Does anyone know when and where to go squidding on the Olympic Peninsula? I'd heard there are a couple of spawning seasons that are the best times to fish for them. So when do they usually spawn? And are the glow-in-the-dark lures the only legal method that works?

Port Angeles City Pier is supposed to turn out some squid. I've heard that the time share place on Discovery Bay might also have some squidding opportunities, but I think you have to be a member to access their dock/float. John Wayne Marina might also be a place to look.

It is my understanding that squidding seems to move from West to East through the Straits and into Puget Sound.

A couple of sites to look at for gear information:

http://www.squidfish.net/

http://www.squidfish.net/tantalizingsquid.shtml

Trying to scrounge up some information so you can do a write up on it, and pretend like you know what you're talking about, just like every other twice weekly column you write in the PDN, Schubert?

Whoa.

Isn't squidding a late fall/winter fishery? At least that what I'm used to hearing from the folks that do it.

What's up NOFISH, you think it summer around here? Looks and feels like winter to me!

Thanks for the links.

Way to go Dave, now there's going to be 30 people fishing the Elwah for squid this weekend

From what I've experienced, you can catch 'em when they're a lot smaller as they are moving through the Straits in the summer and early fall...I've caught them in PA in August.

By the time they get here in inner Puget Sound it's usually November before the numbers start showing, and then they are getting bigger and bigger through the peak around the first of the year.

There are resident squid all over, too, but the real numbers are the migratory schools that come from the ocean.

Fish on...

Todd

There were squid in kingston last night.

Thats a fresh report

I am not sure about the hook beak squid you refer to.

But I have caught squid that were close to 20lbs. They were pretty agressive. The problem we were having was the squid jigs we had would pull out.

Ended up attaching a heavy treble hook, under the squid jig.

A squid of that size pulls pretty good on a steelhead rod.

This year seems to be pretty slow, and I haven't been out at all. I usually get out a couple times per week in the winter.

KK, if you can manage to stand around, drink beer, and get natural endorphin rushes (non-exercise induced) with Vedder, then you're welcome to join us next winter...it ain't exactly rocket science.

Fish on...

Todd

Where you get these giants?
Does anyone know if there are any large squids around the halibut holes?
I also wanted to try something different after my halibut and ling limits.

Sorry, thats not a local story. I used to commercial jig fish for albies. We were about 1500 miles south of American Samoa.

Anyway, last year they were rod and reel fishing Humbolt Squid in CA. I believe they were getting some that weighed 40 lbs.

They had enought of them that charter boats were actually targeting them.
I believe it was out of Bodega Bay.

As time flies by that may have been two years ago.

Those are the Humboldt Squid...they get them out in the blue water off the coast of Oregon and Washington, too, especially during El Nino years...

The little dudes around here are about six inches long out in the Straits, and they get up to about fourteen inches long by the time they've eaten all fall on their way here...I've caught them as big as seventeen or eighteen inches long, but most are in the ten to 14 inch range.

Nothing like a 20 pound Humboldt, but from what I hear the Humboldts aren't all that great to eat, at least compared to the little Pacific Squid.

Fish on...

Todd

I love the little ones, the big ones are fun to catch but I didn't enjoy eating them.

Squid setup is easy...

All those really long, really lame spinning rigs that people think are good for steelhead fishing? Yeah...great squid rods.

I wouldn't blow the change for a GL3 1141s just for a squid rod, but if I had already bought one, I'd take it squid fishing.

I use a cheap noodle rod, 20# braid, and I have a bunch of jigs that I make myself.

Stuffed mantles are good, but the work involved is pretty extensive for not much return, in my opinion...regular deep fried, OK, I guess, but not all that great...better if fried in tempura.

Sauteed with vegetables and put over rice, or with a white sauce over noodles...yeah, now yer talkin'!

Far more expensive than my squid rod/reel are my halogen lights, cords, and generators fer gettin' 'em in...but they have multiple uses, so the household was happy to buy 'em for me...or, at least, my household did indeed buy 'em for me, and I haven't heard any complaints about it.

Fish on...

Todd

Sorry for that little schubert, Schubert... I'll no longer be a bad man... They made the bad man go away




My dog actually hacked into my account AND broke into my liqour stash... He's a bad dog...

I've never tried squid jigging.

There are many places to go squid fishing. The squid are there year round! These are teh "market squid" verses the Humbolt. Winter is when most people squid fish. You want the dark since the squid use sight as the main mode of hunting. The glow jigs are best, Juicy Jigs are the World's best! (disclaimer, I own the company) It is an easy sport. Any rod and reel works. The key is a light source at night. People squid fish duri8ng the day in Bremerton in summer and do very well. Juicyjigs.com has info on how to squid fish, rig the squids etc. They are a pretty cool animal. Easy to catch but it does take some time to learn the "strike" of a squid. I've had a 10 year old catch a squid 15 minutes after first starting. They school so when there is one, there are others!

Happy Squid Fishing!