As I have put my boat on the trailer and left the fish biting down south, I've been groundfishing for cod and it has been a blast. How lucky are we when all those with boats/trailers have to do is tow a few, maybe 50-100 miles, even though I only have to go 30-35 miles east, and have just about every species of inshore fish available to catch. And these cod are tasty things. I give all the bass away I get but the cod I'm starting to stockpile and even find recipies for, yeah, me, recipies. I had cooked in over 15 restaurants in MA over 10 years but I still don't like to cook anymore as I hung up my apron 10 years ago and vowed to never set foot in a kitchen agian, but this cod is so tasty and not to mention my previous hitherto girlfriend likes it as well so that is a plus, she likes it, she really likes it.

This past beautiful fall Sunday, I was into them again, not 10 miles from the ramp, incredible that these things even exist in the water from all I had heard about overfishing. Even being in sight of land is pretty incredible as I know they are always 30+ miles out but not really this far in until this time of the year. I expect to fish at least until December for them and even into the winter if anyone is game for cold-weather fishing, but once snowmobile season starts you can find me with all the other grown men riding around in circles through the woods in New Hampshire. I found plenty of 4-8 inch lobsters in the bellies of the keepers along with all sorts of stone crabs, even baby wolffish, the little teeth on the partially digested wolffish were cool, had I thought of it I would have saved the jaws like I do the dried up tails of the big stripers I keep and the bonito for souveniers. I imagine the lobstermen must not like the cod eating all their potential catch, but it is good to see both species still in the water as it must mean only good things.

I'll be out again this Saturday and Sunday as I'm hooked on catching the things. I've had my share of black sea bass, fluke, scup, bluefish, bass, and bonito this season and all my life, it is now cod-time for me as the experience of being out this late in the season and hooking and catching the things is addiction all over again. Anyone else care to catch these things? I know this is www.striped-bass.com not www.catchsomecod.com, not a real website but I wonder if there is a codfishing website, I actually found one in the UK and it was interesting but only had a page full of posts. Funny to see their lingo/language over the pond, but was just wondering. I've yet to get into some "whale-cod" but compared to pulling 30lb bass off the bottom of a rip, these cod do hold their own, I really think that bass don't fight all that hard anyway and that bluefish make a mockery of how strong/tough bass are, and can only imagine getting 20-40 pounders in off the bottom must be some work.

Cod is about the best eating fish out there!!

I try to go every year for them, But I have not been in two seasons for boat problems and my wifes health problems.

But I have the boat ready!! I have been waiting for a report like yours to kow they are starting up!!

Were do you go out of?? Just wondering were they are right now? Boston, Cape Cod ect. ect...

Thanks for the report!!

i love big cod. when drag starts pulling off a 4/0 senator that you thought was locked down you know you're in for a fight. we fished a spot last thanksgiving and it was amazing. with the fleet of boats on that 1 little spot and the amount of whales coming over the rails it's no surpise the stocks are a mess.that day i had 2 well over sixty, a bunch 40#+ and we we throwing back 20's. wow what a memory.thanks bassy now i need to go codfishing

Get in all the trips that you can before it
is over!
Word is they will be shutting down cod fishing Nov 1
state & federal waters!

I have heard all sorts of rumors concerning the shutdown of codfishing and what date it really will be, however on the state website, it does not say there is any closed date, yet. I'll just fish for Haddock when that time comes, hopefully they come in as close as the cod but maybe they don't. In my little 22 C/C, I can't get the 30 miles offshore this time of year. Summer, no problem but in the cold it is a lot tougher staying warm. No problem knocking out 200-300 miles on the snowmobile in a day but cold weather fishing is a lot tougher on an open C/C.

I will fish for them any way!

Cod fishing in the gulf of maine for recreational fishermen is closed from November 1st to the end of February. That the federal rule, and I understand that the states are also going to follow it.

This just in from the state of MA.

October 24, 2006
MarineFisheries Advisory


COMMONWEALTH TAKES EMERGENCY ACTIONS FOR THE GULF OF MAINE RECREATIONAL COD FISHERY



The Division of Marine Fisheries (MarineFisheries) is taking emergency action to implement minimum size and possession limit restrictions in the Gulf of Maine recreational cod fishery in response to new federal rules. As of November 1, 2006 all recreational fishermen fishing in the Gulf of Maine (see map below) will be subject to a 24” cod minimum size – an increase of 2”.



Recreational fishermen will continue to be limited to the current 10-cod possession limit during

April through October, but during November through March recreational fishermen fishing from shore or aboard private vessels in the area will be allowed a 2-fish cod possession limit not to exceed 75-lbs. per vessel.



More consistent with federal rules, for-hire vessels will be prohibited from taking any cod from the Gulf of Maine during November through March. MarineFisheries and the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission determined that a complete prohibition on fishing by private anglers during the winter and spring months was not necessary to meet the Gulf of Maine’s targeted catch reduction.



For more information contact Melanie Griffin at 617.626.1528.

Thanks for the info. MakoMike, that really helps to clear things up. Things must still not be good for those cod to have to raise the size limit and limit the rec's to 2 fish from Nov.-Mar.. Oh well, at least we can keep 2 during that time and they did not close the fishery at all even though it might have been the best thing to do.

So long as it will help the fishies then so be it.

Two fish per angler and a complete closure for charter/party boats is almost the equivalent of the federal complete closure.

IMHO - Until dogfish are thinned out, groundfish have a huge uphill battle.

Somebody needs to do what they have been doing for skate and monkfish, make them taste good and get the public at large to like it. I remember fishing in the Bass River by the route 6 bridges in the late 70's/early 80's and catching those things, we would throw them in the rocks so they wouldn't eat our baits, now the stuff is more money per pound than anything out there and I haven't caught one in 20 years. Same with skate, I turned on the TV and there was some Julia Childs clone cooking up skate-fingers and they looked good. Same thing needs to be done with the dogfish.

It could very well be that someone has already taken the sand shark/dogfish and tried to make it taste good and couldn't/failed. I know I've tried it and it ain't all that bad. Not fishy tasting at all and the flesh is very white, whiter than any other fish I have seen with my own two eyes. My buddies Italian mother cooks it up in a gravy/sauce and it is good stuff, a cross between swordfish and mako. It could be that the powers to be consider them to still be endangered, if that is so, what can we do along the lines of trying to get grocery store/convenience stores to sell alcohol to try and get dogfish controlled???

There is already a big market for dogfish. The fisheries managers thought there was too much pressure so they swooped in. Just recently they have been saying maybe there is some dogs out there, and that they will open it up.

I will fish for them any way!


You can fish for all the haddock, cusk, hake, wooffish, monkfish ect...
But it may not be a good idea to get caught with cod onboard!
Not worth loosing your boat and paying the fine !

I woudn't do it any way!! But what is the word on the east and south of the Cape??

Thats different fishery I thought??

yeah thats stellwagon and jeffreys ledge, east of gloucester, i believe thats considered part of georges bank? and i hope theres not a change in keeping 10 regulation on MA waters or increase in min size, planning yankee fleet trip soon

yeah thats stellwagon and jeffreys ledge, east of gloucester, i believe thats considered part of georges bank? and i hope theres not a change in keeping 10 regulation on MA waters or increase in min size, planning yankee fleet trip soon

Stellwagon and Jeffries are in the gulf of Maine. George's bank is limited to, well, George's Bank