I have been watching several interesting clips on match fishing in Europe, and in particular the UK. Generally the bait used for surfcasting is different to here in NZ, worm baits figure highly as do soft and peeler crab baits. One thing comes through loud and clear, the number of top match men who just use a small sliver of squid to tip off their baits.

Squid never figures highly in the bait I carry, only once can I recall when fish rejected all else in favour of squid and that was behind Murphy's Motor camp, at Matata. The odd part being squid is a perfectly natural bait, it is found around our coast in great numbers, so really by using it as bait the angler is offering a perfectly natural food source.

Now it's the squid tippet that intrigues me, is this an actual bait or is it a flashy white attractor that brings the fish to whatever the main bait you have on the hook?

In as much as it will upset some members, I intend to run an experiment the next time I put the torpedo in the water. I will bait all the hooks with my usual offering on one set, then on the second set I will use the same bait and a small squid tippet. This won't be for a little while as I have a lot on at present but the result could be interesting for when surfcasting. It occurs to me the robustness of the squid will also serve to keep the main bait in place whilst casting.

Any thoughts on the use of squid, have any of our members found success and how do they use it?