Squid: taking on the tigers

BRISBANE Spero Kartanos

Squid fishing and eating has become a real trend over the last 20 years in Australia. Back in the late 50s and 60s, European immigrants (like my parents) started catching them as soon as they arrived in Australia,

A selection of the author’s jigs. A tiger squid comes to the surface.

but now it’s a pastime that everyone is enjoying along the Australian coast.

In this article, I’ll discuss

All rigged up and ready to go.

which gear I use on our local tiger squid, and where we find them in Moreton Bay every year.

TIGER COUNTRY

The most common squid species caught in Moreton Bay in summer is the tiger squid. Their run starts around December, and they become prolific as temperatures rise, all through summer and into autumn. Tiger squid like grassy weed beds interspersed with patches of sand, and they prefer clean, clear water. I catch most of my tigers in depths of 5-15ft (1.5-4.5m). I like to fish an hour either side of the tide change, ideally at dawn and dusk. But when they’re on they’re on all day.

You can find tiger squid in Rous channel, the small boat channel, all the weed banks on the western side of Moreton and Stradbroke islands – pretty much anywhere where whiting or small fish are. At Days Gutter and Amity, the squid seem to be there all year round. Green Island normally fires up too, as do the foreshore and jetties, also in summer.

Arrow squid can also

be found in these areas, but this species isn’t as plentiful in summer as it is in winter. I’ll talk about targeting arrow

squid in a future article.

The average size of tiger squid in the bay is around 15cm body length, but every year we get a few bigger specimens in the mix, sometimes as large as 35cm.

Now let’s take a look at what gear to use. TACKLE

In the early days we made our own squid jigs, similar to the modern squid spikes/ skewers, designed to hold bait. Most of the time we’d put a pilchard or a garfish on the shaft or just wrap on some white material – anything to attract the squid’s attention. We would fish our DIY jigs on a handline or a bamboo cane with the line tied to the end, and we caught plenty.

These days things have gone to a new level with all

the Japanese prawn imitation squid jigs (egi), available in hundreds of shapes and colours. As anglers we seem to buy all the colours of the rainbow, and sometimes we’ll look at our tackle box and can’t believe all the different sizes and colours we’ve amassed!

There’s also a multitude of squid rods available. I like to use light rods around 2-8lb that are fairly whippy. Any of my whiting rods work for me. I rig my jigs on 10-12lb green monofilament line.

Prawn pattern jigs seem to be the most effective options locally, and the only size I

use for this species is 3.5. Orange/brown and pink/red patterns seem to work most of the time on sunny days. I have also had good results on pilchard patterns (grey/blue) and whiting colours (light brown/tan with green eyes). On cloudy days I use darker patterns, such as dark brown or dark green. Tiger squid are not a night-time target, unlike some other squid species.

The technique is easy: just

cast and retrieve slowly with a stop-start action. Your pauses should be about 3-5 seconds. When a squid grabs your jig, keep the rod bent and slowly and steadily bring it to the net. This approach is easy and it’s fun to watch the squid approaching your jig.

If you see a squid following your jig but not hitting it, give it a few little twitches, let it go down a little, and wait. In my experience, 99 times out of 100 they will take it.

The most common mistake I see people making with squid is giving up too quickly. Patience and perseverance are key to bringing home a tasty feed.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

After you have netted your squid (I use a small, longhanded net), you’ll want to hold it up out of the water for a while so that the water can drain out of the squid’s body. If a squid has no water to blend with its concentrated ink, it can’t squirt you. This approach is very effective, although it

isn’t foolproof. Sooner or later you will get inked!

Once you have brought your squid home, there’s a multitude of ways to cook it. You can BBQ them and add them to salads, add them to pasta or paella, or cook them in a curry. My favourite way to cook a squid, however, is tempura style. If you take care not to overcook it, it can’t be beat.

I hope this article has given you some good tips for catching tigers this summer. I hope you all get inked as that means squid are coming aboard the boat!

They say ‘fresh is best’, but this might be taking it a bit too far!

A typical Moreton Bay tiger. Hold the squid over the side to help the water drain out of it.

A 50-year-old wooden squid spike with soldered hooks, made by the author’s dad. Squid gear has evolved a lot since then.