Squidding 15 to 30-pound Humboldt or Jumbo Squid
The Santa Ana abated all day while we fished three to five miles off Oceanside aboard the Electra with skipper Justin Hassel on the Thursday ten to three half-day run. I was out there with cameraman Paul Sweeney to record the phenomenal run of squid that’s been the talk of the south coast for a couple of weeks. We left the harbor in 20-mile an hour gusts from the northeast.
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The wind made us drift too fast at times, maybe. But it wasn’t long after we started fishing in about 50 fathoms that Steve Mattison of Chula Vista hung the first squid, on a rental outfit. It took him about ten minutes of steady reeling to get the huffy squirt up to gaff, where deckhand Nacho Camarena did the honors. Over three feet long, it looked to weigh about 18 pounds.
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“We’ve seen ‘em a lot bigger,” said skipper Justin. “We’ve been getting some at night up to 50 pounds or more, and I’ve heard about some up to 80 pounds.”
We couldn’t get the anchor to hold there, so we moved on and tried drifting for the squid. Most were fishing with medium-size glow squid jig and a ten-ounce torpedo sinker, and several anglers had added trap hooks of one sort or another. At least a couple were hanging sardines on single trap hooks mounted aft. Some anglers were fishing with heavy iron jigs, and there a heavy weighted plastic swim bait in the array as well.
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When the wind died down we got a dozen or more big “squish” on one good drift. We hit the thousand-foot zone at the end, the skipper said. During previous days the boat had done 100 or more during the afternoon.
Skipper Justin came down to the bow early on, dropped over his custom jig, with half a dozen sets of wires along its foot and a half length, and hung a squid on the drop at about 80 feet. I got down there too, but no dice.
Squid this large can pull line off a reel against the drag pressure. I watched Corey Turpin of Irvine work up a light sweat on a squid big enough to eat a small dog. He fished with 60-pound line and a two speed reel. He liked the two-speed, he said, because it helped him put a strong, steady pressure on the squid. Later he won the jackpot for that critter of about 25 pounds. Heck, I don’t know; maybe it weighed 30 pounds. It was big.
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John Standefer of Carlsbad has been a regular on the Electra for many seasons, and he got his big squid on a heavy white iron jig. He posed with deckhand and gaffer Glenn French. Thomas Payne, a Marine at Camp Pendleton, hung one just about the moment I put a camera in his face, but it slipped off before he could get it to gaff.
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There wasn’t much life showing where we were fishing. The water was discolored a muddy green from the nearby river mouth. Not many birds were around, though I did see a trio of shearwaters pass by, and there was a whale sighting. Bright and sunny, it was a good day to be out on the water, looking at the white Gregornio peaks and San Jacinto and green Mt. Palomar in the powder blue distance.
It’s not usual to fish for jumbo squid in the daytime. They’re thicker than flies, said skipper Hassel, and he’s recently seen them come right up to squirt or jump out of the water. Twilight trips have been very successful, as you’d expect. How long they’ll stay is anyone’s guess, he says, but squid still seem to be building in numbers off Oceanside. He showed me how they show up on his fish finder; strings of little blue dots. They get a lot thicker than that, he said.
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Squid cleaning was performed by the deckhands on the way home. They skinned the beasts on both sides of the body fillets. The meat looks snowy white, clean as a whistle, and it tastes as good as it looks. The jumbo squid has a mild, pleasant and un-fishy flavor.
I like it pounded lightly, and quickly pan-fried after it’s breaded. Some fresh lime on the side, a little salt and pepper to suit your taste will finish it. Don’t overcook squid, or it can be hard to chew, as it will be if you don’t remove those membranes on each side of the meat.
20 Cows Arrive
Red Rooster III docked under John Grabowski’s hand at Lee Palm Sportfishers and H&M Landing February 4, after a fine trip to the Hurricane Bank of 15 days with 18 anglers.
“I’ve seen it this good before,” said Grabowski, “but not better. At times we had 10 or 12 going. So many big fish going so long makes it hard to keep up with ‘em.
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“Mostly it was a morning bite,” he continued, “and the best bait may have been chunks, though the kite worked well with squid or puffer baits. I’d say chunks were best for the big ones. They also bit on the balloon, used as a bobber with 100-pound line. The problem with that is it’s pulling back when the fish comes up to take the bait. We had 80-degree water and a Northwest current.
“”We also had some good winter fishing at Benitos, on yellowtail and calico bass out of the skiffs. We released all the calicos except for one meal.”
Rich Rose of Manhattan Beach had the hot hand, with four cows to his credit, including the jackpot winner, a 246-pounder, his best fish ever. He also had fish of 206 and 200.5, with another that was weighed at over 200 pounds that went missing from the scales area. He said he fished with 11/0 Mustad hooks, 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 50 SW reel and a Calstar 760 rod.
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Art Green, Newport CPA, was second, for a 224-pounder he bagged in a hour with a mackerel on a 16/0 Mustad hook, 130-pound Maxima line and 130-pound Spectra backing on an Accurate 80 reel and a seeker 6463 XXXXH rod.
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Fishing with his daughter Susan, Bob Michener of Oxnard won third place for a 218 and a 206.5-pound tuna. He fished a sardine on a Mustad circle hook in the 9/0 size, with 100-pound Izorline and 130-pound Spectra on an Accurate 50 reel and a Calstar 760M rod. He fought his fish for 45 minutes.
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Jay Robinson of Manhattan Beach and 976 TUNA had a 216 and a 200.1-pounder. He fished sardines on 5/0 Super Mutu ringed hooks on 80-pound Soft Steel line and a Sheets-modified Penn 20 reel and a Seeker 6463 XXXH rod.
Seeker rep Brian Porter got a tuna that Grabowski weighed at 202.2 pounds.
David Hull of Charlotte, NC got his first cow and his second. They weighed 206 and 210.6 pounds. He fished squid under the kite with the boat’s kite rig: 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Spectra backing on an Accurate 80 reel and a “rail rod,” a Seeker 6463 XXXXH rod.
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Susan Michener of Oxnard had a 202.3 and a 200-pounder, caught with sardines on 10/0 Mustad hooks, with 100-pound Izorline on an Accurate 50 reel and a Calstar 760M rod. One of the fish was tougher, she said, since she had to get into the skiff on a less-than-placid ocean.
Ed Scheenstra had the best fish, a 258-pound yellowfin, but he got some help from second skipper Julio Ochoa and Chef Jorge Nicifore. The bait was squid, the hook a 12/0 Super Mutu, the line was 130-pound Izorline and 130-pound Spectra backing, his reel was an Accurate 50 and the rod a Seeker 6463 XXXXH. He also had a 211.7-pounder.
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Don Rolstad of Bonita took and hour and ten minutes to deck a 217.7-pounder; not a bad feat for a 77-year-old. His kited squid hung on a 12/0 Eagle Claw hook tied to 130-pound Izorline, 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 50 SW reel and a Calstar 655 XXH rod.
Roger Nichols of La Costa, a long-time Red Rooster rider, found a 215.4-pounder.
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Glenn Kerr of Fountain Valley (Glenn’s Auto Alignment in Orange) fished squid on the kite with a 10/0 Mustad 7691 hook on 130-pound P-Line and 130-pound Spectra backing on a Penn 70 reel and a GRUSA Trident rod, and took tuna of 230 and 208 pounds his first cows.
Three of the Rooster’s tuna weighed 199 pounds.
The next boats scheduled to arrive in San Diego with cow tuna are the Excel, on February 9, and the Royal Polaris, due at Fisherman’s Landing Thursday, February 10.