Giant Squids off Cali coast? Anyone catching these? How do they taste?

[gn3hz3ku1*]

to summerize this, i think the sport boats are boosting numbers.

for sure.. i went on a boat this summer.. we didnt catch anywhere near the amount they reported...

[ffs027]

ok. we got skunked last nite.

there was 6 cattle boats that showed up at newport. 3 boats from dana point, 1 from san pedro, and 2 from newport.

newport boats leave around 7pm or so. it takes them about 20 minutes to get out and into the spot. san pedro boats take about 1.25 hours to get to newport. we would have guess that the newport boats would be fishing starting 7:30 or so.

we arrived on location around 8:30 and stayed extra 30 after all the boats left.

either they caught most of the squid in the first hour or their fish count is way off. i heard the captain of the monte carlo tell the 4 anglers that they didn't do so well. he even stayed extra hour to get the count up. they reported 4 anglers with 35 squid or something like that. i only remember them catching about 3-4 squid.

maybe they did catch most of the squid in the first 30-45 minutes before i got there. or, they are pumping up numbers to get people to come onto the boat. this is the same story for the other boats as well.

to summerize this, i think the sport boats are boosting numbers.

the squid were there but they were deep. you had to get a few going at the 500-600ft depth in order to get a decent score. patriot did the best out of the fleet managing somewhere around 70 squid they were the only boat to get a consistent bite. we had problems with our passengers not taking our advise told them to drop the jigs down to 500 feet minimum, instead they fished at a depth of 180-210. took them till 1030 to realize our advise was actually fruitful. a few passengers sucked it out went down deep and hooked em. 20 minutes later we had 17 on the boat and by then it was time to hit the barn. key to these suckers is to start off deeper than your comfortable with when they start coming up consistently the biomass will move to 30-210 ft level.

[maschronic]

Does your private charter follow the cattle boats or does he have his own fish finders and equipment? I am just curious is all. What type of range does your buddy have? Have you ever fished the west side of Catalina?

He has full equipment. Range is about 350 nm. We know west end. I've donated one of my rods there.

the squid were there but they were deep. you had to get a few going at the 500-600ft depth in order to get a decent score. patriot did the best out of the fleet managing somewhere around 70 squid they were the only boat to get a consistent bite. we had problems with our passengers not taking our advise told them to drop the jigs down to 500 feet minimum, instead they fished at a depth of 180-210. took them till 1030 to realize our advise was actually fruitful. a few passengers sucked it out went down deep and hooked em. 20 minutes later we had 17 on the boat and by then it was time to hit the barn. key to these suckers is to start off deeper than your comfortable with when they start coming up consistently the biomass will move to 30-210 ft level.

I hear ya. When da captain of monte carlo said that da squid was 400-500 feet, I went down to the bottom around 700 feet. Then brought it up slowly. Still, nothing. Oh well. That is why they call it fishing and not catching fish.