mike farrants Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 Well i wasnt expecting that..... Had a chat with a few mates (sorry guys) on Tuesday night, about the recent reports of squid being caught along the south coast, - in particular my area Weymouth - some were saying piers, most were saying chesil cove - given the squid season has been and gone (usually Oct/Nov) one mate didn't believe them, and thought they were spoof/unlikely here/old pics etc etc (TBF one pic was taken on a fresh cut lawn[?]) - another believed them and wanted to know if they were in. they both live 2-3hrs away - so though do you know what - lets settle this - sod it i'll go and have a look for ink stains on the pier or even better i'll fling a jig around - only one to way to settle this..... its been so calm and with no rain for weeks the water clarity is perfect for squid, and its certainly mild enough. I had one hour of fishing between 8-9pm, so i armed myself with a Shimano Perfection 8' spinning road, Abu Cardinal 54FD, a selection of Squid jigs , soft Lumi beads and my ultra violet torch and headed to the pleasure pier (wooden jetty style pier - not the longer solid stone pier) - here you can park up almost on the pier and be fishing within minutes - only one other person was squid fishing with no luck the rest were regular fishing. I chose a green DTD 3.5g shrimp Jig, straight on via a snap link and glow bead. charged it up under the UV and cast out - not very hopeful. a few casts with a very slow sink and draw method yielded nothing so on the next retrieve I switched to very slow vertical jigging right by the pier legs - under my feet pretty much - i was holding the lure shallow enough to see it reflect in my head torch - and it suddenly started slowly moving off backwards - not getting over excited a gave a gentle pull (you dont strike squid) to see if anything was there - and it moved again, a more firm pull back on the rod and i was in - the happy sound of a squid jetting on the surface! in she came, one landed within 10 mins of trying. My FIRST EVER from the shore! not sure if the squid followed the lure in or was residing under the pier - so after a recharge of the glow i tried the teasing method again below my feet - and within minutes i had bagged another bigger one - 2 in 20 mins happy days and drawing a crowd now!. This one could be my PB, deffo my shore PB. but that's where it ended - no more for me I tried the bigger 4.0g pink red gill Jigs @GPSguru but no luck - they liked the green one - i'll keep trying!. i then had to race back, and get them gutted, cleaned and the kitchen hosed down before the Mrs got back at 9.30 - luckily she was late and i had all but washed the ink of the stainless franke....... (she isnt a clean freak just hates fishy things) - she did touch one though, and thats a big step forward! Point proven - you can catch squid in January plus Fresh Squid rings for lunch -happy days! Andy135, thejollysinker, suzook12 and 1 other 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 Top dangling! Well done. I keep meaning to try for squid in Portsmouth but as I'm not local it seems a long way to drive just for a chance of squid. Dogfish on the other hand.... 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike farrants Posted January 27, 2022 Author Share Posted January 27, 2022 (edited) you should try it - its so much fun - but the conditions have to be right, calm and clear for a few weeks in the run up - somewhere with structure and ambient light. we have had 2 very poor seasons here when the cruise ships were in the bay as all the squid went to them instead. Weymouth is possibly the UKs hotspot for some reason - shallow sheltered bay with lots of light - but (that place you mention) is supposed to be good for squid, as are bornemouth/boscome piers, torbay areas, etc - from the boat - they will hold up on wrecks and reefs, but you will suffer from snags. Id be tempted to drop a 3 jig rig down just off the bottom whenever fishing from the boat amd just leave it - check every half hour - you just never know check out Squid fishing UK on facebook - not everyone gives away their marks coz as soon as you do the place is rammed - people travel for miles to catch squid and invest a lot of time and effort - so theres lots of secret squirrels. Edited January 27, 2022 by mike farrants Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 I've done it before, but it's been a bit hit & miss. Had one in Jersey a few years ago from a harbour wall, and have tried in Pompey with no luck. Might give the 3 jig flapper a go at anchor over slack. mike farrants 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintly Fish Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 Well done Mike. we have town quay in Southampton where the isle of white ferry leaves from, that is all stilted structure. Might have to give it a go some time. It's a good sole mark too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike farrants Posted January 27, 2022 Author Share Posted January 27, 2022 i know it well - never fished it but i use the red funnel for all my trips home to the south island - looks very good structure and plenty of light - i just worry its never clear enough for squid..... worth a try though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintly Fish Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 47 minutes ago, mike farrants said: i know it well - never fished it but i use the red funnel for all my trips home to the south island - looks very good structure and plenty of light - i just worry its never clear enough for squid..... worth a try though! Yes I suppose sediment churned up by the ferry will be an issue. Maybe slack at high water! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejollysinker Posted April 8, 2022 Share Posted April 8, 2022 Nice one Mike. Chesil cove is a hotspot too, although much harder to negotiate than a pier. My mate and I fished there on a few occasions for conger years ago and sometimes there would be small boats out there in the dark fishing for squid..... never occurred to us back then that you could catch them from the shore, didn't even know what a squid jig was.... There's a FB group, Squid Fishing UK that is quite useful for info. More than one period in the year to catch squid and the group is quite helpful with tips etc. I bet they tasted nice 😊 Andy135 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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