Squid is a useful bait to use either on its own, as a tipping off bait or as filled parcels (stuffed with other baits) and will catch a wide variety of fish. Also called Calamari it is caught commercially from the coast of california and as such needs to be bought frozen from a shop (chinese supermarkets being the cheapest places), available in 1lb or 5lb blocks.Also available is cuttlefish( shown in pic) which is similar in appearance but much more pungent smelling and mini squid that are a great bait to use whole or tipping off bait.

To use squid it needs preparing, if using strips first cut off the head and peel of the small wings at the back, this will peel off the mottled skin leaving you with a pocket lovely white flesh (beware of pink squid as this has been badly stored or repeatedly re-frozen than "fresh"and will not be as good) that has a slight smell of the sea to it.Take a sharp knife and cut down the pocket till it is flat, scoop out the insides along with the clear backbone (it looks like plastic) and now you can cut it into strips as desired. Don't throw the head away its great used as a tipping off bait for a worm.

if you want to use them as squid parcels simply scoop out the insides without cutting, when it is like this you can fill it with other baits as you like and secure it with bait elastic .Pierce the parcel several times with your baiting needle or leg of a sinker to help release the extra scents.

As you buy squid frozen in blocks it is best kept in a frozen state till you are about to fish, if buying the bigger 5lb blocks that are too much for a days fishing then you can part defrost them until they are able to be separated and freeze them in smaller blocks enough for a days fishing.

take them with you in a cooler bag/box with a couple of frozen blocks in there and only take them out just before using them, this way they will stay as frozen as possible, this is especially important in the summer