Humboldts!

A delightful call from Tim Boyer jolted me out of my winter doldrums. "Want to go squid fishing tonight?" "Why not?" The Dana Point Sportboats each had been catching 300 to 500 Humboldt squid a night for nearly a week now.

I quickly gathered up some squid jigs, threw together a couple rods and reels, and packed up my Grundens (foul weather gear). My fifteen minute drive to the Harbor was interrupted by a stop at Trader Joe's for sandwiches and snacks for the evening plus a quick stop at Hogan's Bait & Tackle to get my 2010 Fishing License.

When Tim closed the shop (Dana Point Jet Ski & Kayak Center) at 5:00 pm, Maurice had joined us and Tim’s Striper was loaded and ready to launch. A momentary glitch in lowering the outdrive threatened to cancel our trip but a quick diagnosis and reconnecting a loose wire had us back in the water and on our way.

In the length of time it took me to put on my Grundens, we were on the squid grounds. Tim shut down the engine at 5:30 pm with Catalina Island still silhouetted on the horizon by the remnants of the day’s setting sun. We were in about 300 feet of 60 degree water on flat calm seas about a mile outside of Dana Point Harbor.

  

We dropped our squid jigs (size large) down a couple hundred feet and Tim connected first - and this was his first Humboldt squid ever!

Tim’s first Humboldt!

   

Maurice was next and this was his first Humboldt as well. How exciting is this? I love seeing the thrill of first timers. Then they each got their first blast from a squid with ink - all part of the fun. By 6:30 pm we had filled a huge garbage can with 20 to 30 lb. squid and decided we had enough.

  

We sat down for a glass of wine to celebrate and listened to the passengers on the Dana Pride still hooting and hollering as they connected with squid. Shortly after that we heard the Captain say "We've got over 500 on board so we're done." We decided to clean the squid before going back in. It took us an hour to clean them all and wash down the boat.

 

The weather was so great that Tim suggested we have dinner out here under the stars and sliver of a moon before heading in. It was a great decision as was his suggestion to go squidding in the first place.

We passed the Dana Pride on our way into the harbor. They were anchored outside the harbor in shallow enough water to escape the voracious squid while cleaning their passengers catch. With 500 squid, they had a long evening ahead of them. After cleaning up the boat and gear, we split up the catch and were on our way home by 9:00 pm.