I've pot fished for "Grey/Pea" Cod down near Perryville/Chignik on the Alaskan Peninsula for a couple of seasons. We caught a few Octopuses as bycatch. To Rubbery for me to chew! I'll bet they stay on the hook well. Ever catch a Large Ling Cod? I was set-net fishing in Eshamy Bay/Whittier/Prince William Sound in 1998 and we pulled a very large "Wolf Eel" into the boat that was caught in the web of the net, and the Wolf Eel landed right between my legs, at my feet in the boat. Boy, did I ever jump! LOL. Wolf Eel, I believe it. LOL.

They say an Octopus is really intelligent. Watch out for their mouth. They have a "Beak" like a parrot that they use to "cut" open shellfish and what not! I wouldn't want to stick my finger in there. Ouch!

Id carry a machete

I have seen videos of free divers catching them. They grab them and bite their head to kill them. They turn white and go limp when they bite them.

Interesting

I watched a Portuguese fisherman unload his catch once. He used the clay pots on a continuous line. No bait required. The octopus goes into the pot to hide I guess.

Later, I watched a chef deep fry a whole octopus.

I prefer them raw, sliced super thin........sashimi style

Run thru the meat grinder chunks of cleaned legs for adding it to chowder, awesome

Blanch the legs for cleaning
Great halibut bait, stays on
Don't have them grab the hull of boat when longline caught, sticks on death grip to remove
We always hung them on deckrail to secure and kill with noose too
There are a couple hundred plastic weighted pots exactly same as clay pot pile with other fishing gear i know here.
Failed longline dream but wife got half dozen and make good flower containers on fence

I see they opened a targeted fishery in the Sound this year. 35K quota I think,

Trapping just a different target you can't see sign of. Talk about gambling to find

Our DEC, doesn't even know we have them, but if or when they figure it out, I'm sure they'll restrict it even though they don't over winter... Folks are likening them to your pet dog. They are even trying to stop octy aqua culture ...Cause they're "sentient creatures"

gcs , it looks like those are O vulgaris. Common octopus. What I read said 12-18 month lifespan. That’d be why not as big I guess. That figures-soon as it looks like a viable thing they’ll shut it down

There's a sweet spot on squid and cuttlefish you can hit with the side of your hand, where the head meets the body. When hit there, squid and cuttlefish die and immediately turn white too.

Keith

This is a great thread. I bet you all could clean up on them things with some black plastic field tile sections.

Ever tried to put a live octopus into a five gallon bucket? Hard to do.