While many anglers and members of the general public may believe that squid are more of a tropical species, they are becoming more and more prevalent on our shorelines here in the UK. They generally appear around October before venturing off in December, but some anglers have reported catching them outside of these dates too.
Certainly over the last few years, more anglers have become aware of these prehistoric visitors and they have now become a viable target for those fishing from certain beaches and piers, particularly those located in the South of England.
It could well be one of the fastest growing branches of sea angling, with those seeking a new challenge opting to head down to the beaches after dark to try and snare one of these fascinating creatures.
While they are predominately quite small, averaging around 15-20cm a few anglers including Mark Hemsley have been catching some very impressive specimens recently, just adding to the mystery of what could be lurking out in our seas.
The evening’s haul, with a few mackerel too
“I headed down to my local beach on Friday evening, and there were already a few anglers there trying for squid, which was great to see,” Mark told us.
“To stand a good chance of catching them, you need settled conditions with a calm sea. On this particular night, the conditions were perfect, and plenty of squid were being caught,” he explained.
“I was catching well using a small flashing jig that I’ve had great success on, with most of the squid taking the lure within 10 yards of the beach.”
“Towards the end of the session, I made a cast down the beach, but this time slowed the retrieve right down. After a couple of skips along the bottom, I felt a firm pluck and knew I’d connected with a much heavier squid. When we landed it, it was easily one of the biggest I’ve caught, dwarfing the others we’d landed that evening,” Mark said.
You would certainly get a few squid rings from that!
