Fancy a change of species or even
biological class of organism? Then try fish for our favourite
cephalopods, the squid and cuttlefish. There is nothing
better than freshly caught then cooked calamari to add something
special to an after fishing party! Squid and cuttlefish are caught
with a multi-pronged jig called a 'Turlutte' in French.
The same word is also used as a slang for something not associated
with fishing, so be careful how you use this word when speaking
French :) Many shoals of these cephalopods frequent harbours and
shallow bays so are easy to catch from the shore or via a short ride
on a boat. Spring and summer are good for cuttlefish while squid can
be caught into the autumn months.
Sam's favourite rig is to create a
paternoster with a slim 30 to 50 gram weight (e.g. banana style) at
the bottom. On the hook link tie on a turlutte of your choice. Red or
red-orange works very well, although iridescent green has its days.
Cast out and let the weight sink to the bottom. Create a good
sink-and-draw rhythm as your retrieve but feel for sudden stops of
the lure as it will most likely be a cephalopod, however, sometimes
big gurnards attack them too!
After you feel confident that you have your
quarry on the lure, simply stop retrieving for a few seconds so it
can gather the lure in its main tentacles. If you don't stop and keep
retrieving you could lose the squid because you will most likely have
hooked them via their two hunting tentacles. When you resume
retrieving the lure keep constant pressure as the turlutte does not
have barbs and can easily become unhooked with a sloppy retrieve.
Sam and his squid-fishing friend, Vincent,
normally net the cephalopods and squeeze them before putting them in
a bucket with a wet towel draped over it. Squeezing helps preventing
them from inking you, but these clever animals can turn their siphons
to give you a quick dowsing to the uninitiated. Its a great way to
spend time with the kids!
