First Cuttlefish Of 2010 - Brighton Marina

[fishyrob]

Since the Squid arrived on the 11th April, we have had every day clear seas, and the squidding has been fantastic. Better on the smaller tides, and deffo better when the cloud cover is there. We have also been playing with a generator and a 500 W inspection lamp. We have caught squid, but daylight has been better. Could our light be too bright? IT did bring up hundreds of three inch squid, but wehter these are the young of the big fellas or a dwarf species in their own right I dont know.



But today we also saw the first of this years cuttlefish, and a decent specimen as well.....................



Piccies from this afternoon

[glen]

Nice pics rob! Thanks for sharing them! <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/xyxthumbs.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

[floatie]

Man that jig looks intense! Good stuff!

[fishyrob]

[quote name='floatie' post='18573' date='Apr 23 2010, 01:45 AM']Man that jig looks intense! Good stuff![/quote]



We are calling it the "Buffaloe Bill" rig, after the chap that liked to make suits out of women in silence of the lambs. It is a spratt skin (sprattus sprattus) wrapped around the jig and held on with elasticated thread. It seems to make a difference in daylight takes of about 2 to 1. I'm wondering if squid dont "feel" with their tentacles as well as sucker things with them, and the skins make them more confident, as you are more likely to hook your squid in the solid stuff by the beak when using them. rather than tentivley on the end of a tentacle, which is often the case with a non-buffaloe billed jig!!

[sixoremenos]

Nice pics! It's interesting that you caught them with daylight! Here in Greece we can catch them only at night and very early in the morning.

[xALmoN]

where do you get the skin and what's elasticated thread?

[fishyrob]

[quote name='xALmoN' post='18589' date='Apr 23 2010, 11:29 AM']where do you get the skin and what's elasticated thread?[/quote]





You get the skin off the Spratt....... <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> The spratt is a small fish, of the herring family, say three inches long. I guess a sardine skin would work just as well. The elasticated cotton is sold commercially to anglers, but I believe the originally it is used in upholstery. Go and have a chat with your local upholsterer and see if they can sell you some. If not, then any of the UK mail order sites will send you some. www.veals.co.uk has the best customer service.

[xALmoN]

[quote name='fishyrob' post='18609' date='Apr 24 2010, 06:00 AM']You get the skin off the Spratt....... <img src='http://www.squidfish.net/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> The spratt is a small fish, of the herring family, say three inches long. I guess a sardine skin would work just as well. The elasticated cotton is sold commercially to anglers, but I believe the originally it is used in upholstery. Go and have a chat with your local upholsterer and see if they can sell you some. If not, then any of the UK mail order sites will send you some. www.veals.co.uk has the best customer service.[/quote]



so would i be right to say that any form of fish skin would pretty much work? do i have to dry the skin first or do some pre-processing? I do have salmon skin though, lots of that, wonder if they do work.

[fishyrob]

[quote name='xALmoN' post='18626' date='Apr 24 2010, 12:16 AM']so would i be right to say that any form of fish skin would pretty much work? do i have to dry the skin first or do some pre-processing? I do have salmon skin though, lots of that, wonder if they do work.[/quote]



If I cant get spratts, I use mackerel. Might be worth a try?

[xALmoN]

i'll try it out probably in 2 weeks time or so, its currently exam period.

[pisces_australis]

Great pics and report............Keep,m comming.

cheers ian