From 3/8/01</font id=blue>
As people, we like to categorize things. This allows us to put these things into a form that allows us to understand them better. Unfortunately, at times, human nature kicks in and we go overboard with categorizing and classifying. The result is a nasty word called “stereotyping”. We stereotype people, cars, houses, and yes, even baits.
Take the lowly squid for example. When we hear someone talking about fishing with squid most of us automatically assume they are bottom fishing. This assumption is based on the fact that most fishermen only break out the squid after they have trolled unsuccessfully and are ready to try and put some bottom dwelling species into the box.
In actuality, a squid is just as valuable to an offshore angler as shrimp are to an inshore angler. Not only is squid an excellent bait for targeting bottom dwelling species such as grouper, snapper, and black sea bass, it can also be used for sportfish. That’s right, fish like dolphin and tuna enjoy eating squid.
Next time you are on the water and come across fishy conditions try trolling a whole squid in your spread. You may be pleasantly surprised to find a big bull dolphin or a 50lb yellowfin may gladly gobble it up. Trolling a whole squid can be tricky. Most anglers will take something stiff and run it lengthwise through the squids body to give it better action and to help it run straight. One of the best ideas I have seen is to take a soda straw and cut it to the length of the squid’s body and thread it through the center, lengthwise. This will allow you to run your leader right through the straw and rig your hooks trailing in-line with the squid.
Squid can also be valuable as chum when you are in the middle of an area where you saw fish or when you have fish along side of the boat. Cutting up squid into small chunks and throwing it into the middle of schooling dolphin can cause a regular feeding frenzy. This is especially helpful with smaller schoolie dolphin. Many times wh