Cant help you down Dawesville way but if you're willing to spend a morning or arvo up this way, I can show you around.

best luck in the morning

get a handline with 4kg mono, get a squid jig, look for some sea weed banks in about 2m to 8m let the jig to near the bottom, and every few seconds give it a jig

any weed on the jig at all you have to get it off or you may as well go home

my absolute best tip for any type of fishing, go on a weekday, less fisherman and more fish, means less chance someone already caught the squid in that area

mate it isnt too hard. best way is to go out and only target squid and that way you wont give up in 10 minutes and write it off as for "better" anglers.

what I did when I got started was went to a tackle store and spent $20-30 per squid jig. Bought about 3 in 3 different colours. 2.0g, 2.5g and 3.0g.

First squid (actually a cuttlefish i caught) was off woodmans point. Just cast as far as I could, let it sink enough to just be above the weed, couple of jigs upwards, then let it sink. Sooner or later I caught one. Just make sure you remove all the weed off the hooks, but it is at least a good indicator that ur getting ur jig down far enough.

Off a boat, same technique or just drift over patchy weed. I have caught good amounts of squid at all times of the day so I cant comment on the best times.

I have noticed though that my catches have been sort of 4 or 5 within a couple of minutes, then quiet for about 20mins, then another 4 or 5. Maybe they travel in small schools? This has been anchored and drifting.

I have even caught squid with the jig tied to my braid mainline so they're not shy creatures really.

good luck with it all

Thanks guys.  Some good tips.  I will give it a go this weekend.  Does it matter if it's a bit windy?  How far out from the shore do you normally go?

from pt peron boat ramps theres good weedy ground about 200m out from the ramps. also good ground on the opposite side of the garden island causeway in between the two bridges. check out google maps satellite you can see the weedy ground on there

find some weedie ground like near a drop off or shallow areas were sea grass is growing, like 2 to 5 meters deep, or some reefie area's

check out my blog for some tips on squid

hope it helps

here try here
http://tommytomato.rockinghamgateway.com/?s=squid&paged=6

TT ( karl )

starting with the yo zuri brand of jigs is a good start too, from my experiences they way out fish the cheapies

 u can also buy scent pen attractant which works good too ,just put a few dabs on the jig it fires them up

squidding can be hard and easy all in the same time..

the best way too find out if there is squid in an area is to do a drift on a calm day with a couple of good jigs out the back of the boat and you will find if they r about.

the best trechnique i have found is to cast out ur jigs let it sink and lift the rod in a slow motion for the first half of the lift to see if a squid has grapped on and if there isn't one then you lift the rod as violent as you want or you could do half a lift to see if there is one then several fast lifts up and down to get the attention of any squid in the area.

 if you see a squid follow your jig bout wont take it then mayb a faster wind in to get the atention then let if sink so that the squid will follow it and eat it on the sink. the best groud i hav found is one with a solid bit of weed but with sand holes smattered in to them...

colours and sizes will vary by day so take out a collection of jigs..

me collection is only started and i hav got 10 good jigs that cost around 210ish but they still wont cover all basis if they r only eaint one colour.

as for size if the drift it fast a bigger jig or a smaller one that sinks faster. my favorite jig is a 2.5 but other pple lik jame and chan will say there to small and they fish with a 3.0 as a minimum..

i hope this helps a little if not google squidding and u should find some goos info.

cheers danno

there is not a you-beaut, A number one squid spot around Mandurah/Dawesville, at least none that I've found! Have caught a fair number in the region, including in the estuary, but the shallow, weedy/sandy ground that they prefer is scarce in those parts. They've all been "accidents", either following a hooked fish to the boat, or latching on to whatever bait/lure I may have been using to catch fish.

How does your old man feel about towing the boat to Warnbro Sound? Lots of squid there, and further north Cockburn Sound (as mentioned above) is even better.

squid are not the brightest of creatures. i have got them trawling, drifting, casting from the beach and any other way you can think of. i found if they there is one following i just stop and just about every time it will hit the jig on the way down. I think the main point is to get out there and cover as much ground as possible. they do hang around in schools and if you find the school, just drift that area a few times. finding them is the hard part after that all you really need to worrie about is keeping clean.

i have more luck when its windy as you get a nice drift

but as long as its not blowing a gale or dangerously rough

best way to catch a feed of squid is to have someone throw them to you

in your case its in the back of the truck!!

Not really the ideal method, but when out on mates dingy I always have a handline with a squid jig handy so when they grab a big bait you can swap them to the jig. Normally get a few each trip that way, regardless of the jig on the line (maybe they r hungry).

I wouldn't have thought tides or times matter much off shore as we have got them pretty randomly, but i suppose trying morning/evening would be a benefit, same as land based. As said above, try over weed beds. 

As for the dilemma of multiple cheapies versus a few quality jigs, thats the million $ question. From what ppl have said i guess putting in the money and having a number of quality jigs is probably the smart move (unless your a poor ass student like me lol).

Good luck mate, got me craving some calamari now :-)

Cheers,

Adam

Squidding is great fun and the kids get into it too.  We squid in the cockburn sound on the weed beds in about 5mtrs of water drifting using hand lines and rods. 

We have had success with the cheap jigs and the yozoris as well. 

We set up a heap of hand lines and work out which colour and size is going to be best on the day.

We also have an enviro net to bring in the squid.  We had a knot net but the squid and jig kept getting caught up in the net and the squid would ink everyone before we could get them into the bucket with the lid on tight.

Best of luck with the squid, some days they are just jumping on the jigs and other days the squidding is slow but at least we are out on the water having fun

And you are gaurenteed to catch "squid".

LOL

Neels

If you guys have a mrs that hates to get hands dirty, squidding is an awesome way to start since they dont gotta touch smelly baits and whatnot. If they lose your jig then a couple of inkshots will do it lol. My mrs started fishing by squidding first, then she noticed how much fun she was having and then didnt mind gettin her hands dirty in return for fun and some nice catches and a good feed.

Cheers for all the comments.  I'm looking forward to giving it a go this weekend.  Just got myself a yozuri size 3 and hope they like the colour cause that's all I got for now.  My mate reckons he has a few different ones anyways.   I'd be happy if I can get at least one on board!

I've tried to find a squid spot down mandurah way for ages, and I'm afraid to say tow the boat to warnboro or cockburn sound or "NO SQUID FOR YOU!!!!!"

I have never had any real luck in Warnbro Sound myself,,with the amount of good country i thought it would be a cracker spot,,good to see others having success there.

And if you are in a comp (calamari classic) might be best to use a net or you could lose those winning size squid at the boat side.

is that speaking from experience Shorty ?? :)

Seeign as we are on the topic, my ankle is stuffed so no diving for me, so can I get squid near Mindarie or Two Rocks. I am a fairly poor fisherman, so any help is good. I do have 3 different yozuri's so I guess you can say I have the gear, but no idea.

I will also hit some known dhu and baldie dive spots with the lines, but it will be more luck I think.

cockburn sound is a good spot me and my brother have caught a heaps of big ones around the 3 polls sticking out around the end off garden island (bit hard to find) or the yellow marker around the same area, all we do is just fish for whiting or watever and that seems to excit them and we have a jig in the water redy to go and when they show we work the jigs just lift then let it rest and they will take it. look for weed thats were they live.

p.s use a light rod reel combo with light line its good fun oh and dont pull them out the water till they have inked or you will were it all over you and the boat.