squid from tesco

[peter the pollock]

I have been buying my squid from tackle shop, but someone said to get it from tesco as its cheaper and you get more. has anyone tried this and is it as good.

[Conor H]

i get mine in the chinese wholesalers. box of 10 frozen for £2. They also sell bags of chicken's feet, but they aren't much use for sea fishing !

[IDPearl]

Where are you? If you're anywhere near a Chinese Supermarket, I just bought some from CaterWorld at Clondalkin - 68 calimari squid (2.2Kg) for €6.68. Should be cheaper than Tesco!!

[pete the pollock]

I get a 1lb for about 2 pound sterling. but they are the white ones. what iam saying is in the tackle shop they are big things and a pink skin on them. from tesco they are white with insides all tucked in to it. are we talking the same squid.???

[Wrasseputin]

I'm not sure about prices, but Hanlon's wholesalers on Cork street (dublin) sell squid, shrimp and you may even be able to buy cuttlefish.
Like i say i'm not sure of prices but its a wholesalers so it can't be too dear......

[IDPearl]

When the skin goes pink, the squid is starting to go off. Calimari are only around 6 or 7 inches long from head to tail. The Tesco ones are bigger with the outer skin membrane (the part that changes colour) removed so that the white flesh is left behind.

I eat squid in a Chinese style and if it has started to go pink it doesn't taste fresh.

[DAMIEN]

hi lads i buy mine from the chinese shop near fas on jervis st 4euro for 5 pices huge ones dont no if its calimari can anybody help me out?

[Neil]

I buy the small squid from tesco, fresh, and then freeze them individually - you can then take a few as you need them. Lay down each squid separate from its neighbour on cling film, cover with more cling film to prevent freezer burn, and freeze rapidly (put the freezer on fast freeze for a few hours first). The point being that if you buy a box of frozen squid, you have to defrost it to separate them - do you refreeze? or can you separate it while it is half defrosted?

As for the bigger squid, I cut a large one into slivers, and again freeze separately under cling film. Put them loose in a bag (a big squid gives you loads) and you can keep dipping in to take a handful of slivers for tipping baits every trip. Whiting seem to go mad for mackeral tipped with a sliver of squid.

[IDPearl]

With the big box, I leave it on the worktop for about 3 or 4 hours, just enough to pry a few squid out. I then work around the block and they soon come off in singles, still frozen solid. I then wrap them up in 3's for some strange reason and put 'em in the freezer. I like your idea of the clingfilm though. I'll do that next time.

[MAC]

Cling film is the way to go. Cheap and as mentioned stops freezer burn.

Kev

[pookie]

i been following this too. is tesco squid ok then or not lol

[Neil]

The best way to use the small tesco squid is to use it as a bait bag: Take the small squid, pull out the cartelege and fill with bits of lug, mussel etc, put it on a pennel rig 2/0 to 3/0 hooks, tied closed and pierce the squid bag to let the juices out. You have a substantial bait cocktail to attract the bigger fish and crabs take a long time to get at the bait. Only caught doggies with it though....

[Pat Spillane]

What about the mini squid. I tried them at the week end and they look ideal for small hooks, any comments

[IDPearl]

What do you mean by mini squid? The Calimari squid I use is around 5 or 6 inches long with head intact. I cut it down one side, remove the backbone, put a couple of juicy lug or crab on the bottom hook of a pennel rig, put the hook through the tail of the squid and the top hook through the head. Wrap the body of the squid around the worms and then use bait elastic to whip it all together. This make a nicely presented scented bait with the squid's head pointing up the rig. I have noticed that the cod will usually take the squid tail first and if the squid's head is at the bottom of the rig, the fish will be hooked on the top hook.

[Steve]

You can also buy mini squid in some places Ian. They are only about 2 inches long. They are good for tipping large cod/bass baits, but larger squid would be better for wraps, or strip baits.

[Pat Spillane]

Thats them small 2 inch squid, bought a block of them in Southside. God knows how many are in the block but I only used half of it. Cost 8 Euro. All I had on them was an 8 inch dab that gave itself up.