Squid Travel in Packs: Cast Back in Behind a Hooked One

Quick answer: Southern calamari travel in pairs and loose little packs, so a hookup is rarely a one-off. Keep the hooked squid in the water, get a second jig in right behind it, and you’ll often grab the follower before it inks and the pack scatters.

Squid don’t roam solo

The bit most people miss is that when you’ve got a squid on, there’s very often a mate — sometimes two or three — shadowing it in. They’ll follow the hooked one almost to your feet, hanging just off it, switched on and curious. They don’t know their buddy’s in trouble. They just see movement and they want a piece of it. This is even more true through the spawning months, when calamari pack up tighter.

So the moment you hook up, the session isn’t half over. It’s actually the best chance you’ll get all night.

Don’t rush the landing — get a jig in behind it

Keep the hooked squid in the water a touch longer than you normally would and have a quick squiz behind it. If you can see a follower — or even if you can’t, but you know they pack up — get a second jig in fast. Two ways to play it:

• Second rod, pre-rigged. This is the gun move. Have a second outfit rigged and leaning on the rail before anything happens. Land or control the first squid, grab the second rod, and flick a jig in right behind where it’s sitting. The follower’s already there and primed — it’ll often grab it before the jig’s finished a single sink.
• Quick re-cast. Solo with one rod? Land the first one quick, unhook it, and chuck straight back into the same spot — same line, same distance. Don’t overthink it. The pack hasn’t gone anywhere yet.

Either way, the same rule holds when the follower grabs: wait for real weight, then set hard. If you keep feeling touches and missing the strike, that’s a separate fix — see when to strike when squid fishing.

The clock is the ink

Squid stay on the chew right up until one of them lets go a proper cloud. Once the water goes milky, the rest spook and scatter and the window’s shut. That’s why speed beats finesse here — get the next jig in before the cloud, not after.

Local notes

Around Port Phillip and Western Port piers this is gold on a quiet evening session when the calamari are stacked along a weed edge. And if you land one and the spot goes dead straight after, don’t stress — that’s normal. Work somewhere else for a bit and swing back through; the next pack will move in.

New to shore-based eging? Start with the land based squid fishing guide and get the fall and strike sorted first.

Bottom line

Don’t treat a hookup as one squid. Treat it as the start of a little flurry. Land it, get the next jig in behind it fast, and you’ll often turn one calamari into a feed.