Fishing: A plague of squid

Very often you will find that on days that are not the best for fishing according to the Maori fishing calendar, bites are few and far between.

You would expect that after putting out a heap of ground bait and berley, the fish will come on the bite at some time and very often these are the days that a big old moocher will be caught.

Big fish will generally grab your bait and run but on these 'bad days' they will often pick up a bait and slowly move away with it and, if they feel line pressure, will drop it.

I would love a dollar for every time a squid has latched onto my bait and I have been fooled into thinking it was a big snapper as they act in exactly the same way.

Squid are to be found all round the coast of New Zealand and in the summer months come into shore in plague proportions.

Not only do squid make great bait for fishing but caught fresh, cleaned, diced and quickly cooked in oil and garlic, also make stunning eating.

Catching squid on a conventionally-baited hook is a bit like trying to win lotto without a ticket. But with the aid of a Japanese squid jig they are an easy target species.

Whenever I feel the need for bait or a feed of squid I put a strip of bait on the needle-sharp prongs and drop it down directly below the boat. While carrying on fishing I just keep an eye on the angle of the squid line. Once it goes tight I know a squid has latched onto it and I give it a short, sharp jerk to make sure.

Pull the squid line in keeping a constant weight on it until the squid is up to the surface. You should never lift the squid on board until it has expelled all its ink as it will make a hell of a sticky black mess over you and the boat.

Jerk the line a couple of times to make it grumpy and fire out the ink.

You do not have to go out in a boat to target squid as they do come well up into the harbours and hang around the wharfs and jetties, feeding on bait fish.

Also, kids are fascinated by these prehistoric-looking beasts as they change colour when caught.