Cuttlefish V's Squid

[dobrien]

I was recently squidding in SA, catching bait off the jetty for kingfish (which I caught to 16kg on fresh squid).



I hooked a small squid quite close to the jetty and he gave a pull and a squirt of ink.

As soon as he was hooked I noticed a cuttlefish come out from under the jetty and rushed for the squid.



I find cuttlefish even better bait than squid, so I hoiked the small squid on deck quick, to get the jig back in the water.

With the squid gone, the cuttlefish proceeded to rush up to the ink left in the water and slurp it up.



Before this I had no idea that cuttlefish attacked squid.

Was an interesting display.



After a few attempts, I had the cuttlefish on deck too.

PS, even though I landed some nice fish on the whole fresh squid's I caught, the cuttlefish sent down deep, whole got monstered by a beast I had no chance of stopping.

[kingyfisher]

[quote name='salmon-king' post='9961' date='Mar 12 2008, 10:17 AM']I was recently squidding in SA, catching bait off the jetty for kingfish (which I caught to 16kg on fresh squid).



I hooked a small squid quite close to the jetty and he gave a pull and a squirt of ink.

As soon as he was hooked I noticed a cuttlefish come out from under the jetty and rushed for the squid.



I find cuttlefish even better bait than squid, so I hoiked the small squid on deck quick, to get the jig back in the water.

With the squid gone, the cuttlefish proceeded to rush up to the ink left in the water and slurp it up.



Before this I had no idea that cuttlefish attacked squid.

Was an interesting display.



After a few attempts, I had the cuttlefish on deck too.

PS, even though I landed some nice fish on the whole fresh squid's I caught, the cuttlefish sent down deep, whole got monstered by a beast I had no chance of stopping.[/quote]

The Thing

This doesn't surprise me.Squid & cuttlefish are cannibals and will eat smaller or weaker animals if given a chance.There was a dramatic example of this when I fished inside Sydney Harbour 2yrs ago.I had a really nice big calamari on my jig and he was too big to lift out of the water without dropping off the jig(about 40cms hood length),so I dragged it along the wharf to a nearby beach to land it <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/xyxthumbs.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':th' /> . I had got it to about 5m from shore in 1m of water when a large dark shape appeared behind following the squid. It was dark but there was some light from the wharf,I assumed it to be a large stingray <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/oops.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':oops' /> (they are common here),so I hurried to get the squid up.The "Thing" <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/zorro.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':zorro:' /> rushed the squid and grabbed it ,tore it from the jig with considerable force,and a HUGE cloud of ink appeared.I stood there transfixed <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> peering into the murky shallows as the water began to clear.Then I saw 'IT' <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blueboxbullet.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':ink' /> holding the white body of the squid I had jigged (dead from fright I suppose) crosswise in it's arms <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> ..........cont. next week......................only joking!

'IT' was of course another calamari,only much bigger than the first,probably twice as big.And that's how I know squid are cannibals

[mrzed]

Was that in Spring? If so, you probably caught the male and the female was hungry <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />