Artificial Squid Rigging??

[Radarsrus]

Am I as indicated by the little fellow here "smokin' Mother Nature" or does this Williamson 10" Squid rig in the picture look edible?? Don't hammer me too hard, I'm just now finishing getting my tackle purchases done and have yet to make a trip "on the dark-side".

The hook is a 10/0 Owner Jobu and I think I would like it to be a 9/0 with a little shorter shank, but otherwise (call me stupid), it almost looks like it's worth puting out for a "swim".

Any comments besides "what a F#@*!& Googin"...? I really am interested to hear.

Thanks for any feedback.

NUTS!, How do I post a picture? I'll be back with the pic's as soon as I figure it out.

[The BEAST]

Radarsrus,

I started fishing with the Williamson squid since they first came out. Pink is the only color that works for me and it works so well that I put at least one out in every spread. Sometimes I put a small piece of squid on the hook to sweeten it a bit but it gets worked over very often. The NEW Berkley 10" gulp squid in the bubble gum pink color is awesome too. On one trip both of the fish that we caught were on this artificial. I simple impaled a circle hook through the mantle between the wings and let her rip. They don't slash the artificials and then leave them in a ball on your hook.

When I fish for fun with family and sometimes even with my friends I use strictly artificial. We still get the bites!

Capt. Jim
The BEAST

[Tuna Devil]

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[Radarsrus]

Hello Capt. (The BEAST) Jim.

I still can't figure out how to do this picture posting drill so I'll describe it to you.

Basically the eye and full length of the shank are inserted upwards into the cavity next to the hard plastic at the joint where the eye sticks-out, and the bend in the bite of the hook rests right above the eye when it is seated in place. About 80%-90% of the bite width of the hook extends clear of the body of the squid and the hook eye rest at the very top of the molded cavity inside the squid.

That damn 10/0 Juba hook-bite looks BIG sitting outside the body of the squid at just above it's eye, but I swear it looks like it will hang right and really have allot of point exposed for the catching.

If you can visualize this contraption how do you think the Swordies will feel about it...? It sure is quick to put together and it looks about good-enough to eat.

Thanks for your insight, Steve

[The BEAST]

Radarsrus,

The bait was originally designed with a regular 9/0 standard (3407) trolling hook in mind. That hook will lock in place in either of the 4 positions. I have found that those hooks will work if you are running about 15# of drag pressure and I've never had one straighten up but I only used them a few times. The Jobu 10/0 does not lock in place but the crimped loop sort of does which holds it as good as needs to be held.

I use owner hooks for every other type of fishing I do but I am not too sure if the Jobu's are the right hook for Swordfishing. Some of the old tried and true Mustad's (#???) are better I think, especially if you offset the hook about 10 degrees. THere is a thread on here somewhere with the correct Mustad numbers. I think they are called th tuna hook or offshore or something like that. I alternate from Jobu's to the Mustads to circle hooks etc. when using dead natural squid but I stick to J-hooks when using the artificials.

I am going to try the circle hook stuck through mantle between the wings like I do with the gulp. The plastic baits don't get out of shape if slashed or whacked.

Capt. Jim
The BEAST