Squid

Davey’s Locker Manager Chris Cunningham said he had an inkling of what was in store for local anglers this week when more squid than normal started showing up around Newport Beach. “For the last couple of weeks we have seen sea lions with squids in their mouths. There were even reports of dolphins with squids,” he said. “We had a sneaking suspicion. And then Friday, it came to a boiling point.” That boiling point, according to Cunningham, is good business for him and good eats for locals.

As Jackie Portman laboriously pulled a massive squid over the railing of an 80-foot fishing boat on a recent afternoon the animal started spraying ink everywhere. The women on board cackled, the men ducked, but, still, everyone got a kick out of getting soaked in the smoky liquid. "We went home covered in it," Portman said. "It was all over our clothes, our feet, everywhere. It was pretty gross." Last week marked Portman's third year squid fishing with the emergency room staff at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian.

Alex Coolman In the aesthetically rarefied world of fishing lures, there are different schools of thought. Some prefer the minimalist works--the dainty flies with hand-crafted precision that almost elude comprehension. For the big-fish hunters who need immediate impact rather than subtle nuance, there's nothing quite so satisfying as maximalism. In a strange, lure-oriented grotto at Bongos Sportfishing shop in Newport Beach, maximalism reigns supreme.

Danette Goulet IN THE CLASSROOM is a weekly feature in which Daily Pilot education writer Danette Goulet visits a campus within the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and writes about her experience. The pungent odors of fish and formaldehyde filled the air of the laboratory, where half of the students huddled on one side of the room and half on the other. Tom Garrison, professor of marine science at OCC, rubbed his hands together in excitement as he roamed between the two groups of students, making pointed observations and asking leading questions.

This photo is all about the expression on the little girl's face. It's a little moment, which are usually hard to capture. In this case, I just waited and watched the group of children to see which ones were more animated and excited, anticipating a reaction when the squids were brought out at the Newport Sea Base. I decided on the little blond girl and her friend, and just sat down in front of them and started shooting. Some people tolerate this kind of close, intimate photography; others will not. The girl, 7-year-old Olivia Orne, was so young and preoccupied that she just ignored me and let me shoot from about two feet away.

Greg Risling NEWPORT BEACH -- Don Brockman said he wouldn't do it. Honestly, not many people would. But four of Brockman's employees, who had been fishing for squid off the Santa Barbara coast the past week, suddenly found themselves helping with the often gruesome cleanup of an Alaska Airlines plane that plummeted from the sky Monday afternoon. The four crew members aboard the 42-foot Donz Rig and 32-foot Squid A Lot, both based in Newport Beach, spent most of Monday evening sifting through debris and human remains looking for survivors.

Balboa Pavilion ... The '65 deluxe sportfisher, Cat Special, made its maiden trip out of Davey's Locker this Sunday and Captain Kenny Wager of Newport Beach rewarded the limited load of local anglers with a fantastic fishing trip to Catalina Island. The 19-year veteran skipper set a course for the east end of the island to net live squid in an area where the squid had been floating under strong lights in the darkness of night. It took the crew almost two hours to fill the main bait tank with "candy" bait.

Jeff Benson Newport Harbor High School student Kevin Veitch said he never envisioned that schooling would mean he'd be feeding 30 massive bluefin and yellowfin tuna circling below him. We're talking shrimp -- the good stuff -- and not served in brown bag lunches, either. The incoming senior jumped on the opportunity, however, to volunteer as a tour guide at Monterey Bay Aquarium in the Bay Area. Kevin, 17, spent a month showing groups around the facilities and teaching people about many of the aquarium's 550 species of marine life.

New fish-and-game regulations are scheduled to take effect March 1, and if one man’s recent predicament with a big catch is any indication, local fishermen should be aware of the fishing laws in California. On Jan. 3, a man was fishing off the Balboa Pier when he caught a giant black sea bass that was about 5 feet long. The fisherman, who has a fishing license, said he didn’t know what the species was or that it had been protected by the state since 1982. “Regardless of if they know what the regulations are, they’re responsible to know them,” said Lt. Dan Sforza of the California Department of Fish and Game.

Dead Humboldt squid washed up this week in Newport Beach and other Orange County beaches. The site surprised beachgoers and surfers, but officials said it was a natural occurrence and not a cause for alarm. One startled jogger emailed pictures of the squid to the Daily Pilot. A few examples of the species were spotted on the sand in Newport but more were being caught off-shore. David Schmitt, a manager at Davey's Locker Sportfishing & Whale Watching in Newport, said fishing excursions have been catching thousands of Humboldt squid over the last few days.

Their home was once the Pacific Ocean off Dana Point, about 400 to 500 feet below the surface. These days, it’s inside a plastic container at Orange Coast College, where the marine science department plans to embalm them before taking them into the classroom for dissection. Last week, a pair of Humboldt squid — one weighing 45 pounds, the other 18 pounds — were caught by the crew of the Clemente, owned by Dana Wharf Sport fishing. The crew then handed the squid over to Morgan Richie, an adjunct professor in marine science who helps narrate whale-watching tours for the crew.

What’s pink and white and squishy with coal black eyes and really long tentacles? Not Lady Gaga, no. The correct answer is giant Humboldt squid. Yes, they are back, with a vengeance. They show up here every so often, cruising the California coast and whipping local fishermen into a squid-induced frenzy. But this year is different. According to expert squidologists like Davey’s Locker manager Chris Cunningham, this is the biggest invasion of the super chubby Humboldt’s that he has seen in his 25 years in the charter fishing biz. “For the last couple of weeks we have seen sea lions with squids in their mouths.

New fish-and-game regulations are scheduled to take effect March 1, and if one man’s recent predicament with a big catch is any indication, local fishermen should be aware of the fishing laws in California. On Jan. 3, a man was fishing off the Balboa Pier when he caught a giant black sea bass that was about 5 feet long. The fisherman, who has a fishing license, said he didn’t know what the species was or that it had been protected by the state since 1982. “Regardless of if they know what the regulations are, they’re responsible to know them,” said Lt. Dan Sforza of the California Department of Fish and Game.

Davey’s Locker Manager Chris Cunningham said he had an inkling of what was in store for local anglers this week when more squid than normal started showing up around Newport Beach. “For the last couple of weeks we have seen sea lions with squids in their mouths. There were even reports of dolphins with squids,” he said. “We had a sneaking suspicion. And then Friday, it came to a boiling point.” That boiling point, according to Cunningham, is good business for him and good eats for locals.

One of the many reasons I enjoy sushi is that it is so fun to experience the atmosphere. The greetings by the wait staff when you walk in or the sincere thanks when you leave; the banter between chefs and customers, and the conversations that always seem to pop up between total strangers when sitting at the sushi bar are all reasons why I like the cuisine so much. Kura Sushi has added another dimension to the experience. The restaurant is unique and has several advantages.

As Jackie Portman laboriously pulled a massive squid over the railing of an 80-foot fishing boat on a recent afternoon the animal started spraying ink everywhere. The women on board cackled, the men ducked, but, still, everyone got a kick out of getting soaked in the smoky liquid. "We went home covered in it," Portman said. "It was all over our clothes, our feet, everywhere. It was pretty gross." Last week marked Portman's third year squid fishing with the emergency room staff at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian.

They're back. Not the raccoons in the backyard; I have nothing to report on those — no sightings, no entrapment, no nothing — and that's assuming they even are raccoons. What's back are the giant squid, washing up on local beaches and being hauled onto fishing boats like so many chubby little aliens, all pink and white and squishy, with coal-black eyes and really long tentacles. The last time giant squid stopped by to say hi was in January 2005, stacking up on beaches from Huntington to Laguna and whipping local fishermen into a squid-induced frenzy.