We took a fishing boat out to sea in Orange County, but not to catch fish. We caught calamari! Well, not quite, it’s before the batter and the deep-fryer. Humboldt squid are an inconsistent catch in Southern California because they just don’t show up some years. Well, this year they showed up and were quite tasty. Be prepared to get dirty as they shoot ink everywhere with the boat’s deck usually black by the time your headed back into the harbor. Some people even wear trash bags over there bodies with arm holes cutout to avoid the spray. Here’s 5 things you didn’t know about squid fishing.
1. Squids are territorial
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Squid are very territorial and will attack practically anything, which is why you can catch them on those stupid looking glow jigs. When they are around, they are usually a wide open, non-stop action style catching with every drop of your lure resulting in a squid on the deck.
2. Dangerous catch
Squid fishing is considered the most dangerous of recreational local fishing from the risk of the heavy jigs flying into people’s faces.
3. Bigger isn’t better
As a general rule, the bigger the squids are the worse they taste.
4. Strict handling
The city of Newport is very strict on the handling of squid and will not allow any uncleaned/un-bagged squid into the harbor. So sport-fishing boats spend hours outside of the harbor cutting them up before they head in.
5. They can get huge
They can get up to 100 lbs. in size and 6 ft. in length. This year, sport-fishing boats reported them to be 5 – 20 lbs. in the Orange County area.
Squid fishing the video!
Video produced by Stan Lee