As written-up in the June 29, 2000 issue of the Mid Atlantic Fisherman

Rigging Squid Made Easier: HOT SQUID RIGS ------------- by Chuck Harrison

I’ll have to admit that I was skeptical at first. After all, we were in a tournament where fish meant money. This is the time for the tried and true, not for experimenting with something new. We were fishing on the 35’ Bertram Faith with captain and owner Billy Hodges, and I was a last minute addition to the crew. One of the fellows with us was an experienced offshore fisherman and full time speckled trout fanatic named Skip. He had brought this little rig that was supposed to be used for trolling dead squid. It didn’t look like much, but by Richard Martin at Taylor’s Landing Tackle Shop, it was a hot new lure. All the way out to the fishing grounds Skip kept saying, “I sure would like to pull it for a few minutes.”

Our plan for the day would be to start in the Norfolk Canyon, working in about 100 fathoms and then going deeper. Our spread was fairly standard stuff: sea witches with ballyhoo, a small squid daisy chain, a green machine way back down the middle. Billy has been fishing these waters all his life, having a father and uncle who ran bay charters for many years. He knows what works. Most of the lures on board were the same collection you would find on most Virginia offshore boats.

At lines-in we started working weed patches in some very pretty water. Everything looked fishy but nothing happened. We kept this up for about an hour without so much as a knockdown. Finally we came upon a line of lobster pot buoys spaced about a mile apart. Passing the first buoy, we saw a flash of green so we went back and picked up a couple of small peanut dolphins. At least we had something in the box!

Skip brought up the subject of his squid rig again, so we decided, “Why not?” The next buoy we came to was holding a few bigger dolphin. As we passed, one of the fish shot into our baits and slammed the squid rig! A few minutes later we had an honest to goodness gaffer dolphin in the box, and the mood on board improved. The first thing we did was re-rig the squid rig and put it back in the spread. On the next pass a fish hit the rig and broke the hook off of it. We quickly repaired it with a sturdy split ring and new hook.

After working another buoy, we came back to the one where we had caught the gaffer and hooked another dolphin on a ballyhoo rig. As we brought the fish close to the boat, we saw another dolphin following it in. I picked up the rod with the squid rig, cranked in the line and pitched to the free swimmer. He slammed it and stripped the squid off of it but missed the hook. He was still swimming around so I pitched it at him again, jigged it a couple of times, and he slammed it again. I had him this time!

We finished the day with a small tuna and a few more peanuts. Returning to the weigh station we discovered that our tuna was out of the money, but the three dolphin were the three biggest of the tournament. I’m not sure which of the three was the biggest, however, two of the three were caught on the squid rig. We all walked away with some money in our pockets.

THE RIG
Looking at the squid rig in the package, it doesn’t look too impressive. It resembles a flat trolling spoon made of stainless steel with a free-swinging hook. The lure was designed by Ben Schultz and Leslie Thomas of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Apparently, it has been very effective down there on a variety of species. They formed B&L Designs to market the product. It now comes in two sizes: one for 6-inch squid, and one for 8-inch squid. Plans are under way to sell a bigger rig for large offshore trolling squid.

The beauty of this lure is the simplicity with which it is rigged. You simply insert the metal plate into the squid, poking a hole in the very tip of the nose. Push the eye through the hole and clip it to a leader. The hook rides free at the same length as the tentacles. Once inserted into the squid, make sure the plate lies parallel with the wings on the front of the squid. This will allow the squid to skip along the surface in a natural way.

FISHING THE RIG
We placed the squid rig on a flat line on the first or second wave behind the boat. To add to the enticement, we ran a teaser/daisy chain of small squid off the stern cleat just in front of the rig. The rig could possibly be pulled from an outrigger, but I liked the way it swam on the flat line. We used previously frozen squid which held up OK. After trolling for a while it tended to lose the tentacles (which didn’t seem to bother the dolphin). I believe good quality fresh squid would do even better.

I was impressed by the way the dolphin ignored other baits to focus in on the squid. We all agreed that it was worthy of a spot in the regular line up of trolling lures. The beauty of it is that just about everything that swims eats squid. I have heard that tuna love it. Also, I plan to pull one this fall at the Bridge Tunnel at night for stripers feeding on the surface. I would also be interested to see how it would perform behind a downrigger, trolled over a reef or wreck for amberjack or king mackerel.

One of the nicest features we discovered was the “second chance” nature of the lure. On more than one occasion, we had fish hit the lure and strip the squid off without getting hooked. By simply dropping the lure back and jigging the rod a couple of times, the fish would turn and hit it again.

My only reservation about the lure was the one time we broke off the hook. You may want to switch to a stronger split ring between the lure and hook when fishing for larger species. Otherwise, the lure is of quality construction, and should hold up to years of use.

SIMPLICITY IS KEY
If you like to troll squid but dislike the work and hassle associated with the rigging process, the stainless steel form is designed to slide neatly into the body cavity of the squid. That’s it. No sewing, rubber bands, or anything else. Just slide it in, tie it to the line, and start fishing. There are two sizes available, a small version designed for use with 4 to 6-inch squid, and a larger version designed for use with 7 to 12-inch bait.

The rigs are available through your local tackle shop (consult Report Section Advertisers), or B&L Designs, 3706 North Ocean Blvd, Suite 352, Ft Lauderdale, FL 33308.