Are you still calling it a 'feeding pause'? Eging falls aren't 'breaks.' They are 'forced execution commands' that grant the squid permission to fire.
Hey there, future eging masters.
Are you out there today, swinging your rods around like you're fighting your parents' killer? It's a common sight at the breakwater. Anglers whipping their rods with a 'snap! crack!' sound, cutting through the air, jerking away with single-minded focus. They get drenched in sweat, out of breath, and soak in self-satisfaction, thinking, 'If I move it this much, the squid will surely notice.'
I hate to break it to you, but while you're desperately jerking that rod, the bigfin reef squid is just watching you, completely turned off.
If you're thinking, 'No way, eging is all about the action, right?' then you'll spend your whole life only catching 'I don't know why I caught this' squid.
Think back. When does a squid actually 'thump' onto your lure? Is it while you're jerking it around flashily? No, it's not. It's the moment you finish the jerk, pull the line taut, and the egi starts to sink quietly into the sea—the 'fall.'
Many anglers say, 'The fall is the feeding pause.' Or, 'It's simulating a weak little fish falling.'
That's naive. As naive as honey-soaked sugar. That's just a conclusion based on results, not a scientific 'reason'.
Why can squid only latch onto 'falling things' rather than 'moving things'? Why does a squid that was tracking your lure turn away just because the line bowed slightly in the wind during the fall?
The answer lies in the realms of physics and neuroscience, specifically 'ballistic calculation' and 'open-loop control.' Squid don't latch on by magic. When the 'fall' formula you've created matches their internal brain calculations, a biological 'forced execution command (fire permission)' is issued.
Today's lesson is a bit heavy. But when you finish reading this, your fall won't just be a 'break time' anymore. It should transform into a 'ritual' to dominate the squid in the water and intentionally flip their switch.
Only those who can keep up, move forward.
1. [Brain Science] Squid are high-performance, but 'calculation' takes time
You know bigfin reef squid have huge eyes, right? They have a structure like a camera lens, and their eyesight is far better than a fish's. But they have a fatal weakness. It's the 'lag (delay) between processing incoming visual information and sending commands to their muscles.'
'Chasing' and 'shooting' are different modes
Listen, when you're snapping your rod and making the egi dart left and right, the squid is just looking broadly and vaguely with the eyes on the sides of its head (monocular vision), thinking, 'What's that? Does it look tasty?' At this stage, the attack switch hasn't been flipped yet. It's just 'interest.'
But the moment the egi stops moving and enters the fall, the squid's behavior changes completely. It aligns its body directly with the target and switches to 'binocular (stereoscopic) vision mode,' focusing both eyes forward.
Why do you think they bother switching? To calculate the 'distance' and 'time to arrival.'
'Tau theory' performed in the brain
In the world of biology and psychophysics, there's something called 'Tau (τ) theory.' It's a mathematical formula that the brain uses to instantly calculate when it will make contact with a moving object based on the expansion rate of visual information.
For a squid to extend its tentacles, it has to complete this calculation. But what happens if you keep jerking the rod and moving the egi erratically? The 'variables (coordinates and speed)' to be plugged into the formula change too rapidly, and the squid's internal CPU keeps spitting out an 'error (calculation impossible)' indefinitely.
Jerk (Motion): The variables are chaotic. Even if the squid can 'follow,' it can't 'shoot' because its calculations can't keep up.
Fall (Stillness): Due to the balance of gravity and buoyancy, the egi enters 'uniform linear motion.' The variables are fixed.
The moment it reaches this 'constant speed,' the calculation clicks into place inside the squid's brain. It makes a prediction—'Okay, at this trajectory, it'll be at that position in 1.5 seconds'—and finally, the 'permission to fire' is sent from the brain to the tentacles.
In other words, the fall isn't 'time to show the squid the egi.' It's 'time to let the squid verify its calculations.' Impatient people who can't wait for this are throwing away their chances to catch anything. Got it?
2. [Physics of Tentacles] A 'ballistic missile' that can't be recalled once fired
When a squid grabs an egi, it uses its two long 'tentacles.' But do you know how these tentacles are structured? They don't have bones or joints like humans do. They are made of the same structure as an elephant's trunk or a human tongue, composed only of muscle and fluid, known as 'muscular hydrostats.'
The mechanism for extending them is to contract the muscles all at once to increase internal pressure, and then use that pressure to shoot them forward... it's essentially a 'hydraulic pump-style launcher.'
Uncontrollable 'Open-Loop Control'
This is where it gets important. When we humans grab something, we can unconsciously fine-tune our trajectory while watching our hand approach the target. This is called 'closed-loop control' (feedback control). But the tentacle strike of a bigfin reef squid is different.
According to research, their tentacle attacks are said to be 'open-loop control.' Simply put, 'once fired, you can't correct the trajectory until it hits.'
Once the trigger is pulled, even if the prey moves suddenly or is blown by the wind, the tentacles have no choice but to fly in a straight line along the trajectory calculated at the start. It is truly 'a ballistic missile without a guidance system.'
If you miss, 'death' awaits.
'It's just one missed attack, what's the big deal?' Do you think so? In the natural world, that one time can be fatal.
Waste of energy: Explosive muscle contraction consumes a massive amount of calories.
Leaving yourself wide open: It takes time (a time lag) to retract fully extended tentacles. During that interval, the squid loses its balance and becomes defenseless, risking being eaten by larger fish instead.
That is why squid have no choice but to be extremely cautious. If they feel, 'Oh, this thing is moving,' or 'It's wobbling in the wind,' they will never fire. They are too scared to shoot unless they are convinced that the coordinates are completely fixed (i.e., stable during the fall).
The job we need to do
Do you get it? If the egi is wobbling around in the waves during the fall, or if the line is being whipped by the wind causing the egi to slide sideways, to a squid, it's the same as the target randomly warping. Who would play such an impossible game?
Our job as anglers isn't to sink the egi. It's to set the stage for the squid, who is the sniper, by saying, Look, I've fixed the target (the egi) for you. It won't miss now, so fire!
A 'stable fall' is the only key to disengaging the safety mechanism in a squid's survival instinct.
3. [Fluid Science] Why is '45 degrees' the golden angle?
Watch how skilled anglers fish. Their jigging techniques vary, but the egi of someone who catches fish will, without exception, maintain a 45-degree posture underwater as it sinks. Conversely, the egi of someone who doesn't catch fish will have a scattered posture, falling head-first or drifting horizontally.
Why is this '45 degrees' the absolute correct answer? There are two reasons.
1. The only posture that simulates 'dying'
In the natural world, a fish swimming horizontally is a 'healthy one.' An object falling vertically is a 'rock' or 'trash.' So, how does dying bait move?
Its strength is spent, its swim bladder adjustment fails, and it lets its head or tail drop, drifting diagonally with the current... this is, for a predator, the ultimate 'guaranteed bonus scene where you can eat without using calories.'
In biology, there is a concept called movement cost. Bigfin reef squid, which only live for one year, extremely dislike wasting physical strength. Rather than chasing a healthy fish that is running away, picking up bait that is dying and falling diagonally has overwhelmingly better energy efficiency (cost-performance). The 45-degree angle is a sign that directly strikes the squid's instinct to 'want to fill its belly with minimal effort.'
2. The 'vacuum adhesion' problem of the suckers
There is one more physical reason. This might be even more important. At the tips of a squid's tentacles are countless suckers. Inside these suckers are hard, jagged rings called 'chitinous rings'...
Have you ever stuck a suction cup to glass? If you press it straight on from the front, it sticks, but if it hits at an angle as if sliding, the air (water) doesn't escape, so it won't stick, right?
When the egi is horizontal: If a squid tries to grab it from behind, its tentacles tend to slide off the back of the egi.
When the egi is vertical: The surface area for grabbing is too small, making it hard to hold on.
But what happens when the egi is sinking at “45 degrees”? The squid approaches from the blind spot of its prey—diagonally behind and below. At this moment, when it extends its tentacles toward the 45-degree egi, the angles align perfectly, making it easy to “vacuum-seal” and wrap around the egi.
In short, 45 degrees is the “universal design that is easiest for the squid to grab and hardest to slip off of.” If you ignore this and fish sloppily, thinking, 'I'll just drop it vertically with a free fall,' the squid will decide, 'Oh, this is hard to grab,' and cancel its attack.
“Posture” is “ease of feeding.” Don't neglect even a single angle if you want to succeed in a 0.1-second attack.
4. [Practical Fishing Theory] 'Fall Manipulation Techniques' to Turn Science into Catches
Eging falls are broadly divided into two types: 'tension fall' (keeping the line taut) and 'free fall' (letting the line go slack). Are you guys just switching between these based on your mood?
I'll teach you the scientific answer. The basic rule is “tension fall is the only choice.”
The reason why 'tension fall' is the strongest
As I mentioned earlier, squid only want to attack 'objects with fixed coordinates.' In a 'tension fall,' where you keep the line taut and let it sink while feeling the weight of the egi with the rod tip, the egi sinks while curving toward you. This trajectory is physically “an extremely stable and predictable movement.”
Posture: It keeps the head facing into the current, making it easy to maintain 45 degrees.
Calculation: Because the trajectory doesn't waver, the squid's internal CPU can easily complete the calculation: 'If I hit here, I'll connect!'
Sensitivity: The moment the squid touches it, the line is taut, so you get a 'thud' strike at your hand.
In other words, a tension fall is a “win-win relationship” for both the squid and the human.
The 'free fall' is a double-edged sword
If you ask, 'So, is free fall bad?' the answer isn't necessarily yes. But remember that it is “a gamble where you accept the risks.”
A free fall, where you let the line go slack and drop it vertically, is certainly fast at sinking. It's effective when you want to attack deep water all at once or when highly active young squid jump on it out of 'reaction.' However, because the line is slack, the egi's posture tends to become unstable, and above all, you won't feel the strikes in your hand.
If you jerk the rod without realizing the squid has grabbed the lure, and then think, 'Oh, I caught something,'... that's not eging. That's just a lucky punch. We're aiming for 'targeted' fishing, right? Then, the basic rule is to keep tension on the line.
Mastering 'line mending' to conquer the wind is everything.
Finally, I'll tell you the most important thing. 90% of people who can't catch squid while eging are too lazy with their 'line management (mending)'.
On a windy day, try letting your line fall while it's still bowing out to the side. The lure, pulled by the wind, will slide in weird directions underwater or accelerate unnaturally. What does the squid think when it sees this? 'Oh, this movement is a calculation error. Forget it.' It will stop tracking and swim away.
Once you finish your jerk, immediately tilt your rod toward the wind and lay the line on the water's surface to eliminate the wind's influence. Eliminate the 'noise (wind influence)' and send only a clear signal (a clean fall) to the squid. Only when you can do this are you standing on the playing field where you can communicate with the squid.
【Read this too】 For those lost lambs wondering, 'I understand the fall movement, but what about the color?', go review the previous lecture. If you learn about the 'monochrome world' that squid see, the lethality of your fall will double.
Summary: The fall is not 'waiting time' but an 'attack order'.
I've talked for a long time, but the conclusion is simple.
Jerk (Active): A 'call' to attract the squid and get it excited.
Fall (Passive): An 'attack order' that completes the brain's calculation and authorizes the firing of the tentacles.
Squid are clumsy snipers that can only fire 'ballistic missiles (open-loop control).' That is precisely why we, the target (the lure), need to fix the coordinates with '45 degrees' and 'tension fall' to give them the confidence that 'if it's here, I'll hit it 100%'.
From tomorrow on, you don't have time to be spacing out during the fall. Read the wind, manipulate the line, and keep sending the 'launch code' to the squid's brain. When you can do that, a heavy, unprecedented 'thud' of impact should run through your hands.
📖 Solve all your eging questions right here.
'What kind of lure should I throw next?' 'Where should I target this season?' When you're lost at the fishing spot, what you rely on isn't intuition. It's solid 'logic'.
solid 'logic'.
The following articles are an eging 'dictionary' that condenses all my know-how into 5 chapters and 21 articles. Whenever you're in trouble, come back here. The answer is always here.
▼ 【Complete Coverage】 Eging Strategy Guide | Summary of all 21 chapters
【FAQ】 Frequently Asked Questions (Science of the Fall Edition)
Finally, I will answer the questions that you pedantic folks might have in advance.
Q1. I can't feel the bites at all during the fall?
Conclusion: Don't rely on your hands. Visually track the 'line movement'.
Even with a tension fall, if a squid grabs the egi while swimming toward you (an upward bite), the line will just go slack, and you won't feel any impact in your hand. Too many people miss this. Don't rely on rod sensitivity. Line slack, tremors, sideways movement... those slight 'anomalies' are the bites. If it's night, touch the line with your fingertips to sense the slightest change.
Q2. How should I change the fall speed between shallow and deep water?
Conclusion: Decide based on the 'hang time' you want to show the squid. Leave the speed to the egi.
The basic rule is to use a 'shallow type' (slow sink) when you want to show it off slowly in shallow water, and a 'deep type' (fast sink) for deep water or strong winds. However, what matters more than the speed itself is whether you are securing enough 'hang time' for the squid to complete its calculations. The lower the activity level, the more you need to show it slowly and for a longer time to help them make up their minds.
Q3. Can squid see the posture of the fall even in the pitch-black night?
Conclusion: They see it, and they 'feel' it. You can't afford to cut corners.
Squid can identify silhouettes even with minimal light, and they also sense 'vibrations' through sensory organs similar to a lateral line. An egi falling in an unnatural posture disrupts water resistance (vibrations). Squid perceive this disturbance in vibrations as an 'anomaly.' Assume that even with zero visibility, any movement that defies the laws of physics will be exposed.