Picking a Squid Jig

By Jesse Rotin

When it comes to choosing a colour of squid jig, there’s no doubting that we’ve all got our favourites. However, I truly believe that there isn’t a bad colour out there and I’m sure that fellow squid anglers will beg to differ. One of the things I’ve noticed is that if an angler sticks to their favourite colour, eventually it will work because your confidence is high in that one jig. So then why would you need any other colours? The reason for keeping a range of colours is simple, no two days or conditions are ever the same. For example, one of the days you’re fishing could be calm with quite a bit of sunlight and then the next could be overcast and the water visibility is low.

I’ve put together a little pattern of what works good for me at different times and while it’s certainly not the only way to choose your jig, it has worked great for me and helped when the squid aren’t playing ball.

Tell Me Why

Squid hunt predominately using eyesight, so if a desired colour gets lost in the water or light conditions, then it will not bring the results you were hoping for.

At times of either low light or overcast conditions, I’ll opt for a bright jig which will stand out. Colours like pinks, oranges, green, chartreuse and even white are all colours that I can spot quite easily, even at depth. So, if these colours are more visible to me, then in theory, they should be to the Squid also.

Bright sunny conditions or even into the night where colour is often lost, darker shades like black, browns, golds or just straight solid colours stand out. I know this may sound like the complete opposite of what I was saying in the previous paragraph, but it’s worked for me. When the sun is quite high all colours stand out but with that high sunlight some colours are so light that they get lost. Therefore, dark colours which are solid will often silhouette against the bright light produced by the sun or moon.

A Guide

Overcast, low-light and dirty water.

* Emeraldas Stream Rattle: Holo Yellow Cedar, Keimura Glow Cuccumber and Glow Pink Shrimp

* Emeraldas Nude: Neon Glow, Neon Metallic Redhead, Mango Shrimp, Gorgeous Iwashi, Pink Ebi, Orange Ebi, Glow Kumanomi

Sunny, high sunlight and clear water.

* Emeraldas Stream Rattle: Red Red Prawn, Purple Purple Blue, Gold Gold Aji

 * Emeraldas Nude: Blood Shrimp, Ganmeta Side Glow and Neon Blood Shrimp

Not a Hard and Fast Rule

As I was saying before, this is definitely not the only way to choose a squid jig colour and I’ve even seen times where the complete opposite happens. However, always be open to mix and match with different colours or try this theory to see if one does reap more rewards. One last note on choosing a jig is to use the ‘match the hatch’ theory in your local area. Baitfish in the location could be pilchard, whitebait, garfish or even prawns so using colours which represent the bait in the area can double the chances too.