South Coast Squishing Yarmouth Pier IOW

[Ianpick]

I went to Yarmouth Pier a couple of hours before high tide last night and had a dangle hoping for a squid or ten.

Conditions were not that good with rain forecast and 16mph westerly wind and I thought that it might keep most at home but there were probably 10 guys braving it most were bottom fishing off the end, me and a couple of others after the elusive squid.

I used a Yamashita, warm jacket type, on the bottom of the rig with a small Yo Muri, about eighteen inches above it. The Yamashita did the work. Both are essentially red with luminous eyes on the Yam and a luminous belly on the Yo.
I also used a couple of other rigs, experimental types, hoping to find something cheap and cheerful that worked as well as a £15 Yamashita. The squid were just not there so I'll be trying again some time. If they're there and competing for food it may prove my theory.

One other squid caught by the guy close by who had a lamp shining down on the water.
I fished on the edge of his pool of light and just outside it.
I'm not convinced that a light makes enough difference to warrant buying one and carting it up the pier. To truly test the hypothesis I'd have to be fishing on my own on the Pier and that is not going to happen. I'm told that casting a lure off the beach can be productive in Freshwater Bay , using just a chemi light attached to the lure. No big light, but a big moon helps.
Lots of bass hitting small fish on the surface under the lamp and a few garfish, but much smaller than on my last squishing trip.
An interesting trip, not cold and only a very short shower. The weed arrived and I packed up rather than fight it.

 

[Goateeblank]

Thanks for reporting and sharing your research.

 

[flappy]

Happy squishing..

 

[Mr Fish]

I went to Yarmouth Pier a couple of hours before high tide last night and had a dangle hoping for a squid or ten.

Conditions were not that good with rain forecast and 16mph westerly wind and I thought that it might keep most at home but there were probably 10 guys braving it most were bottom fishing off the end, me and a couple of others after the elusive squid.

I used a Yamashita, warm jacket type, on the bottom of the rig with a small Yo Muri, about eighteen inches above it. The Yamashita did the work. Both are essentially red with luminous eyes on the Yam and a luminous belly on the Yo.
I also used a couple of other rigs, experimental types, hoping to find something cheap and cheerful that worked as well as a £15 Yamashita. The squid were just not there so I'll be trying again some time. If they're there and competing for food it may prove my theory.

One other squid caught by the guy close by who had a lamp shining down on the water.
I fished on the edge of his pool of light and just outside it.
I'm not convinced that a light makes enough difference to warrant buying one and carting it up the pier. To truly test the hypothesis I'd have to be fishing on my own on the Pier and that is not going to happen. I'm told that casting a lure off the beach can be productive in Freshwater Bay , using just a chemi light attached to the lure. No big light, but a big moon helps.
Lots of bass hitting small fish on the surface under the lamp and a few garfish, but much smaller than on my last squishing trip.
An interesting trip, not cold and only a very short shower. The weed arrived and I packed up rather than fight it.

I saw once in guernsey, Portuguese anglers using floats with a light sealed inside and catching squid. They were very bright.

 

[Beach]

way back when, we used to use a light cluster dangling off the side of a cargo ship at night. Loads of small fish were attracted to the light with barracuda just under them.

 

[flappy]

way back when, we used to use a light cluster dangling off the side of a cargo ship at night. Loads of small fish were attracted to the light with barracuda just under them.

Catch many squish..?

 

[Wolf]

Good write up Ian,tight lines for next time mate

 

[Trampster]

Yep, nice report Ian. I've heard that Squid (or Squish?) are attracted to light.

Somebody I occasionally fish with had some squid jigs that light up brightly when they hit the water. I looked on eBay but they were about £7 - only £2.50 in a local tackle shop. Bought a couple but not used them yet.

 

[Beach]

Catch many squish..?

SFA comes to mind, caught a few shark and coda's though.

 

[Ianpick]

Yep, nice report Ian. I've heard that Squid (or Squish?) are attracted to light.

Somebody I occasionally fish with had some squid jigs that light up brightly when they hit the water. I looked on eBay but they were about £7 - only £2.50 in a local tackle shop. Bought a couple but not used them yet.

I think that the general consensus is that if squid are there in numbers, then competition for food becomes one of the main drivers behind wether you catch or not.
I am experimenting with different jigs, one of which is a red top off of a small permanent marker with a jig hook at each end which I've weighted with narrow stripes of lead.
I also have some small silicon prawns that I've rigged up with luminous beads.
I've tried the water activated flashing light jigs and found them to be a one trip tool and stop working quite quickly. But, a couple of decent squid for £2.50 is not a bad return.
I suppose that when a big shoal/group/gathering, (insert your own collective noun for squid here), comes along and decides to join in with my experiment I'll get a better idea. If last year is anything to go by I'll miss both days.
It's my considered opinion that lone squid tend to be more cautious when hunting perhaps grabbing their prey and "testing" it with their grabbers a little before drawing it in to the tentacles and beak. This may be why the warm jacket jigs have worked for me so far.
I know that there are Chinese people who have visited Ryde Pier en masse armed with the simplest of kit, bamboo canes and red jigs, and left with bucket loads of squid.

Squid fishing, or squishing as a friend decided it should be called, is good fun and you can go home with a good amount of bait for later use or a delicious foodstuff.
When you do land one, lay it on a hard surface and karate chop it behind the head it will instantly go white and it's death is very quick

I like to eat them and, if I get lucky enough I'm going to keep the smaller ones for bait and eat the big ones.

I've found that the heads and grabbers are not worth the trouble of preparing and eating so next time I catch an eating size squid I'll de-head and gut it on the Pier and feed the bass. Messy, but better than doing it in the kitchen sink and having to dispose of the evidence.
The popular squid ring is a bit of a nonsense as well. Cut the body down the middle, open out scrape clean , rinse and cut into one mouthful sized strips, so much easier than trying to clean a whole, intact body.
I make a batter of self raising flour, whole egg, milk, salt and loads of ready ground black pepper. I deep fry them in a small non stick saucepan rather than a deep fat fryer.

 

[Trampster]

I think that the general consensus is that if squid are there in numbers, then competition for food becomes one of the main drivers behind wether you catch or not.
I am experimenting with different jigs, one of which is a red top off of a small permanent marker with a jig hook at each end which I've weighted with narrow stripes of lead.
I also have some small silicon prawns that I've rigged up with luminous beads.
I've tried the water activated flashing light jigs and found them to be a one trip tool and stop working quite quickly. But, a couple of decent squid for £2.50 is not a bad return.
I suppose that when a big shoal/group/gathering, (insert your own collective noun for squid here), comes along and decides to join in with my experiment I'll get a better idea. If last year is anything to go by I'll miss both days.
It's my considered opinion that lone squid tend to be more cautious when hunting perhaps grabbing their prey and "testing" it with their grabbers a little before drawing it in to the tentacles and beak. This may be why the warm jacket jigs have worked for me so far.
I know that there are Chinese people who have visited Ryde Pier en masse armed with the simplest of kit, bamboo canes and red jigs, and left with bucket loads of squid.

Squid fishing, or squishing as a friend decided it should be called, is good fun and you can go home with a good amount of bait for later use or a delicious foodstuff.
When you do land one, lay it on a hard surface and karate chop it behind the head it will instantly go white and it's death is very quick

I like to eat them and, if I get lucky enough I'm going to keep the smaller ones for bait and eat the big ones.

I've found that the heads and grabbers are not worth the trouble of preparing and eating so next time I catch an eating size squid I'll de-head and gut it on the Pier and feed the bass. Messy, but better than doing it in the kitchen sink and having to dispose of the evidence.
The popular squid ring is a bit of a nonsense as well. Cut the body down the middle, open out scrape clean , rinse and cut into one mouthful sized strips, so much easier than trying to clean a whole, intact body.
I make a batter of self raising flour, whole egg, milk, salt and loads of ready ground black pepper. I deep fry them in a small non stick saucepan rather than a deep fat fryer.

I was only thinking of trying for a few for Bait - the thought of eating Squid, Cuttle or Octopus just wouldn't appeal to me.

 

[Ianpick]

The rule "Try it once, you might like it" might be an option.

Doesn't work with everything, be careful!

 

[Valleyboy]

I think that the general consensus is that if squid are there in numbers, then competition for food becomes one of the main drivers behind wether you catch or not.
I am experimenting with different jigs, one of which is a red top off of a small permanent marker with a jig hook at each end which I've weighted with narrow stripes of lead.
I also have some small silicon prawns that I've rigged up with luminous beads.
I've tried the water activated flashing light jigs and found them to be a one trip tool and stop working quite quickly. But, a couple of decent squid for £2.50 is not a bad return.
I suppose that when a big shoal/group/gathering, (insert your own collective noun for squid here), comes along and decides to join in with my experiment I'll get a better idea. If last year is anything to go by I'll miss both days.
It's my considered opinion that lone squid tend to be more cautious when hunting perhaps grabbing their prey and "testing" it with their grabbers a little before drawing it in to the tentacles and beak. This may be why the warm jacket jigs have worked for me so far.
I know that there are Chinese people who have visited Ryde Pier en masse armed with the simplest of kit, bamboo canes and red jigs, and left with bucket loads of squid.

Squid fishing, or squishing as a friend decided it should be called, is good fun and you can go home with a good amount of bait for later use or a delicious foodstuff.
When you do land one, lay it on a hard surface and karate chop it behind the head it will instantly go white and it's death is very quick

I like to eat them and, if I get lucky enough I'm going to keep the smaller ones for bait and eat the big ones.

I've found that the heads and grabbers are not worth the trouble of preparing and eating so next time I catch an eating size squid I'll de-head and gut it on the Pier and feed the bass. Messy, but better than doing it in the kitchen sink and having to dispose of the evidence.
The popular squid ring is a bit of a nonsense as well. Cut the body down the middle, open out scrape clean , rinse and cut into one mouthful sized strips, so much easier than trying to clean a whole, intact body.
I make a batter of self raising flour, whole egg, milk, salt and loads of ready ground black pepper. I deep fry them in a small non stick saucepan rather than a deep fat fryer.

I saw a program on humbolt squid. They are mega competitive when feeding, often ganging up on one which has been hooked. The fishermen had to get the hooked squid out before it was shredded.
I've had them following and attacking a small SS sandeel. They'd hang on but drop off lifting them out. There'd be loads of them crowding the one hanging on

 

[Goateeblank]

I had squid this year (as did Haddock) in August from Boscombe Pier. Because the jigs are so light, there is not much feel to them, certainly compared to a spinner or lure, when fishing for Bass, where you have contact with whats going on at the business end. Because of that, and on a pier, I usually chuck a squid jig out under a float, and let it fish itself, while tending my bait rods. Best advice l have read, was that if you are retrieving and see a squid or if you have had a nibble and think you have lost it. Let the jig sink again. They will attack it again. This definitely works!

 

[cap'nhaddock]

The 'warm jacket' technology works, 'allegedly' by the cloth 'converting light into heat which makes the jig warmer and so is detectable by the squid'. If this is so why do people use them at night in UK, in the dark, it won't be any warmer as there is no light getting down into the water?

And why do the Japanese, as seen in a multitude of youtube videos, fish for and catch squid during daylight ?

I've caught squid in daylight at Swanage and Torquay but people look at you as if you are daft if you don't wait for dark.

 

[Wolf]

I use a glow in the dark squid jig ,i shine a ultra violet light on it for a few mins & it works fine ,cant remember what colour it it is,i use it without shining a light on the water.

 

[Ianpick]

The 'warm jacket' technology works, 'allegedly' by the cloth 'converting light into heat which makes the jig warmer and so is detectable by the squid'. If this is so why do people use them at night in UK, in the dark, it won't be any warmer as there is no light getting down into the water?

And why do the Japanese, as seen in a multitude of youtube videos, fish for and catch squid during daylight ?

I've caught squid in daylight at Swanage and Torquay but people look at you as if you are daft if you don't wait for dark.

Squishing, I just like the term, is still a fairly new enterprise for most anglers here in the UK. There is/was a competition on Brighton Marina run by Fishy Rob that started probably 10 years ago when it was a bit of a novelty.
That said I remember a TV programme made by Rick Stein that featured squid fishing from a boat in, I think, Portland Harbour. That must have been 20 years ago.
A friend of mine who is a very experienced and well known angler here on the Island says he was targeting them long before anyone else even knew it could be done.

My research suggests that there are two species of squid that come inshore, one from September to around Xmas, the other in March and April. The winter ones are targeted at night, the spring run during the daytime. This just seems to work best.

But....Where are the winter ones during the day, could I catch them in deeper water from my boat? Could I catch one off the pier but don't try because it's not percieved to be worth the bother, and could I catch the spring squid at night if I just tried?

I was told that the warm jacket technology just made the jig a tiny bit warmer than the water, a fraction of a degree, as a fish body is.
This is where I base my idea of squid having a tentative feel before they commit to capture.

The weather is making further experimentation a bit difficult at the moment.

 

[Goateeblank]

The two species thing is really interesting, it would be good to try and confirm that.

The day and night thing is the same as "seasonal" fish. As Haddock is fond of saying, if you don't fish for them, then you don't know if they are there or not.

I looked into the warm jacket thing, and researched with regard to squid having any particular enhanced heat detection senses. I could find no confirmation on that. However, I did note that the military have/are taking a keen interest in their other ability, that of camouflage, which makes perfect sense.

One last "thing". I don't know why I kept using that word. It must be a thing, as the younger people say!

 

[Ianpick]

The two species thing is really interesting, it would be good to try and confirm that.

The day and night thing is the same as "seasonal" fish. As Haddock is fond of saying, if you don't fish for them, then you don't know if they are there or not.

I looked into the warm jacket thing, and researched with regard to squid having any particular enhanced heat detection senses. I could find no confirmation on that. However, I did note that the military have/are taking a keen interest in their other ability, that of camouflage, which makes perfect sense.

One last "thing". I don't know why I kept using that word. It must be a thing, as the younger people say!

Loligo vulgaris
Loligo Forbesii

Quite a lot of useful information on

www.marlin.ac.uk

Have a look in species list A-Z

Haddock is right, exactly what I'm trying to confirm.