Filed by KOSU News in US News.
February 3, 2010

An invasion of jumbo squid off the southern California coast has fishing enthusiasts dashing for their boats. The squid are huge -– 5 feet long and up to 60 pounds -– and, when hooked, they put up a big fight -– much to the delight of nighttime anglers.

Nearly 100 people crowded the docks in Newport Beach, Calif., swapping fish tales while waiting to board one of the sportfishing boats that are running every night since the squid invaded Orange County waters.

“It was huge,” Walter Martinez said. “There are only few people that were able to see it. You’d probably laugh at me if I told you how big it was. But it snapped my line and he got away.”

This time Martinez brought along heavy poles.

Jeff Hagge of Riverside, Calif., said he was going for the giant Humboldt squid, which weigh between 20 and 60 lbs.

“We’re looking forward to that,” Hagge said. “We’re going to get wet, inked up, have a lot of fun!”

Hagge, who used to work on a commercial boat called Squid-a-Lot, said he’s doing it this time for the fun.

“Once you do it once, you’ll come back over and over,” he said. “They only come around between one and three years.”

The squid are lured first-timers like Sarah Person and her daughters.

“We heard reports of giant squid out there,” Person said. “The guy said it was not to be missed, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So we got our girls together and we’re here to get some squid.”

The girls, and almost everyone else, were dressed in dark colors, expecting to get sprayed with black squid ink as they reeled in the jumbos.

By the time everyone was on board, they were elbow-to-elbow along the rails of the 70-foot Western Pride.

Biologists say that over the past decade the giant squid has started swimming up from the Sea of Cortez between Baja and mainland Mexico. The species is considered invasive and aggressive.

Crewmember Brownie Gutierrez chopped up baby squid as chum to throw overboard. He said it’s just like feeding goldfish in a fish pond.

“You get them to come up and eat it, and they start grabbing the hooks,” he said.

Gutierrez grabbed a gaffe, a long pole with a big hook, and rushed over to help the angler who got a bite.

“Here he is guys,” he shouted. “Get ‘em Bill! Keep him coming. Wow! That’s a killer.”

The big squit, which lay on the deck, was bright-copper colored. As Gutierrez dropped it on the deck, its color started to change, as it expelled water and ink. Monday’s take was 125 jumbo squid, with the largest catch weighing in at about 40 lbs.

Bill Bacheller, who brought in the first catch, said the experience was fun.

“There’s like a membrane on it,” he said. “I take the skin off it — top and bottom, cut ‘em in like little french fries, deep fry ‘em, Cajun seasoning and a beer.

“They’re going to be Super Bowl appetizer.” Copyright 2010 Southern California Public Radio