the standouts and they are the sort of colours that I would be tying on first. Of course there always exceptions to the rule but this will definitely point you in the right direction to get started.

Thank you all for the reports and even though it’s getting very cold there are still plenty of fishing options throughout the top end of the port.

Keep the reports coming and good luck on the next trip!

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