session 3 - one for the books

The sun was shining on Port Hacking. We knew it was a bit early for squidding, but headed out to Lilli Pilli wharf around five o'clock.  The pier was packed to the gills with fishermen - all dropping traditional hooks loaded with bait of every measure. They fished with chicken, sardines, prawn and bread. They could have made a nice picnic with everything they cast out in the waters. Unswayed by the crowd, we stuck to our simple squid jigs.

Empty buckets lined the wharf. No one landed any keepers. Our rod with its squid jig was silent. Someone on the dock hooked Craig. Then my own wayward cast landed at his feet. It seemed like Craig might well be the only action at the dock.

Would Denham would be the first and last squid that we'd see caught? Had we fluked it back on holidays?  Was our teacher some sort of squidding guru? I pled my case to stay until sunset. Fishermen came and went. Squid had yet to make an appearance.

Night finally fell. I aimed our light into the water. We were surprised and elated when a green eyed monster finally latched on. The pier was a bit chaotic as we reeled him in. I get the feeling that happens every time someone lands an ink spraying critter. Being our first catch, it wasn't exactly a smooth transition from rod to bucket. We made it though. Craig removed the hook and no one got inked; that's a win in any book. We landed a Southern Calamari. A big one to boot. We cast out one more time; then sensibly called it a night.

We brought our catch home, and I cleaned him myself. Craig says he is not into cleaning them.  Fair enough, as he is apparently not into eating them either.  More for me, I guess.

It was a good session. One for the record books.


Jigs: Rogue Calamar Green 2.5, Rogue Calamar Pink 2.5
Location: Lilli Pilli Baths Wharf
Highlights: Landing our first Southern Calamari
Session Squid Count: 1
Squid Count to Date: 1


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The afterthought: We didn't think to get a photo of our green eyed monster until after we dispatched of him. The cleaning sink is not the best background, nor was it the best light. We have only this rather grotesque and clunky photo record of our first squid catch.