Episode 378: Melbourne Eging With Kosta Linardos

Kosta’s Melbourne Egging Tips

• The fishing in Port Phillip Bay and Westernport Bay vary in that Westernport tends to have strong water flow and lots of shallow water while Port Phillip Bay is deeper and without much flow, except near the rip. Port Phillip is easier to fish, while Westernport probably produces larger squid more consistently.
• Squidding is a year-round fishery around Melbourne, but becomes particularly popular in winter when a lot of fish species in Melbourne go a little quiet. Clean water favours squidding, so periods after heavy rain tend to not fish so well. Periods around the full moon seem to fish poorly.
• There are plenty of places for land-based anglers to target squid around Melbourne. The best advice is not to be stationary, but to follow the tide. In other words, fish the optimum tide for a bit and as the tide pushes in or out, jump in the car and move to the next location so that you always have the best conditions.
• Piers are always popular options for squidding, but rocky outcrops and headlands are productive too, even at night. Kosta prefers to fish for squid during the day because they are visual hunters and tend to be more actively hunting during daylight. Look for places where there is seaweed or seagrass for squid to hide in – they can often easily seen on Google maps, making it easy to find plenty of squid that aren’t getting much pressure.
• When targeting squid from a boat Kosta finds that places where the depth changes and seagrass is present tend to fish well. This can be seen from navigational mapping and Kosta likes to fish deeper using his sounder to find the weed. Squid in deeper water are often larger and often feed more aggressively.

Kosta’s Melbourne Egging Tackle

• Ideally, you want an “Egi-specific” rod (most major brands offer one or two of these nowadays). Egi rods have a parabolic action that copes better with the pulsing fight of a squid than a standard rod, reducing the number of torn tentacles. It also makes it mush easier to get the right action from the jig. A long rod is important when shore-based for the extra casting distance it will give.
• High speed spinning reels help recover the slack line quickly between between jigs and braided lines provide the sensitivity needed to know what’s happening at the jig. 12lb braid (around PE1) and 12 lb fluoro or mono leader complete the outfit.

Kosta’s Tips On Squid Jigs

• Quality jigs are much more durable and can dramatically outlast cheap jigs. More importantly, there is a big difference in the action between high quality jigs and poor quality jigs – and it gets reflected in catches rates. The upward jigging motion will call a squid in from a distance and cause them to watch it drop. If the jig doesn’t fall naturally the squid is likely to reject it. Quality jigs are well balanced and will cause a higher percentage of squid to take them, low quality jigs get rejected more often than quality jigs.
• The “match the hatch” philosophy doesn’t seem to apply when it comes to squidding. Kosta reckons it’s all about making the jig as visible as possible, so use the largest jig you can get away with. Using a “shallow” weighted jig allows you to use a larger jig without it plummeting to the bottom. Likewise, using a small “deep” weighted jig allows you to get a small jig to the bottom in deep water or currents. Jigs between 2.5 and 4.0 size will catch any squid in Australia.
• If you’re just starting out, use standard weighted jigs in size 2.5 for 1-4 metres deep, size 3 for 4-7m, size 3.5 deeper than 7m or in fast currents. In northern Australia it’s usually effective to work the jig hard, but in southern waters it can be very effective to work the jig hard until the squid are found, then slow down and let the jigs settle.
• Essential jigs for both bays are white or clear coloured bodies with a bit of UV such as the Shimano Sepia in colour 14T. The second very effective jig is the Banana Prawn colour (also called “Guns and Roses”) with some UV. A black jig with red foil is the third option that will work very effectively across both bays.
• Preferred brands of jigs are Yo Zuri, Yamashita, Shimano, Gancraft, Evergreen and Daiwa. Check out the great new stuff that’s covered in Kosta’s Egi special magazine edition.
• Jigs with open weave cloth on the body allow the under colour to show through and are great for shallow water. Jigs with closed weave cloth are more contrasty and are best for deeper water.
• The critical #1 rule is that your jig must always hit the bottom before you start working it, so cast with the drift (casting behind the drifting boat or anchoring in a current makes it very difficult to get your lure to the bottom). Once it hits bottom give it a few sharp jigs and allow it to sink back down, winding up the slack as the jig sinks back to the bottom.