Gold Coast squidding sessions
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Michelle was good-humoured about a well-aimed inking.
Rikki had a fun day catching arrow squid.
ULY fishing on the Gold Coast features typical winter species including flathead, big bream, arrow and tiger squid, tailor, flounder, tuskfish and snapper just to name a few. Live yabbies, whitebait, and vibe lures all work well. Last year we saw many school mackerel take up residence for two months in the Broadwater, so let’s hope history repeats. It was around this time last year that I wrote an article on arrow squid fishing on the Gold Coast Broadwater. Since then I have studied these interesting creatures and learnt more about catching them, so I thought I’d share the extra knowledge. The more you fish for them the more obsessed you get with mastering the craft – they are so much fun to catch. Squid grow very
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Page 34 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, July 2021
Broadwater Guide by CLINT ANSELL
quickly, about 4cm a month! I release the small ones to allow them to grow bigger and breed. They only live for about a year and then they spawn and die. Squid are voracious predators and are most common here in the winter months. As mentioned previously, I catch many squid on Ecogear ZX vibes as a by-catch. I then started using squid jigs more, and now have a tackle box full of various coloured ones. It is true that you get what you pay for, and usually the better jigs catch more squid. My favourite jigs now include Ecogear Dartmax, RUI squid jigs, and Daiwa Emeraldas Nude jigs. When the squid are ravenous and plentiful, any lure will catch them. When they are harder to get that’s when the better jigs pay for themselves. Squid are colour blind, so it’s different shades and pattern that will attract their attention. They have a very strong sense of smell, so I only use a little spray of Egimax scent on my squid jigs. Put too much on and it puts them off. I spray it on the bottom end near the prongs, which results in a better hook-up rate, as they sniff and then grab it near the sharp end. Various colours work, but as with other forms
of fishing, darker and brighter shades work better early morning, late afternoon, on cloudy days, and in discoloured water. On clear and calm days and in clear water, use more natural, lighter and translucent colours. Keep mixing up jigs to find what works on the day. I just use light spinning rods with slower actions to absorb their lunges. They love hanging in drop-offs about 3-6m. A reel around 2500 spooled with PE0.6 and a metre of 10lb fluorocarbon leader is fine for fishing with squid jigs. When fishing for squid the ideal conditions are sunny with light wind, and not too much tidal flow, in water with good visibility. They can be caught anywhere there is undulating sandy, weedy or reefy bottom. My technique for catching them is quite simple. We’ll all drop our squid jigs to the bottom while drifting, then do a slow metre high lift and then drop and pause for about 30 seconds. Drifting works so well because you are covering ground and finding them, then making them chase the lures that are getting away. The other bonus is that the lures are constantly in the strike zone. Around tide changes with no wind we’ll cast and slowly retrieve the * continued P36
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