Photo Captions:

(1) This is what it's all about, going bendo big time.
(2) Dan Wilson only has himself to blame for getting "inked." He handled the gaff.
(3) The more you catch, they harder they get.
(4) The action was fast and furious, with squid biting from 1200 feet deep to right on the surface.
(5) The large eyes provide squid with outstanding predatory abilities.
(6) Quite a haul for the return trip.
(7) JT Thomas, Willie Wilson and Allen Bushnell hoist a few of the morning's catch.
(8) The squid weighed in from 30 to nearly 60 pounds.

Fishing For Monsters In Monterey Bay

They could be some sort of alien species from a 1980's science fiction film. Flashing white and red like a Klingon stealth cloak, they blanket an area to attack and devour any creature they can, including each other. They employ long tentacles covered with suckers and claw-like "teeth" to grasp their prey and bring it in to a large, hard black beak, which resembles that of a demon macaw.

Giant Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas) have long been a common species in Mexico and other sub-equatorial waters, but recent years have seen an abrupt and significant increase of these voracious predators in the Monterey Bay and other northern waters. They reportedly range now as far as Sitka, Alaska. While not quite of Kraken proportions, these squid can grow more than six feet long and weigh as much as 100 pounds. They are fearsome and aggressive enough to be known as "Diablo Rojo," or the red devils, in Mexican waters where divers and fishermen have allegedly been attacked by the big cephalopods.

Many anglers are concerned the increase in giant squid could have a negative affect on our resident species, both baitfish and larger sport fish such as deepwater rockfish and salmon. Mike Baxter from The Let's Go Fishing Radio Show checked in with a few charter boat skippers recently on this topic. According to Baxter, Huli-Cat owner Tom Mattusch in Half Moon Bay noted that the number of squid he encountered on an experimental deep-water rockfish trip as "scary." The giant squid were tearing Chili Pepper rockfish off the hooks more quickly than the anglers could retrieve them. Mattusch was forced to move a few times to avoid the schoals of squid.

Captain Rick Powers on the New Sea Angler from Bodega Bay said, "The number and the size of the squid are increasing." Powers has been running charters to fish for Humboldts out to the Cordell Banks, another prime location of deep-water rockfish. Powers caught up to 650 giant squid per trip during December 2009, some weighing as much as 65 pounds each. The squid put up a powerful fight and make for delicious table fare as well as being excellent bait for Dungeness crab pots.

Locals in Santa Cruz enjoy calamari as much as anyone, and there is a core of select anglers who are always up for their next big fight. A battle that can torque a stiff tuna rod and make your left arm ache for a week is the stuff of dreams for these guys. Captain Jim Rubin gathered a small group on Wednesday for an exploratory trip out of the Santa Cruz Harbor, to see if we could locate and boat a few Humboldts for dinner and for the string of crab pots Rubin runs north of town. If we were lucky enough, Rubin figured Captain Jimmy Sportfishing would start offering "big game" Humboldt charters on the Becky Ann.

The ocean was surprisingly calm on Wednesday morning, with low winds and no swell to speak of. After the series of storms, we could not have asked for better conditions. Willie Wilson and his son Danny (Rubin's regular deckhand), dedicated fisherman "JT" Thomas and myself checked out our arsenal of tuna rods strung with 60-200-pound Spectra Line on big reels that ranged from the Penn 113H to a giant Avet 50. We felt we had plenty of firepower despite stories of the arduous nature of fishing the big squid from deep water.

These giant squid spend daylight hours in the deep, hovering down on the 1500-foot level. Rubin made his first stop along the eastern edge of the Soquel Hole, an arm of the Monterey Bay Submarine Canyon. The younger Wilson and Thomas dropped their jigs to around 1200 feet and were both immediately rewarded with heavy hookups. 1200 feet is a long way to wind a reel up, no matter what is on the other end. Add 40-50 pounds of stubborn cephalopod and one can get pretty tired pretty quick.

The boys stuck to their guns, however, and soon we had two Giant Humboldts in the fish box.

We drifted off that schoal of squid and moved to another deep area closer to Moss Landing. Reeling up the first couple Humboldts from nearly 1500 feet down had the effect of bringing many of the schoal up closer to the surface. Before we knew it we were hooking up at 500 feet, then 200, then 100, and even one squid right on the surface.

It was mayhem fishing at its best, with four anglers on the rail, heavy tuna rods gone bendo, gaffs flying, squids squirting freezing cold water and ink as well as quite a bit of yelling, catcalling, teasing, unwanted advice and complaining about how sore our arms were, and in my case, how easily spectra can wear a hole in my thumb.

Soon us older guys were taking it easier, dropping only to 100 feet, "looking for quality, not quantity." Rubin, the skipper, gets high marks for the most number of good excuses why he couldn't grab a twitching rod from its holder to bring another squid aboard. " 'I have to watch the chart.' 'I'm holding the gaff.' 'I just opened this bottle of water' " And the best 'You guys are having too much fun!'"

There is no doubt we proved that fishing for Humboldt Squid in the Monterey Bay is a viable big-game experience. Rubin will be running squid charters from his berth at the Santa Cruz Harbor. Contact Captain Jimmy Charters for the schedule. As long as the weather is decent, we can catch squid all day long every day. We finally stopped fishing on Wednesday when we filled up the Becky Ann's capacious fish hold. Final count was somewhere around 50 squid weighing 30-60 pounds each, and at least 10 that we released at the side of the boat. I got my licks in, as did Willie Wilson, but the majority were brought in the crazy young guys. How do skinny guys like that fight for so long? We returned to port with nearly a ton of squid on the deck, after only four hours of fishing.

Do not fear, we wasted none of this bountiful harvest. Most went right to the crab bait containers, both for Rubin's charter business as well as to a couple commercial crabbers in the Harbor. We took special care of a few Humboldts for our personal dining pleasure. The elder Wilson demonstrated his expertise in preparing "sushi-grade" calamari squid steaks, carefully cleaning the Humboldts on the water , tossing the heads and keeping the mantles cool, then deftly slicing off the tougher membranes to leave pure white rectangles for the fryer and the freezer.

Environmental factors may be the cause of these giant squid seeming to have taken residence in our area, and many will be keeping a close eye on the possibility of negative effects this "invasion" might have on our normal sport and commercial harvest. In the meantime, there is also a silver lining in nature and we can always "make lemonade." For now, the Humboldts are here, they taste great and can provide a very exciting sport fishing adventure in our own backyard.