Humboldt Squid Invade SoCal Waters

Humboldt squid moved in to the waters 4-6 miles off Huntington Beach on Wednesday afternoon, providing anglers with a welcome surprise. The three-quarter-day boat Enterprise out of Long Beach Marina Sportfishing encountered the 2- to 5-pound mollusks in big schools near some of the offshore oil rigs.

"Our passengers has a blast with them," said skipper Andy Siratt.

It's sometimes a comical scene on the deck of a fishing boat hunting for jumbo squid, which can reach six feet in length and weigh as much as 100 pounds. As anglers bring them to the surface, the squid have a penchant for squirting copious quantities of cold seawater in their predators’ faces. In other cases, some anglers are squirted with ink. It’s not a bad idea to add a raincoat to your tackle arsenal to keep your clothes dry.

They are voracious, sometimes-cannibalistic feeders that wipe out everything in their paths. They have a large brain, three hearts and a razor-sharp beak. In Baja California, fishermen call the squid diablos rojos—red devils. Recently, hundreds of the jumbo squid washed up on Blacks Beach near San Diego.

"We are happy to see them here," said Don Ashley from Pierpoint Landing. "They are not all that big yet so they shouldn't do a lot of damage to the environment. They are fun to catch and good eating too."

Kids fish free this wekeend

Thanks to the Friends of Rollo Youth Fishing Program, two children aged 15 years and under can fish for free with each paid adult at participating landings this weekend. The arrival of the jumbo squid presents the perfect opportunity to not only take kids fishing, but to show them something interesting and stimulate interest and learning about these interesting sea creatures.

Participating landings include H&M, Point Loma, Seaforth, Helgren's, Dana Wharf, Davey's Locker in Newport Beach, Newport Landing, Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach, Long Beach Marina Sportfishing, L.A. Harbor Sportfishing, Marina Del Rey Sportfishing, Channel Islands Sportfishing, Hook's Landing Oxnard and Sea Landing Santa Barbara.

Quick bites

• Tuna fishing remains excellent for boats able to fish 150 miles from San Diego. The waters off San Martin Island in Northern Baja California continue to produce excellent bluefin and yellowfin tuna fishing, as well good kelp paddy yellowtail and dorado fishing. Anglers have to be on a 1 1/2-day trip or longer with a departure time between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. in order to arrive at the prime grounds with time to fish.

• Surf fishing remained good in most areas with barred perch, corbina, spotfin croaker, halibut, leopard sharks and more being taken off most Southern California beaches. Excellent corbina fishing has been the rule off San Clemente; anglers have been catching some nice halibut near Corona del Mar and Newport; and people fishing near Seal Beach have caught some nice spotfin croaker. Palos Verdes is producing some nice opaleye perch with frozen peas as bait, and there has been some good barred perch fishing off Redondo and Hermosa Beach.

• The Sportfishing Conservancy in Belmont Shore is teaming up with The Artful Angler tackle store to put on the third annual No Motor Tournament Oct. 1. Any "human-powered" means of participating in this catch-and-release tournament is allowed. This includes surf fishing (fly and conventional), kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding, among others. Fishing lasts from 7 a.m. until noon and is followed by an awards presentation, raffle and a delicious barbecue hamburger lunch on the beach. For more information, email Jenny Armstrong at jennyarmstrong4@gmail.com or sign up at sportcon.org. The Artful Angler also has in-store sign-ups. They are located at 3817 Santa Claus Lane in Carpinteria. Interested anglers can also call the store at 805-566-5900.