Went to Hillman's

[FishingTwo]

Just to get some shrimp and crab meat.

Same ole staff so I asked about any squid, the bay squid. Was a go to back in the day if you could get it fresh. But he said they have not had any in years.
Any you bait chunkers know where it get any? Good gafftop bait

[Rainbowrunner]

You talking bait squid or eating squid??

all the Seabrook shops usually have it.

[FishingTwo]

I call them white squid, local to texas bays. You can eat them also. Not the large California ones they use on party boats for snapper these are local caught or used to be?? Were never a lot to begin with back when I used them for bait but they were lethal on surf fish mainly gafftop.

[Its Catchy]

Texas Parks and Wildlife and the CCA have ran all but a few of the shrimpers out of the bays. Days of getting fresh squid are over...

[2Ws]

Yep!!!!!

[FishingTwo]

very true
Hillmans was even selling farm raised shrimp from california for 8 a lb and 9 for the gulf shrimp

[Wado II]

I caught tons of squid when I was in the business. Bay squid or Cuttlefish. I always took care of them heck I was live baiting most of the time they weren't drug to death. Usually they would expel their ink on the culling table and I would rinse and ice them. We sold twelve ounce boxes for bait and you could eat them if you wanted to. Ours would freeze up with their spots on them if they were pink they had been hot or ran through a salt box on the boat. My mother ran the packing room at our bait dealership nothing rotten came out of there. We wholesaled twelve ounce boxes for less than a buck and two dollars at the camp frozen and glazed. I did sell some to other dealers straight off of the boat for a buck or so a pound I usually didn't mess with those guys. Don't catch as many in the fall in the bays and not if the water is fresh. Texas Gulf boats catch some monster squid usually bright orange in color I have eaten a little of them. You have to clean them and take the bodies and massage them in salty water, really salty. We would mix table salt and fresh water in a bucket and submerge the cleaned bodies in there and massage them until they get really soft kind of a silky feeling then rinse the hell out of them. Cut into rings and fry in onion ring batter. Calamari rings, I ate some in New Jersey one time at a nice little Italian restaurant they were a lot better than the ones we cooked around the docks.

[Wado II]

Our bay Squid resemble Cuttlefish more than the gulf variety. They are purplish in color and change colors when alive, their dots glow and disappear and appear. Although Wiki doesn't list our waters as a home to this species they sure resemble them and I was told by one of the biologists at Perry R Bass fishery they were cuttlefish. And they will bite you.

[Univ.of Hard Knocks grad]

You are right. Grabbed one that was swimming in the dock lights and it bit me. He got a hook and sent out to be eaten.

[Chuck]

I do remember the great days of fall fishing off the Flagship Fishing pier. Stop by the bait shops on 61st and pick up a few pounds of white squid and some fresh shrimp. We would clean up on the big gafftops and usually a bonus red or two. I remember the massive reefs of mullet that would congregate all along the coast...we would watch them for practically as far as the eye could see. We always had fresh mullet for bait them...buy a weighted treble hook and you had all the mullet you needed! I think we call those "the good old years"!

[nauti10]

I would call eagle point marina in San Leon . there is a shrimp boat that runs out of there . maybe you'll get lucky .

[Hooked]

I would call eagle point marina in San Leon . there is a shrimp boat that runs out of there . maybe you'll get lucky .

They have squid occasionally but generally not a lot.