How to catch Pollock

Pollock feed in 38–60°F water and bite best at 42–54°F. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows them in 1 water; in October they are at their peak in The Gulf of Maine.

20 pts · trophy at 36"Feeds 38–60°FBest 42–54°FIn season nowArtificial reefWreckLedge / hard bottom

About

The hardest-pulling fish on the Gulf of Maine ledges: a green-backed cod cousin that hits a jig on the drop and fights all the way up. Big ones over 20 pounds on the offshore banks.

How to fish it

Jig the high spots of the ledges where the current hits; they're often suspended — fish the water column, not just the bottom.

What it eats

diamond jigsshads and teasersherring

Live bait for it

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 it

Leader80–150 lb mono

Hook8/0–14/0

Braid65–100 lb

The rule

not confirmed here

Rules differ by state — check Maine DMR before you keep one.

The current rule →

Where it is, month by month

PPeakSSpawningAArriving·AroundLLeaving

Mid & North Atlantic

The Gulf of Maine

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