UTER
Photo: Wilhelm Thomas Fiege, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Gadus morhua
How to catch Atlantic cod
Atlantic cod feed in 36–58°F water and bite best at 40–52°F. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows them in 3 waters; in October they are at their peak in The Gulf of Maine.
25 pts · trophy at 40"Feeds 36–58°FBest 40–52°FIn season nowArtificial reefWreckLedge / hard bottom
About
The fish that built New England: once in every party boat's box, now a short and tightly managed season on the Gulf of Maine ledges and the winter wrecks off Rhode Island. A 30-pounder is a fish to remember.
How to fish it
A diamond jig with a teaser above it bounced on the ledge, or clams on a bottom rig over the wreck, in 80–250 ft.
What it eats
clamsdiamond jigssquidteasers
Live bait for it
SquidStrips on a bottom rig for snapper, grunts and porgies; whole on a deep-drop rig.HerringCut-plug for salmon: head off at an angle, guts out, two hooks in tandem so it spins slow behind a flasher or a banana weight. Whole and live on a circle hook for stripers where the herring run.
Sand eelsFree-lined or on a light jig head for stripers, fluke and bluefish; strips teased on a fluke rig.
What to fish it with
the sizes that fish itLeader80–150 lb mono
Hook8/0–14/0
Braid65–100 lb
The rule
not confirmed hereRules differ by state — check NOAA Fisheries (federal Gulf of Maine and Southern New England cod rules) before you keep one.
The current rule →Where it is, month by month
PPeakSSpawningAArriving·AroundLLeaving
Mid & North Atlantic