Giant squid surprise

JIM NIEMIEC

A few giant squid washed up along the coastline last week and it

triggered an amazing explosion of the in-shore fishery for anglers on

party boats running out of local landings and private boaters. Huge

squid, some weighing in excess of 50 pounds, were being targeted just

a couple of miles out of Newport’s twin jetties and excellent sea

conditions allowed fishermen to enjoy wide-open fishing for these

behemoths of the deep sea.

No one is quite sure why these squid showed in the middle of the

winter and veteran anglers, captains and longtime residents of

Newport Beach all were amazed at the creatures with an average weight

between 15 to 25 pounds. Over the years big schools of smaller squid,

that would weigh 3 to 5 pounds, would show up off the coast when

water conditions were right, but marine biologists and scientists are

at a total loss as to where these bigger squid came from and why they

showed up so near the beach at this time of the year.

This outdoor writer was attending a sports show in Sacramento for

Pacific Coast Sportfishing when word was passed around the show of

the phenomenon going on off Newport. There was no way that I was

going to miss getting in on an event that salt water fishermen will

most likely talk about for decades.

A late arrival at John Wayne didn’t allow much time to finalize a

last minute booking on the Bongos III, with Captain Sharif Mohmed of

Costa Mesa at the helm of the fast six-pack charter boat operating

out of Davey’s Locker in Balboa. Upon stepping on the deluxe

sportfisher the captain was very optimistic about the prospects for

the Saturday night twilight run out to the fishing grounds. “These

are big squid and they pull hard. We’ll be fishing 7.5-foot rods with

30-pound mono spooled on Shimano reels that have very smooth drags.

These squid are battlers right up to the boat and that’s when things

start getting exciting as these jumbos squirt gallons of water and

black ink everywhere,” is how the seasoned skipper summed up what to

expect.

On board the Bongos III was crewmember Jeff Smith of Costa Mesa

and Randy Morales of Newport Beach, both had fished earlier in the

day and were hurting from pulling on these giants of the deep. “These

are really tough catches and I am so sore I don’t know how many I can

bring up to release. We’ll probably keep a few for calamari dinners,

but the rest will just pop off the Izorline squid jigs so we can let

them live,” was Smith’s conservation minded comment. He had stopped

by Glen’s Tackle in Costa Mesa to pick up the last of the eight ounce

squid jigs in the store just prior to meeting up with us. The first

hour was spent watching the sonar for meter marks between 20 and 30

fathoms. “These squid are deep, but when we find them the bite

explodes and every rod will go bendo,” were the excited words spoken

by Morales. At 8 p.m. a call came over the radio from Captain Eric

Carmack on the sportfisher Freelance to make a short move as he had

located a school of squid and they were biting.

It didn’t take long for the fast sportfisher to run back up the

beach to the glaring night-lights of the Freelance. Captain Mohamed

slid in along side the larger sport boat where anglers in colorful

slickers were hooked solid with huge squid. Smith hooked the first

squid of the calm night for the Bongos III, followed by this editor;

Morales got bit and then our captain’s rod bent double. “Keep the rod

bent, don’t pull too hard and use those smooth drags so you don’t

pull out the barbless squid jig,” were the directions from the

skipper.

As the giants surfaced they raced across the top of the water and

pulled drag as they headed back into the darkness of deeper water. By

the time everyone had landed their first squid of the night there

were no less than 25 boats that had circled the Freelance, similar to

the old west when they circled the wagons for protection.

Fishing was wide open for everyone on the spot and it was

absolutely wonderful to see so many anglers have such a great time

fishing side by side and sharing what had to be a fishing experience

of a lifetime for all of us.

Also getting into this unique fishing occurrence was Captain Drew

Cosgrove of Newport Beach, who called fellow Newporters Rob

Meinhardt, and Bill and Bob Markland to head out on his 35-foot Cabo

sportfisher Sweet Thing. Cosgrove located a tremendous school of

squid in the fog and, as was the case over the weekend, called in

other boaters to share in the bounty being given up by the ocean.

How long will the squid stick around and what will follow in the

way of predator fish, no one knows for sure. Bongos Sportfishing

Headquarters, Davey’s Locker, Newport Landing Sportfishing, Dana

Wharf Sportfishing as well as boats running down from Long Beach have

scheduled day and twilight trips through the end of the week. Take it

from this salt water writer, who has spent over six decades fishing

out of Newport, getting out on one of these giant squid fishing trips

is a trip of a lifetime. If you want to avoid the crowds on the party

boats a good option would be to book a small party charter on the

Bongos III by calling (949) 673-2810.