Newfoundland Cod and Mackerel: Northeast Coast Fishing Report - Conception Bay to Bonavista cover art

Newfoundland Cod and Mackerel: Northeast Coast Fishing Report - Conception Bay to Bonavista

Newfoundland Cod and Mackerel: Northeast Coast Fishing Report - Conception Bay to Bonavista

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Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Newfoundland coastal fishing report. Along the northeast coast from Conception Bay up toward Bonavista, we’ve got a cool, damp early start. Marine forecasts from Environment Canada call for light to moderate southwest winds this morning, 10–15 knots along much of the coast, easing midday, with a low chop and a lingering swell from the northeast. Skies are mostly overcast with pockets of drizzle, clearing a bit this afternoon. Air temps are hanging in the single digits Celsius early and pushing low teens later. Good fishin’ weather if you don’t mind a bit of damp. Sunrise came just after 5 a.m. local, with sunset set for just before 9 p.m., so you’ve got a long window to work the tides. Tide tables for St. John’s and surrounding harbours show a mid‑morning high and an evening low, with a decent push of water on both ends. That flood tide late morning into early afternoon should light things up around points, harbour mouths, and any pinch where current squeezes through. Cod have been the main story. Reports from local skippers out of Petty Harbour, Bay Bulls, and up toward Old Perlican say scattered but steady catches of keeper‑sized cod on the inshore grounds, especially on broken bottom in 80–150 feet. Fish are holding tight to bait balls of capelin and sand lance. Best producers have been simple rigs: 4–6 oz Norwegian‑style jigs in chartreuse/white, pink/white, or straight silver, tipped with a sliver of salted mackerel. A few boats are doing well with plain baited hooks on spreader bars, but jigs are out‑fishing bait when the tide’s running. Mackerel have been spotty but improving. Anglers casting from wharves in Conception Bay South and around Brigus and Cupids report small schools sliding in on the flood, mostly hand‑sized fish with the odd bigger one mixed in. Sabiki rigs in size 6–8, or small shiny spoons like a 1/2 oz Kastmaster‑style, are the ticket. If the water looks “nervous” with birds picking, get a cast into the commotion and let it sink a bit before a quick, erratic retrieve. Trout anglers working the coastal ponds and short barrens brooks near the shore—from Pouch Cove up through Torbay and out around the Bonavista Peninsula—are seeing decent runs of sea‑trout and small resident browns and specks. The cool, grey day has them feeding shallow. Best baits have been modest: single salmon eggs, small earthworms, and tiny spinners in silver or copper. Fly fishers are moving fish on simple wet patterns: Black Ghost, Muddler Minnow, and small olive or black Woolly Buggers swung just below the surface riffles. A few folks drifting closer to the Strait of Belle Isle and down the northern peninsula are reporting early signs of capelin rolling on some beaches, though it’s scattered. When that really kicks off, expect everything—cod, mackerel, even the odd big sea‑run trout—to stack tight to the shorelines at dawn and dusk. Have small white bucktail jigs and 3–4 inch soft plastics ready for that show. If you’re looking for hot spots today, I’d keep an eye on: • Outer Conception Bay – around Bell Island edges and off Harbour Main, working the drop‑offs and humps in 80–140 feet on the mid‑morning flood for cod and the odd ling. • Bonavista Bay headlands – points and rocky ledges near Keels and Amherst Cove, especially where there’s visible current, for mixed cod and pollock on jigs, plus a shot at mackerel when birds start working. Overall, fish activity should peak around the tide changes—first light flood for inshore cod and mackerel, and late‑day as the evening low sets up is prime time for trout in the streams and ponds. That’s your Newfoundland coast fishing rundown from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn
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