SQUIRT SQUAD SAGAS FROM CALIFORNIA TO JAPAN, AN ANGLER LOVES JIGGING UP SQUID FOR CALAMARI By Lance Sawa
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full moon during a fall Friday in my Southern California youth always meant one thing for me: squid. My dad would pick me up from school – the car already loaded with everything we needed: rods, tackle and snacks for the night – and we’d head to the marina. Together we would get on a boat rigged up with lights pointing toward the water. After getting underway I would start preparing the rods with the squid jigs. Back then you had to tie each one separately with a bit of line between the jigs, then the sinker at the bottom. How many on each rod was up to the angler, though most had about five. Being young, I could only handle about three. (These days you can buy prerigged squid jigs with just the hooks and line. They are wonderful, fast and about the same price.) The anchor went down after the captain found squid. Even though it was night, once the boat’s massive lights came on everything around us was illuminated. Despite the lights being pointed down, enough light still spilled out to make it painful to look in their direction. In the cold night, though, the heat from them was enough to keep us from being too cold.
Nico Sawa shows off his first squid, caught while fishing with his dad, author Lance Sawa, in Japan. It’s a tradition that started when Lance was a youngster in California. (LANCE SAWA)
calsportsmanmag.com | OCTOBER 2020 California Sportsman
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