Eging Techniques

Hi Baktao-rians I have decided to write an egnig technique used by me so that people who want to take up eging can have a good start. I'm not any Japanese pro angler who uses eging rod and i don't really take note of the egi descent or rate of descent but i do all these just roughly and so far they are working for me...

Let me explain how to get a squid first. To get a squid, one must let the squid chase the jig and finally grab hold of it with its tentacles. The second part is to set the hook into the squid. Sometimes, the squid auto strikes itself when it moves backwards but it is always best to set the squid.

With these two parts fufilled, you will get your squid. So how to we con the squid into taking the jig? Many factors like colour and action play a part but i will only elaborate about action. In Singapore, there are 4 methods you can try in getting the squid. They are... Slow Crank This slow crank is what i believe tha Japanese call "zuru-biki". It is basically slow cranking the squid jig on the bottom of the seabed. The jig is slow cranked until the squid takes it and you can set the hooks in. It is an effective method for some and it is good if you want a slower pace of fishing. Stroking This is one of the most fundamental and important area of eging. I believe the Japanese call this method "Syakluri" To do stroking, it will be best to get an Eging rod as the rod will be able to let you work the squid jig better and also provide better sensitivity. Many people disregard this area but let me explain why it is the most important. You can cover...

*Different depths of the area which will result in higher chance as squids do not always stay at the same depth

*It is possible to work in a snaggy or rocky area and less likely to get stuck in rocks.

*By studying the action, sinking rate and having a good eging rod, one can work wonders with the jig and hit the correct depth where the squid are residing.

Stroking is the heart and soul of eging and even more important than the squid jig being luminous or top grade. But of course, we will need a high quality squid jig so that stroking produces a good action and sinking. The squid jig should always sink nose first and stand upright in a quality jig. 

Vertical Jigging 

There is another method you can try and it is called Vertical Jigging. The most commmon application of this method is boat jigging or pier/jetty. This is because the squid might be just below you beside the jetty pillars or even below the boat! In this method, one lets the squid jig sink to the bottom and slowly jigs it up. When the squid takes, one will note the depth and later on concentrate on that depth. Sometimes, the squid might be on the surface of the water! 

Combination of the 3 

This is a combination method of all slow crank/stroking methods i have explained. For example you can do slow crank for 10 cranks and in between those cranks you can have some stroking.

Action will OUTDO Colour Anytime

How to Hook a Squid? 

This is a question many newbies will ask. I myself wonder how to hook the squid when i first started eging. That is because i have many squids that take the jig and instead of doing a strike, i just reel it in. In the end, the squid falls off! 

In most cases during stroking, the squid will take the jig on the pause and if this is the case, you will auto strike the squid during your next stroke. 

If you can feel the squid take on the pause, you can tighten your line and prepare yourself. If the squid takes at the end of the stroke, what one can do is quickly lower the rod, reel in slack line and do another stroke immediately. That will get the squid on the hooks. 

In slow crank, it will be more tricky as one must feel the squid run off with the jig before striking. Reel in slack line and strike using the stroke. The tricky part is that some squids tap the jig so lightly that you will not even know that its a take! Newbies like me faced this problem last time as during slow crank, we just felt a "heavy" thing at the end of our lines and we reeled it in. We thought by doing this we can get the squid!

For newbies, stroking will be a good way to start as i believe the striking will be done automatically. 

Be sure to try all methods as all of them cover different depths/areas/squid behaviour! Below is a good illustration of the stroking methods I found in the web. 

Go see! 

Syakluri Single Stroke and Syakluri Double Stroke!

The single stroke will cover the bottom the midwater will a double stroke will cover the bottom, midwater and above the midwater! That is because of the higher stroke in the second stroke. This is where your egi sinking rate comes into the picture.

The animations DO NOT play forever so if you want to see the stroke again, please refresh the page!

Single Stroke  

  Double Stroke with second stroke being higher