Squid Jigging Campbell River/ Courtenay

[greensasquatch]

I saw a few people squid fishing years ago off the pier by the Seattle aquarium. Just recently found out that there are squid here too. Can't seem to find any reliable information on where / when to catch them in the area.

Any one north of Nanaimo have any luck jigging for squid from the docks or beach?

 

[lazoman]

Caught a very large yellow eye last year that spewed out a handful of small squid when it surfaced. Somewhere around hornby

 

[Fish Assassin]

Had a coworker that jigged them at night some time during the summer off the ferry dock on Denman Island. I have been told at night you can see them in the water.

 

[trophywife]

fish em at night under any flood light off the docks,, more a timing thing than exactly where..

 

[cohochinook]

Have never tried it in BC, but caught a bunch in Australia. We used a pink jig that looked like a prawn with a bunch pins at either end. It was super effective. Squid would grab onto it and get stuck. One tip be careful when you first take them out of the water as they like to shoot ink. I also found soaking them in milk before you cooked them, made them taste best.

 

[greensasquatch]

Thanks for the info so far, all more confirmation that they are in the area.
I was at the Comox Marina the other night, jigging under the lights. Could see lots of bullheads, jellyfish, and slime eels that left trails of cloudy slime but not a single squid. Any suggestions on whether I should jig on the inside or outside of the breakwater?
I keep hearing that timing is important though no one seems to recall what time of year thy have seen them.

 

[Seafever]

Way back in the day (when there was about two-thirds less people around here than there are now) we used to camp on Denman Island by the breakwater that is near the ferry slip that goes to Hornby.

We would shine lights into the water at night and the Squid would come up and investigate.

Not up to par on my squid biology....but there is a time of the year when they come into shallows to spawn and procreate. Around here I think it's sometime in the summer...although I'm not sure.

Last year I caught a Ling Cod in Nanoose area in August that had the biggest squid I've seen for ages in it's belly.

 

[lingbling]

pretty sure its around june an july that they come into the shallows...we used to jig them off the dock in quadra when i was younger for sonethin to go with the beer...but now i want them for bait

 

[wayne.mck]

Grew up on the coast (Powell River) and spent a lot of time at the docks as a kid. Jigged lots of herring but had not ever seen squid. Last summer was at Crabby Bob's at the Campbell River harbour and there was a school of about 50 4 or 5 inch squid cruising around.

Wayne

 

[blueugl]

I got one

I got one on sunday jigging back side of quadra 15" maybe 3lb 350 feet deep and picture to prove it and it had a little fight in it thought I had a pacific cod because I got one of them earlier.

 

[FishNmemories]

We fished for squid out of Ucluelet Harbour years ago, these were opal squid that come into the shallows to mate and spawn in the spring time every year, then just like salmon they die afterwards. Their egg pods are attached to the bottom by the thousands. Like others have posted the squid are attracted to the light at night and I have seen schools of dogfish chasing the squid just before daylight past Campbell River in Discovery Passage.

 

[fish stalker]

Thats so werid I was just in CT last night and saw this little squid jig looked mean as hell. Never even heard of doing that before.

 

[Charter Tofino]

We used to catch opals like this one ontop of the spring. We just went to the dock late at night and snagged them below the flood lights. This was in nanoose. That's a cool squid in the earlier pic! Definately not an opal.

 

[Steelhead S2]

The biggies can be fun. If anyone does an off shore over night tuna trip this summer, take squid jigs and a bright spotlight. You won't be sleeping anyway, so may as well jig.

I remember Quadra kids in high school talking about jigging squid around Q cove. But don't remember the details. This was about 15 years ago. I keep thinking I'll go try some time, but never done it yet. Curious to know how people do though.

 

[baddogg]

Spent 9 years living and working in Nfld. We drove into the small community that we started out in and saw stuff hanging on everyones clotheslines. Had no idea what it was. Turns out it was squid. The fishermen caught them, sold them to ladies at the wharf when they came in. The ladies cleaned and dried them on the clotheslines and them sold them to the Japanese who ate them much like we eat potato chips. Odd indeed. Here is a clip of a Nfld squid jigger. I guess they spray ink all over the place when they come over the reels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbbPZEh8aH8

 

[Dogbreath]

Lord Tunderin' Jeezus!

 

[greensasquatch]

I'm seeing a lot of posts that say summer. I am going to have to give it a try down near crabby bobs in CR. Would like to try Quadra but don't want to stay the night as would be required to go jigging after dark.

So far I've been trying the lure pictured below, curious to see what everyone else is using.

 

[pescador]

That is the correct lure to use. Some have only one set of hooks, others double or more. Fish an hour before sun down till dark. They feed in shallows just as sun sets. Drop lure down 20-60 feet. Gentle jerk upwards on the line. When you feel a tug, very slowly and consistently retrieve your lure. Get ready as the squid exits the water for a shower and usually black ink which is a ***** to clean off the boat. They are easy to unhook once in the boat, and, don't sweat about getting bitten by the beak unless you land something huge. Small squid taste better. 6-10 inches is ideal.

 

[greensasquatch]

Thanks for the tip. I'll try that if I ever manage to get out on a boat. These days I'm confined to shore / pier fishing.

 

[pescador]

You can do the exact same thing off a pier. I've seen lots of squid off the pier in Brentwood Bay over the years.