Use Squid to Catch Triggerfish

EDITOR'S NOTE: This week, you'll learn how to catch more snapper, grouper, triggerfish and amberjack. We'll show you how to rig and how to catch the big ones. Our guest, Captain Mike Parker of the charter boat, the "Silver King" in Destin, Florida, has fished most of his life and daily takes charters out for all the targeted bottom species.

QUESTION: How do you use Killer Bee Squid to catch triggerfish?

ANSWER: First, you have to prepare the squid by rinsing it off real well.

QUESTION: Why do you rinse it off?

ANSWER: Just to cleanse it of any excess slime. When you thaw a squid out, it often will have some slime on it. Rinsing it will clear all that slime off, and then you can handle them easily when you cut it up.

QUESTION: What do you do next?

ANSWER: Next, you lay the squid down, put the knife near the lip of the head area and split the squid from the top all the way down to the bottom where you can open the squid up to gut it. After you split the squid open, take its head, and pull it straight forward. The head, guts and all will come out in one piece. Throw the guts away, and keep the head because it makes a good bait. Then prepare the piece of squid by cubing it -- cutting it first into four or five slices long ways and then crosscutting it to make cubes a little bit bigger than your thumbnail.

QUESTION: Should the cubes be about 1 1/2-inches square?

ANSWER: Probably closer to 1 inch.

QUESTION: On what size hook do you put each cube?

ANSWER: I use either a No. 1 or a No. 1/0 hook.

QUESTION: Why do you use such a small hook?

ANSWER: A trigger has a small mouth and prefers to dart in, bite on the hook and dart back.

QUESTION: What kind of hook do you like?

ANSWER: A Mustad hook.

QUESTION: You use these hooks on two different types of rigs. When do you use a hook on the sow rig and what size sinker do you use?

ANSWER: About a 6- to an 8-ounce sinker.

QUESTION: And what size barrel-swivel do you fish with under that?

ANSWER: I prefer a 40- to 60-pound swivel.

QUESTION: And what pound test leader do you fish with coming off the barrel swivel?

ANSWER: I use 40-pound leaders.

QUESTION: And then you go to your No. 1/0 hook?

ANSWER: Yes.

QUESTION: Why do you use a sow rig to catch triggers?

ANSWER: Sometimes bigger triggers will swim above the smaller triggers up in the water just like the sow snappers do. If you hold the sow rig up off the bottom, you often can catch the bigger triggers.

QUESTION: When you use a squid on a two-hook rig, you do it the same way except that you use the two-hook rig, right?

ANSWER: Correct.

QUESTION: Do a lot of people fish for triggers now?

ANSWER: Yes, generally a lot of people two-hook for triggers.

QUESTION: Why do more people fish for triggerfish now than ever before?

ANSWER: People once considered triggerfish a trash fish. When they finally figured out that triggers weren't as hard to clean as most people thought they were and realized how delicious they were -- their nickname became "the poor man's lobster" -- more people wanted to fish for triggers. Triggers have very firm and sweet meat. And you can grill, freeze and keep triggers well. People down here at the Gulf of Mexico prefer to eat triggers more than many other kinds of fish because triggers are so good.

QUESTION: To clean triggers, you just skin and fillet them, right?

ANSWER: Yes. First take a trigger, and split it. If you try to just cut it like a normal fish, the hide on it is so tough that you can hardly cut through the side. Instead, stick the knife clean through the fish first in the gill area, and split it downwards toward the lower part until you just slice the fish in half. Then outline the fillet part with the knife and cut the fillet off. You have to split that skin first to get it off.

QUESTION: Why do you like Killer Bee Squid for this?

ANSWER: Killer Bee Squid provides a very simple, natural bait to use that's clean. The fish seem to like the odor of the Killer Bee Squid too.

For more information on fishing with Killer Bee Squid or Killer Bee Cigar Minnows, contact Killer Bee at P.O. Box 1384, Pascagoula, MS 39568, (877) 557-2248, www.killerbeebait.com.

To learn more about bottom fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, call or write Captain Mike Parker at the charter boat "Silver King," 408 Lee Lane, Destin, FL, 32541, (850) 837-2028. You also can check out his website at www.destincharterboats.com or e-mail him at mike@destincharterboats.com

Tomorrow: To Catch Live Bait