Newport Ri 2016 Squid Season

[Gilligan]

[sharedmedia=gallery:images:1040] REDSOX  asked if one could use a jig with a treble hook, and BillG said it wouldn't work. Well here is a commercially made jig from the early 1980s made by Spofford Tackle from a plastic tube, imitating the popular home made jigs of the day. Before Spofford made these jigs we used similar ones made from a 1&1/4" or 1&1/2" piece of 1/4" dowel rod, painted it white, and installed a screw eye from the hardware store in each end and put a treble hook in one end. We caught buckets and buckets of squid with these jigs, and they still work. I occasionally still see a yankee squidder or two in MA using one of these although I prefer the modern "shrimpie" style of jigs myself.  It is no problem removing the treble as BillG states, one simply holds the squid over the bucket by the line and one gives a short jerk on the line and the hook tears out and the squid falls in the bucket. No more inking than using a modern jig. No problem with the barbs. I just thought REDSOX might like to see this and perhaps some others may wish to try a very cheap way of making a jig that works. Sometimes we painted them orange or pink once we figured out that sometimes they would hit a color rather than a white one. The next modification was to use a jap jig hook from a commercial japanese jig and put it on the dowel without a lower screw eye by shaving down the dowel to fit inside the hook and epoxy the hook on. I still have a few of these around if anybody would like to see photos of them. The multi prong hooks did work better than the treble, but when they were thick and hungry the dowel and treble worked just fine and still does.