My first time eging

I started eging—fishing for squid with an egi lure—in 2019. I have remained impressively bad at it right up to the time of writing.

At first, I used a rod intended for the darting-lure technique called wind fishing instead of a dedicated eging rod.

And, as it happens, I caught a squid on my very second cast. Pure luck.

Since then, I have occasionally tried a little eging, but the results have been close to a complete defeat.

“That is a squid”

As for that first aori-ika, or bigfin reef squid, I began winding it in because I thought I had hooked some weed.

I remained convinced it was weed until I had brought it about halfway in. Then something began to feel slightly odd.

My wife, standing beside me, said, “It is taking drag. That is a squid.”

“What? Really?”

I kept winding. Something rounded came into view, showing definite signs of life.

“It really is a squid!”

I excitedly drew it in to my feet. “What do I do? What do I do?” I said, while starting to lift it out.

A beginner’s landing

A beginner through and through: I had forgotten to tighten the drag.

I heaved upwards. The drag went zzzz, and the squid smacked into the wall of the breakwater.

Oh no… it might fall off.

“Pull the line! Pull the line!” I called to my wife.

She did exactly that, taking hold of the line and pulling it up. Thanks to her, my first squid made it safely onto the breakwater.

It looked enormous to me because it was my first. In the end, it was an aori-ika of around 700 g.

I was so happy. I will never forget it.

Still learning

Since then, I have felt a little tap of a bite two or three times. Each time, I have been so startled that I missed the chance to set the hooks.

I am especially bad at eging, which makes it hard to bring myself to buy a dedicated rod. At the time of writing, I am making do with an ajing rod designed for float rigs.

For someone like me, who loves fishing for hard-fighting pelagic fish, this quiet kind of fishing is a real test.

But squid taste far too good. I intend to keep trying.

First published in August 2019; the Japanese source was updated in November 2023. The stated starting year and the author’s progress follow that source. Another landing mishap: The red seabream that fell back.