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 Family Fun Catching Squid and Cuttlefish

by Sam Davis

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 Gîte Crag-ny-baa

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Flora showing her bucket of cuttlefish & Squid


Theo cuddling what else, a 'cuddlefish'!

Fancy a change of species or even biological class of organism? Then try fish for our favourite cephalopods, the squid (calamare or encornet) and cuttlefish (seiche). There is nothing better table fare than freshly caught then cooked calamari to add something special to a fun fishing day! 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 normally good for cuttlefish while squid can be caught into the autumn months. In fact, I have just recently found that given moderate conditions, you can catch both species will into autmumn.


Sample range of squid jigs 'turluttes'

Sam's favourite rig is to create a simple 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 gets stuck with cleaning his ink-splattered fishing boat! Its worth it when the kids have fun!

Sam and his squid-fishing friend, Vincent, normally net the cephalopods and squeeze them after capture before putting them in a bucket with a wet towel draped over it. Squeezing helps preventing them from inking you and the darkened bucket seems to keep them from squirming about, but these clever animals can turn their siphons to give you a quick inky dowsing to the uninitiated. Its a great way to spend time with the kids, unless you are the one stuck with the cleaning chores. Luckily squid ink comes off easily with a jet wash.


Sam's friend Gildas with a fine Breton
 squid caught while jigging for sea bass

 

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