Catching Squid Around Sydney - 16/12/2019

Squid is one of the most sought after bait when it comes to fishing around Sydney. Used as live baits, they are great for a range of species such as Kingfish, Jewfish (Mulloway) and Snapper.

Known to most fisherman to produce the results when the fish are not interested in other lives baits such as Yellow Tail (Yakkas) or Slimies. They also make for a great meal to take back home and prepare up salt n peppered, crumbed or grilled on the BBQ. 

Where to find them

Almost every jetty around Sydney will provide the opportunity to catch squid, personally I have seen arrow squid as far up as Rydalmere (Parramatta River) go for my squidgy whilst fishing one night. 

Look for shallow areas between 0.5 - 6 metres in depth and keep an eye out for good seabeds with a sandy bottom ribbon weed (seagrass) and a mixture of kelp and mixed reef such as rocks, etc. 

A good set of sunnies will help you easily identify this in certain weather conditions, whether you're fishing from your boat or land. 

Tip: I personally use Google Maps in 'Satellite' mode to find new spots. It's a great tool to help you navigate your way around the shoreline and see where you can situate yourself in a good position with a good seabed.

 

When to fish - Tides & Times

Usually around the run-in tide is best, however, squid is more active during the sunrise and sunset hours of the day as they tend to prey during this time. Clear waters are always great and if you're after chasing them throughout the day, the peak of the tide always seems to produce some results. 

If it has been raining, you tend to collect them running with the tide and on top of the surface. However, you need to be in luck to pick some up as I don't usually fish after a big rain for them. 

What jigs to use?

My overall favourite jigs to use are none the less are Yamashitas!

Their design and durability are second to nothing when it comes to squid fishing. They also stock a lot of cool little tools to assist you in maintaining fresh baits or even taking home a feed. 

Check out the Yamashita range here to find out where they stock their products. Almost every tackle store will shelve their product, don't get ripped off with purchasing these from your local big retailers.

Yamashita have a range of jigs whether you're fishing deep waters or the more shallow areas, they also cater for slow and fast sink rates to give you a better outcome. My personal favourite is a quicker sink rate, which allows me to get to the bottom quicker and retrieve most with each cast.

The Facebook platform will produce some amazing results this day and age to find your smaller tackle shops who do big deals and discounts on these products. 

What Tackle Outfit is best?

When it comes to rod outfits, there are hundreds of designs and different prices in catering for squid fishing. The market has boomed over the last few years with social media platforms marketing their products focused on squidding. 

A light outfit is always best, something within the 6 - 8ft range works well and offers you a better casting distance. Those rock fisherman will go a touch larger in rod sizing only due to the nature of the environment they fish in. 

A reel size of between 2500 - 4000 is plenty, in my opinion, anything beyond that is overkill, but each to their own I guess.

Use a good braided line of up to 15lb and a decent fluorocarbon leader which we find works best. To make your life a little more simple, Yamashita also sell a decent snap swivel used for their jigs and makes like a breeze to interchange them around. 

Techniques

Finally, the technique on luring the squid in an enticing them to smash those jigs on their way up. 

Squid are funny and if you ever get to witness one attempt to grab hold of your jig on the surface, then you know what I am talking about. 

My best advice and the technique I use is, a long cast and let the jig sink to the bottom (approx 30 - 60 seconds). Once I feel the line tension is loose, I begin to wind up until it has tightened again. 

From here, you can either slowly retrieve the jigs if you're not in the mood for whipping or jerking. Otherwise, a good 3 to 1 technique works best - that is the wind-ups and whips to one with settling the jig back in place and allowing it to sink back down. 

Squid is known from my experience to smash a jig on its way down after it has settled. They will always approach from the side or behind, and once that whip comes back up - hooked on baby!