4WD Touring Australia — October 2017

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TECHNIQUES

GEARING UP

The most effective technique to catch squid is to cast and retrieve
prawn jigs in fairly shallow water. The most important step is to
target them in the right locations, which can take a bit of trial
and error.
Squid prefer to lurk and hunt in clear water over the top of a
sandy bottom with patches of seaweed. Pure sandy areas don’t
seem to hold as many squid, and neither do rocky areas completely
covered in seaweed.
They can be found in the open ocean over the top of reefy
structure and in front of rocky headlands, but are also plentiful within
bays and estuaries so long as there is no brackish water present.

The idea when jigging for squid is to imitate the movements of

a prawn, so allowing your jig to sink before slowly retrieving it and

imparting the occasional quick jerk with your rod tip.

It can take a while to get the hang of the ideal retrieve, but

generally squid seem to hit jigs more freely when they’re allowed

to sink deeper in the water column and only jerked occasionally.

Clear water is best for targeting squid and they’ll often be

very hard to tempt if the water is murky or chopped up or after

any rain. They will often hit jigs much more willingly in low light

conditions, so nighttime and very early mornings generally offer

up prime squid hunting conditions.

Even very large squid aren’t capable of putting up too much of a
ght, so can generally be handled easily on light tackle. A small
1000 or 2000 size spin reel loaded with 6-8lb braid and matched
to a 7’ ick stick is perfect.
Although light tackle is well suited for squid shing, it’s a good
idea to use a fairly crisp rod with a stiff tip that allows you to
effectively impart realistic, prawn-like jerks to your jig.
Soggy breglass blanks are hopeless for this style of shing,
you want a nice crisp graphite rod, similar to what you’d use to
ick soft plastics for bream or athead.

It’s denitely a sound idea to invest in a few different jig sizes

and colours so that you can experiment when the squid are

nicky. Some days, they will actively hit any jig you cast, but on

others you might have to swap between half a dozen different

sizes and colours before you nd something that works.

Squid seem to have very good eyesight and can be fussy

regarding presentation, so it’s worth using very light uorocarbon

leader to attach your jig to your mainline. Fluorocarbon line

has the same refractive index as water so is virtually invisible

under water.