Fishing Victoria Forum

Hey all,

Great little session after work yesterday to test out my new reel, a pre-loved Daiwa AIR LT 2018, Daiwa saltiga braid and EGI action.

Conditions:
Fished 5.00 - 6.00pm, sunset to dark.
Light S winds, 5 - 15km.
Crystal clear water, zero sediment of floating weed. Run-in high tide.
Moderate cloud
Red cloth, red foil - the overcast killer!

Started casting off the platform taking advantage of the run-in tide and wind pushing the jig left to right.
This pier is very shallow, maximum depth is 2M at high-tide so using a lighter weighted jig is key.

I've been perfecting this EGI action with the #2.5 in shallow sub 2M depth for this spot.
Initially I let the jig sink (watching the line until it's nearly fully slack) then five quick sharp whips, this darts the jig zig-zagged and raises it to the surface. It's a high action retrieve which gives me the maximum time for the jig to drop and squid to strike.

Plan worked beautifully, the first squid was the largest of the night strike at 5:23pm, started pulling nice drag.
This followed by five more small models which were sitting over a weeded patch.

Cast over the weed, sink, dart and they'd strike!
Six squid in half an hour before heading home. Pretty chuffed with the effort, the reel is a beauty and yeah, good session!
Keen to try some more here, low-tide with sub 1M depth will be a challenge!

Well done. It is super shallow there but we know squid can be in the shallows and you proved that.
It is trickier than St Leo for sure.

Sebb wrote: ↑

Thu May 11, 2023 9:24 pm

Well done. It is super shallow there but we know squid can be in the shallows and you proved that.
It is trickier than St Leo for sure.

Yeah, that definitely posses a challenge when fishing and technique is the difference between hooking up or hitting bottom when we're taking so shallow. Saw a monster last night, easily 50cm hood +, didn't care and swum off. haha

Good to see that squid are still active, might pack the yak for tmrw morning!

Andrews wrote: ↑

Fri May 12, 2023 9:07 am

Sebb wrote: ↑

Thu May 11, 2023 9:24 pm

Well done. It is super shallow there but we know squid can be in the shallows and you proved that.
It is trickier than St Leo for sure.

Yeah, that definitely posses a challenge when fishing and technique is the difference between hooking up or hitting bottom when we're taking so shallow. Saw a monster last night, easily 50cm hood +, didn't care and swum off. haha

Hahaha
"The ones you can see are the ones ee can't catch" sounds true

Sneaky1 wrote: ↑

Fri May 12, 2023 9:47 am

Good to see that squid are still active, might pack the yak for tmrw morning!

They're definitely around, most of the ones last night took the jig resting on the bottom.
Caught another six in an hour.

Andrews wrote: ↑

Fri May 12, 2023 1:53 pm

Sneaky1 wrote: ↑

Fri May 12, 2023 9:47 am

Good to see that squid are still active, might pack the yak for tmrw morning!

They're definitely around, most of the ones last night took the jig resting on the bottom.
Caught another six in an hour.

Another great report Andrews. When letting the jig rest on the bottom, do you only do this over sand, or do you also risk losing a jig and let it rest on eel grass, etc.?

Cheers Tim,
That's a great question, I'd only do it over sand for that exact reason! Less snags, keep the jig clean.

Yesterdays session I could visibly see the calamari swimming over the sand, they were sitting on the bottom and would slowly stalk the jig before grabbing it. I would action the jig then let it sit on the bottom with a small amount of slack and they'd actively and cautiously pick up the jig from the bottom. Friends has jigs either side of me and couldn't get a single hookup because the squid weren't taking anything higher in the shallow water column.

I couldn't agree more Sebb!

Great little session mate
Well done!
Cheers

How often do you fish shallow jigs?

I consistently outfish others with shallow jigs in 0.5-2m of water.

You get about 15-20 seconds of fall, instead of 3-5.