29-04-2008, 01:24 AM
Found this on anouther site. Thought it was a good read so I'll pass it along. <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/xyxthumbs.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':clover:' />
Time for squdding in Rhody... Or squid watching in my case, .
I stopped by a favorite spot for local squidders last night to see if anything was stirring. And stirring it was.
Generators, spotlights, Colman lanterns, homemade light rigs and five gallon buckets were in order last night. Although the catching was not to the satisfaction of most anglers, there were many squid about.
Like it's been said many times before the squid's colors varied, but they were typically more amber than anything else. They looked like ghosted silhouettes on the edges of lit water and as they crept closer and shallower the general appearance would change from a sort of fleshy tone to the amber speckled look. They appeared different in all the various types of lights in the water. In the more natural lights and sulfurs they took an amber tone, in the very bright, but more fluorescent LED's and halogen lamps they took the more whitish, fleshy appearance.
Big ones and little ones... I watched for an hour or two. They were very close to the shore and not very aggressive (thus the lack of catching coupled with a hint of angler frustration). They were very inquisitive of there surroundings and reacted unpredictably to various types of stimulus.
For example, at one point there was an older gentleman with a make shift old articulating desk light rigged up to a metal rack, originally intended for some other purpose, but suited quite well for the job at hand. It was held down on the ground by the weight of the two batteries he was using for power. He walked over to where I had spotted some squid and I let him have my space. He set down the light and lowered his squidding rig into the water. Two jigs, one just below the surface and the other 2 feet down. He set the rod down on the ground and the submerged jigs lifted horizontal in the light flow. They shimmered and twitched responding to slight puffs of current. It was kind of finessy. He sat on his bucket, staring toward the water motionless and after a couple minutes appeared to be sleeping. 15 minutes passed and those shapes began to shift from the edge into the light. A school of a half dozen or so 10 - 12 inches long. They slid into position within a foot or two of the mans jigs. He didn't move.
The way these squid swam was very intriguing to me. I've seen them before but this is the first time I really just watched. They were a shortfin type of squid and when just holding in the current, would be oriented with their finned end (head?) pointing upcurrent. They fluttered their fins with just enough energy to hold or shift. Very slow, stable and rigid except for the fins. The tentacles were not even visible except for little tips maybe 1/8th of the body length sticking straight out behind the body. Not long and flowy like they are sometimes depicted in drawings and lure design. Just tubular creatures with fins at one end.
The man's rig definitely caught their attention as the jigs still hovered in the flow, fluttering. The squid came closer and still he didn't move. Meanwhile, some other people walked over to our spot and noticed the squid as well. They gently dropped their jigs in the water and started slowly lifting and dropping. The squid paid no mind and moved closer to the steady rig.
Now I began to wonder if the man actually was sleeping. They were getting closer but he didn't move. Soon they were all surrounding the jigs, just looking and taking up different angles to them. Some were sideways, some were upcurrent with the tentacle end pointing downcurrent and others oriented in the opposite direction. I thought, what a unique advantage these predators have. They can hold in a flow with either end pointing upstream. No other animal I've seen has this ability.
Slow and steady, one squid started to approach the jig. At the same time a hand slowly extended from the mans sweatshirt pocket toward the rod. OK... He wasn't asleep. He picked the rod up lightly, careful not to move the jigs. The single squid continued to approach the top jig while others held off. It was a larger specimen, 11-12 inches and the man was careful not to move anything in preparation for a strike. Then, out of nowhere, little footsteps came running up from behind us, a kid looked over my shoulder, saw the squid and chucked his jigs right in the light. The squid bolted immediately. The old guy looked at me, smiled, uttered something in his native tongue and shook his head. He put the rod back on the ground, hands back in his pockets and head back down under his hood. The big squid never came back.
The squid were definitely not aggressive and although that seemed to aggravate some of the fisherman, a few were caught and everyone seemed happy and content. I kept hearing thoughts on how they weren't feeding like they were this time last year and how the water was still too cold. Right or wrong I don't know, but I can't wait to go back and see again. Maybe next time they'll be feeding a little more aggressively.
There were also other creatures milling about. At first glance I thought they were little sand eels but last night, judging by their disgust for my light, appeared to be clouds of 2" elvers. I will have to try and net some on my next trip.
There were squidhounds lerking about as well. <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':oops' />
Time for squdding in Rhody... Or squid watching in my case, .
I stopped by a favorite spot for local squidders last night to see if anything was stirring. And stirring it was.
Generators, spotlights, Colman lanterns, homemade light rigs and five gallon buckets were in order last night. Although the catching was not to the satisfaction of most anglers, there were many squid about.
Like it's been said many times before the squid's colors varied, but they were typically more amber than anything else. They looked like ghosted silhouettes on the edges of lit water and as they crept closer and shallower the general appearance would change from a sort of fleshy tone to the amber speckled look. They appeared different in all the various types of lights in the water. In the more natural lights and sulfurs they took an amber tone, in the very bright, but more fluorescent LED's and halogen lamps they took the more whitish, fleshy appearance.
Big ones and little ones... I watched for an hour or two. They were very close to the shore and not very aggressive (thus the lack of catching coupled with a hint of angler frustration). They were very inquisitive of there surroundings and reacted unpredictably to various types of stimulus.
For example, at one point there was an older gentleman with a make shift old articulating desk light rigged up to a metal rack, originally intended for some other purpose, but suited quite well for the job at hand. It was held down on the ground by the weight of the two batteries he was using for power. He walked over to where I had spotted some squid and I let him have my space. He set down the light and lowered his squidding rig into the water. Two jigs, one just below the surface and the other 2 feet down. He set the rod down on the ground and the submerged jigs lifted horizontal in the light flow. They shimmered and twitched responding to slight puffs of current. It was kind of finessy. He sat on his bucket, staring toward the water motionless and after a couple minutes appeared to be sleeping. 15 minutes passed and those shapes began to shift from the edge into the light. A school of a half dozen or so 10 - 12 inches long. They slid into position within a foot or two of the mans jigs. He didn't move.
The way these squid swam was very intriguing to me. I've seen them before but this is the first time I really just watched. They were a shortfin type of squid and when just holding in the current, would be oriented with their finned end (head?) pointing upcurrent. They fluttered their fins with just enough energy to hold or shift. Very slow, stable and rigid except for the fins. The tentacles were not even visible except for little tips maybe 1/8th of the body length sticking straight out behind the body. Not long and flowy like they are sometimes depicted in drawings and lure design. Just tubular creatures with fins at one end.
The man's rig definitely caught their attention as the jigs still hovered in the flow, fluttering. The squid came closer and still he didn't move. Meanwhile, some other people walked over to our spot and noticed the squid as well. They gently dropped their jigs in the water and started slowly lifting and dropping. The squid paid no mind and moved closer to the steady rig.
Now I began to wonder if the man actually was sleeping. They were getting closer but he didn't move. Soon they were all surrounding the jigs, just looking and taking up different angles to them. Some were sideways, some were upcurrent with the tentacle end pointing downcurrent and others oriented in the opposite direction. I thought, what a unique advantage these predators have. They can hold in a flow with either end pointing upstream. No other animal I've seen has this ability.
Slow and steady, one squid started to approach the jig. At the same time a hand slowly extended from the mans sweatshirt pocket toward the rod. OK... He wasn't asleep. He picked the rod up lightly, careful not to move the jigs. The single squid continued to approach the top jig while others held off. It was a larger specimen, 11-12 inches and the man was careful not to move anything in preparation for a strike. Then, out of nowhere, little footsteps came running up from behind us, a kid looked over my shoulder, saw the squid and chucked his jigs right in the light. The squid bolted immediately. The old guy looked at me, smiled, uttered something in his native tongue and shook his head. He put the rod back on the ground, hands back in his pockets and head back down under his hood. The big squid never came back.
The squid were definitely not aggressive and although that seemed to aggravate some of the fisherman, a few were caught and everyone seemed happy and content. I kept hearing thoughts on how they weren't feeding like they were this time last year and how the water was still too cold. Right or wrong I don't know, but I can't wait to go back and see again. Maybe next time they'll be feeding a little more aggressively.
There were also other creatures milling about. At first glance I thought they were little sand eels but last night, judging by their disgust for my light, appeared to be clouds of 2" elvers. I will have to try and net some on my next trip.
There were squidhounds lerking about as well. <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':oops' />