WFOctopi
 

That's right, the bite turned on.
For octopus. Octopi rather. Launched from LJ Shores at 6:15 a.m. and cruised to about 120' of water. Dropped a rapala and was bendo in no time. Landed three octopi by 9:30 a.m. and called it a day.
Also ended the day with a lizard fish and a 5" rockfish (released).
No octopi were kept, although with how slow it has been, the next one might not be so lucky...
Lots of life and plenty of marks... I guess that's why the call them (:wsb:) "ghosts"...
Tight lines friends.

Octopi
 

I caught 2 octopi last wednesday too.

So I gotta ask; these octopi were free-swimming high in the water column?

Was there lots of bait on the surface? How big were the octopods?

Very cool, I'm left wanting more information

HHmmmm Sushi...

In 30 plus years of fishing here in San Diego I have never seen this many Octopi being caught. I caught 3 in one day a few weeks ago.

octopi
 

I caught them on the bottom fishing for Rock fish. They went for cut squid. It was hard to tell size since they were embracing the bait, but they looked about 10 to 15 inches arm tip to arm tip

I caught one back during bug season on my sabiki. I was hooping, trying to catch some extra bait, and I pull this thing up that had a head about twice the size of a softball. It was a mess getting untangled, but I wanted to keep it because a coworker told me that he loves octopus and would make a salad with it. He said he had never gotten one that size before. Biggest one I have ever seen locally for sure. I get them in my hoop nets from time to time, but you cant keep those.

He told me that his family used to go down to the jetties at low tide and grab them off the rocks. He said they would grab them, and bite their neck to kill them quick.

How big are the ones you are getting in LJ? I may head out and pick a few up and have him make a salad for us at work. I know the run of the mill ones are just bigger than market squid, but if there are decent size ones out there, I'll give it a shot. Maybe if I focus on squid I may catch a YT finally. LOL

Anything special I need to know to unhook one of them if I get one? I keep thinking sharp beaks, but that's squid.

When I caught mine it was a mess cause it was wrapped in a sabiki. I never saw a beak, but my buddy told me they have one. Most ones I have seen out here are small and you can handle them with your hands. If you get one of the larger models, you can use your paddle or gaff so they grab onto that and then use pliers to get the hook/s out. They arent fast by any means. Once I got him loose onto my gaff, I got him in my bait tank and filled it with water.

Once I figured out where "the neck" was I used my gaff to get a hold of him, and I cut all around the top of the tentacles almost separating the head from the legs. When you cut in on the larger ones you will hit a very hard section. Just cut around the top of the legs till you hit this. Then I put him in a plastic bag and back into the bait tank to keep him cool. I dont know if this is the right way, but my buddy used to get them out of the rocks (smaller models), stretch them out and bite their neck off. He said the one I got came out perfect. So I figured my way was pretty close.

They are a messy and slimy I will let you know that right now. Except the suckers of course. :)

Saw you out there... I was in the Green Outback. I kept fishing the rocks and ended up catching a bunch of smaller Starys... I found a lot of nice rocks and fish marks but nothing was really going off.

Good to see you on here. Yeah, nothing besides the 8-armed critters were doing much of anything. Hope to see you out here soon. Perhaps the ghosts will make an appearance after all. Shhhh.

As far as size, the octopi were quite small. Nothing to write home about.

Why do you keep them? To eat or for bait?
I was thinking that it might start wrapping itself around my legs or arms while I try to unhook it. The paddle/gaff idea is good. Saw a video last night of a big one taking down a shark!!

MMMMMMMMM...........TAKO.........:cool:

To eat. They are for a coworker of mine. Loves octopus. Made a huge salad out of the one I gave him. The small ones you could grab and they dont hurt as much as the larger models. The one I gave him was larger than anyone he had ever caught, and I didnt want to get near the suckers. If you cut around the top of the legs (the neck)that kills them and are easier to handle...kinda. Once you kill them they go limp, and then they are a slimy sticky mess that is tricky to hold onto...:hmmmm: