Giant Squid back..........(and little squirts too)

[halibutmike]

Last night party boat from Seaforth got the big squid. http://www.seaforthlanding.com/

Also reported this AM on lets talk hookup radio.......... market squid - and a few WSB and / or YT taken on H&L front and back side of Cat....., Dume, Laguna, San O, and San Diego area.................

Sounds like there are probably some fish nearly everywhere.... so if we can get some decent conditions..............

good luck guys............ just check the weather before you go: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/sgx/marine/m...st.php?wfo=sgx

[Everdai]

I've never gone for squid before can you find them on a shore dive? If so, how?

[ralphthehalibut]

Originally Posted by Everdai

I've never gone for squid before can you find them on a shore dive? If so, how?

People periodically see them in the LJ area - it's more of a rare occurrence than anything you can go out and activly hunt. Novice Dave on here shot one near Big ROck last year I think. If you DO run across some, BE VERY VERY CAREFUL. They have a nasty beak, these saw like teeth in thier suckers, and are smart enough that one will sit in front of you and distract you while another sneaks around the side to glom on and start biting baseball sized chunks out of you.
John Haffner and I shot some offshore and were pretty blase about it but after talking to Dale about some of his encounters with them down in Baja I think we got pretty lucky. I think Ray Ayus shot one offshore too a few years back.

[MACKFISH]

Originally Posted by ralphthehalibut

People periodically see them in the LJ area - it's more of a rare occurrence than anything you can go out and activly hunt. Novice Dave on here shot one near Big ROck last year I think. If you DO run across some, BE VERY VERY CAREFUL. They have a nasty beak, these saw like teeth in thier suckers, and are smart enough that one will sit in front of you and distract you while another sneaks around the side to glom on and start biting baseball sized chunks out of you.
John Haffner and I shot some offshore and were pretty blase about it but after talking to Dale about some of his encounters with them down in Baja I think we got pretty lucky. I think Ray Ayus shot one offshore too a few years back.

Dave pretty much covered it.If I could add one tidbit or two,If you find one get out of there imediatly.Last,do not stop moving,that is when they attack....Dale and I have talked in great depth of squid attack habits.A giant humbolt once pulled Scott Cassel(special forces diver) into the depths untethered rupturing his ear drum,and dislocating his shoulder.HE tells me"I will not dive untethered with the humbolts again".

[gonetobaja]

Originally Posted by ralphthehalibut

People periodically see them in the LJ area - it's more of a rare occurrence than anything you can go out and activly hunt. Novice Dave on here shot one near Big ROck last year I think. If you DO run across some, BE VERY VERY CAREFUL. They have a nasty beak, these saw like teeth in thier suckers, and are smart enough that one will sit in front of you and distract you while another sneaks around the side to glom on and start biting baseball sized chunks out of you.
John Haffner and I shot some offshore and were pretty blase about it but after talking to Dale about some of his encounters with them down in Baja I think we got pretty lucky. I think Ray Ayus shot one offshore too a few years back.

Here is a frame taken from film. This is what it looks like when you are about to get nailed from a humboldt. There is only one way to get this shot,...get attacked by a humboldt while your camera is going. If a humboldt will attack me in baja, why wont one attack you in San Diego. Im not saying that you should stop spearfishing and leave all the offshore pelagics for me, but if you go looking for a swarm of humboldt squid in the hopes of shooting one while in the water you may be getting more than you anticipated. My avitar is full dive armor with a helmet ready to film squid at night in baja. I have been attacked by so many at once that I had a "Oh no.." moment and was thinking that I just put myself in over my head. For every 10 dives in the water I would say that I get hit twice on average. That means nothing at all. All it means is that if you are in the water without protection and training and they decide to act like a pack of feeding squid.....your phucked.

How do you make a pack of squid into a feeding pack? introduce a stimulus that will make them excited and begin to compete for food. Like dive in and shoot one.

[gonetobaja]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXFQHCgMxr0



Some feeding behavior of humboldt squid. This was shot a few years back with me and Scott Cassell, he is the guy that taught me everything I know about diving with the squid.

[The Freediver]

Originally Posted by ralphthehalibut

BE VERY VERY CAREFUL. I think Ray Ayus shot one offshore too a few years back.

Hahahahahahahhahaha! Lol, lol, lol Why does this not surprise me, hmmmmm????

[AquaHunter]

Yes I did shot one

[The Freediver]

Looks like a great shot too Ray! You never fail to amaze Good luck with getting better. Maybe rod and reel it this summer?? I have lots of fishing gear you could borrow and maybe I could borrow some of your dive gear

[AquaHunter]

Originally Posted by The Freediver

Looks like a great shot too Ray! You never fail to amaze Good luck with getting better. Maybe rod and reel it this summer?? I have lots of fishing gear you could borrow and maybe I could borrow some of your dive gear

Sound like a plan!

[The Freediver]

Originally Posted by AquaHunter

Sound like a plan!

PM me your phone # and I'll text you and we can stay in touch Ray.

[Bob Ballew]

Diving among squid, both large and small, has it's hazards..big ones can double team you and take you down...small ones can attract lots of sharks which may decide a larger tidbit is easier to chase down than lots of small ones....just ask Tom Murray at Pacific Sporting Goods in Long Beach about trying to swim along with the small squid packs at Catalina in order to find gamefish.... on the positive side, as the market size squid start dying off, the tides often carry them up into the shallow coves, which attracts wsb feasting on an easy meal....under those conditions, diving with squid can have an excellent outcome......