Yesterday I got an invite from On The Water contributing writer, Jon Pilcher, to join him on a daytime squid trip, and I couldn’t resist. Jon’s a top-notch fisherman, and his 33-foot Hydra-Sports center console is a true fishing machine. Jon’s main passion is swordfishing, and he’s quite good at it. Jon only uses the largest locally-caught squid for his sword baits, so they are prized possessions to him.

I’m also a major fan of squid, and for more than one reason. First off, they’re delicious. Fresh calamari, prepared properly, is gourmet stuff. A lot of gamefish seem to think so, too. Squid is a delicacy to stripers, fluke, sea bass, swordfish and many others. Every spring I like to fish for squid, and whatever I don’t fry up gets vacuum-sealed, frozen and used for bait.

I’ve always heard about local anglers targeting squid during daylight hours, but up until today I had never gotten a chance to give it a try. All my squidding has been done from shore at night, usually among an odd cast of characters at the local pier, huddled around the light post.

On the south side of Cape Cod, the waters off Mashpee and Hyannis seem to hold the highest concentrations of squid. There are usually a few commercial draggers in the area that can help you pinpoint the action. On our trip, all the action was in 20 to 30 feet of water, off of Cotuit.