Squidding In New England States

[JANZ]

Thought I would start a new thread as the Newport RI thread has died and I'll

fish just about anywhere in New England.  Planning on a trip pier fishing on

North Shore Mass.  This would be more appropriate as Thursday night

Eastmans in NH is doing a squid trip and I am planning on going at this time.

Here's a copy of my last report just to have a starting point.

"Reversed the curse
. 

North shore of Mass has squid.  Fished for 2 1/2 hrs last night in Salem and

came up with 10 squid for my efforts.  A lot of couples squidding had around

30 for 2 hrs of fishing.  Took me a while to figure it out but in the end came

home with 10 a mix of small medium and one large.  90 % of the squid caught

were tight to the bottom.  I had my doubts about the area but I have never met

a freindlier bunch of folks fishing on a public pier.  Bob was a great help pointing

out that I was a little to high off the bottom, lowered it 6" to my 1/2 oz sinker and

started catching.  Turns out he is one of those ocean kayak fisherman.  There

was a slight language barrier but the universal love to go fishing made for a very

happy camp out there.  One other note was the regulars there said they have

been catching even during the day.  I will be going back."

[GUnslinger]

Glad to see the North Shore getting some mention. In the last 2 1/2 weeks of July, I took home almost 1200 from the Salem pier alone. Mostly fishing between midnight & sunup. Have you tried the Beverly pier & docks yet?? Another productive spot.

[JANZ]

I have still to try Beverly and glouchester.  Sorta like willows as there is food there

and folks there are very friendly.  Its a bit of a walk from where you have to park

and dodging skunks after the shops close is common place.  This weekend the tides

are perfect and I expect the pier to be crowded so either Sunday or Monday night

I will try it again.

[JANZ]

Looks like tonights the night (Sunday) I will give it another try at Willows.

[JANZ]

Got there at 8:45pm traffic on Pike was all backed up in western mass, go figure.  Not to

crowded and just about everyone was fishing the mid point on the pier.  Fished the right hand side

at the end.  A little slow to start but as the night wore on the catching picked up.  Still a mix of small

medium and large but seemed there were a lot more bigger squid than last week.  Had a first last

night in that I landed 2 doubles.  Had to catch over a 100 and actually helped others fill their pails.

It was sorta funny because I didn't ask if anyone wanted them I just walked over and unhooked

them over their pail, they thought I was old and f'd up (confused), but after about 20 squid they

realized I was knowingly doing that.  Still a bunch of nice folks there, Bao, who I have been calling

Bob (60% loss of hearing) showed up a little later with his friends and one of them caught a nice

keeper striped bass off the end of the pier, on a small fresh squid. 

All in all it was a great night out there again.  Weather was not a factor although on of crew was

complaining his hands were cold, I told him don't worry, once you get old you wont feel anything

anymore.

Gunslinger, wish we could have met last night.  I understand the late nights and need to rest.

Fished till 2am and got home a little after 4am.  Now to go clean the critters that are burried in ice.

[JIMMYZ]

Hi all, Jimmy here from Quincy MA. Im glad I found this forum. I just got into fishing and some of my friends keep talking to me about squidding. I know little about catching these things 

 

Anyways, they frequent the Salem pier and I am thinking on going there this Wednesday night. I will set up with a couple of squidding rigs on fishing poles. A couple of questions:

• I hear some people use bright lights underwater to attract them. Is this something that can be used in MA?
  
• Is it only allowed to catch squid using one of those lures with the spikes? I've seen people online using hand nets to scoop them. 
  

Regardless, I am sure it will be a fun night. Who knows, I may be able to catch a keeper striper.  :woot:

 

Thanks all for reading and your comments will be appreciated. 

[xBON3x]

You should try marblehead, me and my friends catch at least a hundred every night its located near the marblehead yacht club

[squidbud]

Hey Janz,

 

Great that you've been landing squid.  I've done all sorts of fishing, but never squidding.  But now I'm eager to get a few jigs as I've caught the squidding bug...

 

If you want to go to Salem or Quincy, let me know.  I probably shouldn't stay there crazy late, but hope there are squid throughout the evening.

 

Let me know..

Thanks

[squidbud]

I've seen online people recommend a fluorocarbon leader.

 

Do you guys use a fluorocarbon leader?  And if so, what strength / test?

 

Thanks...

[squidbud]

12-15 lb mono on the reel should be fine, yes?

 

Do you guys use a single jig at the end of the line?  Or a weight at the end and multiple jigs on dropper loops?

[JANZ]

    Going to try again Thursday night, hope to see you there.

[GUnslinger]

Hey Janz,

Forget the Willows. Head over to the fishing pier in Beverly. It's only one town over, and a lot of very large specimens are being taken there... I just got back home after squidding there for 2+ hours... Took 97 squid, at least half of them very large... The rest are nice sized, no teeny tiny ones.

I won't be able to get there Thursday night, but will most likely fish Saturday & Sunday's early morning high tides.

Good luck either place you end up at!!

[JANZ]

Would love to try beverly but never been there so it would be a shot in the dark for me.

Maybe some night we could meet there so I can "learn the ropes".  Leaving here in an

hour and give it a go.

[GUnslinger]

Good luck in Salem tonite... Like I said, I'm doing the morning tides both Saturday & Sunday... If you're gonna make the trip, let me know, I'll give ya the Beverly tour

[JANZ]

Last night it was crowded when I got there.  Squidding was the same as in the past, mostly small

with a few more med and large than usual but it was no slaughter.  Small 1. to 1.5 size jigs doing

the most damage close to the bottom.  There was a number of flurries where everyone was

catching no matter where your jig was, even had some surface hits.  Gunslinger if you could

send me a street adress for Beverly that will put me close I can enter it in my street pilot.  Usually

I try to avoid the weekends because of crowds.  Always like to try new (to me) areas.  Ended up

with 14 large (10" or better) for my efforts and of couse a bunch of small and medium.  Getting tired of

my jig hooks getting tangled in my dropper loop, what a pain in the oss trying to untangle that crap.

Need to find a better way to rig to avoid the 15 minute tangles.  Squidbud hope you enjoyed yourself

I think you might be hooked on squidding.  Looking forward to the next trip, probably next week.  Now

to clean the monsters.

[GUnslinger]

Set your GPS to 2 Cabot street in Beverly. That's the address for a local fish market. From there I usually park directly under the bridge (Rt 1A). That way, if it's raining, I can put my rain gear on without getting soaked while doing it. The pier is right there. Let me know when you're planning to go there, ill try to get there the same time.

[JANZ]

Gunslinger that would be great, maybe next week if you have time.

[GUnslinger]

I will find the time... The trouble with work is, it gets in the way of squidding!

[JANZ]

I hear you, I'm retired so my schedule is pretty flexible.  Can't wait to try a new spot.

[squidbud]

Hey Janz,

 

Yup it was a pretty cool first time squidding.  Thanks for letting me fish by your lights.  Caught a good number, most not monsters, but I'm not picky.  Fascinating creatures, and tasty too!

 

Bought another squid jig of a different design.  Hope to see how it works soon.

 

I'm game to hit Salem or Beverly with you guys.  Seems the site hasn't approved me yet, because none of my posts will show until then.