Photos: Spero Kartanos.
BY SPERO KARTANOS
Everyone loves squid rings or calamari rings (same thing) to eat, deep fried in batter, stuffed, or any way you like to eat them. There will be plenty in the bay this month, so go out and catch a few east of Ormiston all the way down to Mud Island. You’ll find them at a depth of 20 to 35-ft, just off the bottom. The easiest way to fish for them is to use a ball sinker on top of your squid jigs, drop them to the bottom and jig slowly.
Cleaning and preparing squid is a contentious issue. People have been fed white rings with the skin off and soaked to make them soft…blah, blah, blah! I never soften them; I never take the skin off, as I reckon that tastes best. The problem with squid is that it is either overcooked or undercooked, and you need to find the correct balance of cooking. You either need to cook it quickly or slowly – anything in between makes it chewy.
As for gear, a light fishing rod (whiting rod) is ideal with a small spinning reel, a 10 to 12-lb line and a few quality jigs. Use a long net to scoop them in – a great idea is to leave the squid in the net for a couple of minutes so they release any water they hold. If they don’t have any water, they can’t mix the ink to shoot out (but we all cop an inking somewhere along the line). The silly stories about holding them in the water to release all the ink are not true; they only mix a drop or two with water to shoot out, and the ink sacks hold lots of ink, so just remember: no water, no spurting ink!
Yamashita and Daiwa jigs are probably the best around. The mullet/whiting colour and the red head/white body work well, but there are days you just need to try different colours. Oranges and pinks are a must in your squid jig tackle box, and 3.0 to 3.5 are my favourites.
So get out there on the bay, get inked, and enjoy one of the tastiest foods of the ocean.
