After suffering severe fishing withdrawals for some time now, and after many hours pondering and deliberating (had a uni essay due that afternoon so had to find some way of procrastinating) along with trips to all the local tackle joints to do a bit of recon, I decided that the only way I was going to find out if there were squid in Dunedin Harbour was going out and trying to catch one.
Anyways, during my avoidance of anything to do with my essay, I stumbled upon a study done by the Uni on fish species in the Harbour, and two species of arrow squid had turned up. So I dug a bit deeper and found that squid is a huge part of the commercial catch down here during the summer months.
So, with the weather map looking like something straight out of 'The Perfect Storm', we gathered some gear and headed off. High tide was at 11.30 but with the weather closing in we left at around 7.30. As it turns out, Dunedin is much less well-lit than Auckland, especially along the water front. The only place with any real lighting was around the port, and we managed to find a good looking point with deep water and a bit of weed coverage.
Only problem was the track out to it had the gate padlocked shut 'due to high winds'. At this stage it was only blowing 15-20 knots, so a quick jump of a fence and a scramble along a remarkably dodgy half-demolished wharf and we were on our way.
The first thing we saw when we got to the point was a tiny (about 4 or 5cm) squid, so there are definitely squid in Dunedin!
It's a bit of an understatement to say that things deteriorated from there.
Within 10 minutes of being there, the wind started gusting a solid 30-40 knots. But we were determined to catch a squid so decided to tough it out for at least half an hour. Bad Call.
The wind was a bitterly cold southerly and we froze even wrapped up like we were off to Antarctica for a week. And it kept building. And building. And with no squid around our only entertainment was seeing who could grow the biggest icicles from their fingers. It was really f
en cold.
And then the sleet started.
It was about then that we decided that we may have been clinically insane to attempt squid fishing in what's being referred to in the New Zealand Herald as "one of the biggest storms on the planet".
So the one-more-cast call was made and, as it always goes, there was finally something to keep us interested. The line came tight even against the wind and then went slack again. So of course there had to be another last cast.
And out of the shadows (and hurricane/sleet) appeared one of the biggest living squid I've ever seen. I know water magnifies thing but this must've been a good couple of kilos worth. But no matter what we did we couldn't provoke a strike. After a couple of minutes, the squid slunk beack into the darkness and the call was made to go home.
By this time we were literally being blown backwards by the strongest gusts, and it was about then that we discovered why the track was closed in high winds. As we were walking, a large branch from one of the trees came down accross the path, blocking the area from the high barbed-wire fence around the port and the water. Lucky we didn't leave 30 seconds earlier.
After a few minutes scrambling and a couple of wet feet we were on our way, and after a few hairy moments involving the wind and the collapsed wharf, we were back at the car. The sleet had built to be quite heavy by the time we got back to the car which made for an interesting ride home
So, after picking possibly the worst night we could have to give squid fishing in the deep south a go, that one mother of all squids has got us keen for next time, despite the skunking (although maybe in slightly milder conditions).