Last Friday we had a nice evening and the three of us boated 15 of those delicious tentacled visitors (aka Jumbo Squid or Humbolt Squid) to our local waters. The weather was nasty, but we managed to stay afloat and get home safely. But then, I made a bad mistake. (hmm, that might be redundant for most mistakes are usually bad). The following Monday I took a bag full of fillets to work to share with my co-workers at the VA. It could best be described as a feeding frenzy. The result was that they all looked forward to another offering. Therefore, not to disappoint them, I opted to make another try at those delicious mollusks. In addition, David Thomas is having a Super Bowl party and is looking forward to cooking up (frying is more like it) a batch of Calamari for his guests. Therefore, David, his young friend Devan, and Dennis Albert came along for the trip.

 

Thursday night the sport boats found a WFO spot just off the middle of the "9," only 10 miles from the Point. So we headed straight to the numbers (35/25 - about 1 to 1 1/2miles above the Mexican border) and set up our drift just below the spot where one of the sporties was already at work. We use a variety of squid jigs, heavily weighted, and put a light flasher on the line about a foot or so above the jig. These flashers have a long lasting battery and no on-off switch. There are two terminals and the water completes the circuit and starts up the flashing. They can be bought from www.blueoceantackle.com -  $24.99 each or 5 for $100.  They really seem to do the job. This company also puts out marlin lures with not only the flasher, but a beeper as well (and cost much less than the EALs). Remains to be seen how they troll and if they are effective.

 

We arrived on the spot just after sun down (sorry, no green flash) and started the drift. The wind was about 10-12 knots out of the north so we drifted slowly to the south just outside of the drop-off and finished that drift below the Mexiican border. The bite started shortly after and we had steady bites. We turned around when the bite slowed and we were then about 2 miles below the fleet. I counted at least 20 boats in a tight area - on the numbers. One of the sporties finished with 300 around 8:00 and took off. We kept hooking, cranking, and gaffing until the two bags were full. Even young Devan pulled in 4 or 5. We took off about 8:15 and headed for the bait receivers in SD harbor where we tie up and clean the creatures. We figured we had about 25 for the 3 1/2 of us, but as we pulled them from the bags for the cleaning the number kept going up until it reached 38. David should have some party. And so should alll my co-workers. So we had had a most enjoyable evening . But the thought of further cleaning and (vacuum) packing which will take most of the day on Saturday meant a night of tossing and turning and an early rising. But it was fun. We weighed one, not the biggest, and it went 35 pds. Those creatures can really pull. Can't understand why more yachties are not out there participating in this epic bite. And just think, only 1 month til the Fred Hall Show in Long Beach. See you there.     Marty