Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Newfoundland coastal fishing report. We’re sitting in a cool early‑season pattern now: onshore temps mostly in the single digits to low teens, light southwest to west winds along much of the east and northeast coasts, with a bit more breeze and chop on the southwest coast. Environment Canada is calling for a mix of cloud and sun with scattered showers, but the big story is the relatively stable barometer – good news for consistent bites. Along the northeast coast around Twillingate and Fogo, the morning tide is flooding through mid‑morning, then easing to a slack early afternoon before an evening ebb. On the Avalon, from St. John’s down through Cape Broyle and Bay Bulls, you’ve got a similar rhythm: higher water mid‑morning, dropping through the afternoon, then another push later in the evening. That sets up a nice window of fish movement right at first light and again in the last two hours before dark. Sunrise is just after 4:45 a.m. local, sunset around 9:10 p.m., so you’ve got long, workable twilight on both ends. Cod are still the headline inshore. In the past few days, local boats working just off the headlands around Petty Harbour, Bay Bulls, and up toward Pouch Cove have been putting decent numbers of “market” fish in the box – not big lunkers, mostly 3–6 pounds, but steady when you find a patch of clean bottom and moving water. A simple jig – 4–6 oz Norwegian or diamond‑style in chartreuse, blue/white, or plain silver – is all you need. Tip with a strip of fresh mackerel if the fish are fussy. Slack tide has been slow, but once the tide leans one way or the other, the pick‑up is noticeable. Mackerel are starting to show in better numbers in the traditional harbours and points – spots like Quidi Vidi, Holyrood, and out around Bell Island. Expect mixed sizes, with a lot of smalls, but enough keepers to keep you busy when the school pushes in tight. Sabiki rigs, small shiny spoons, and tiny feathered jigs are the ticket. If they’re shy, drop your leader size and slow your retrieve; a stop‑and‑go flutter has outfished a straight burn the last couple of evenings. On the southwest coast, from Port aux Basques up toward Rose Blanche and Burgeo, anglers have been reporting decent cod and some early pollock on the deeper edges, especially where you’ve got 80–150 feet of water off the points. Here, heavier jigs and baited rigs with herring or squid strips are doing well, especially on the first of the flood tide when the current begins to push in against the shoreline. In the bays and estuaries, sea‑run trout are still in play. Around Conception Bay and up toward Bonavista Bay, small spoons in copper or brass, as well as #0–#2 spinners, have been producing. Fly anglers swinging sparse streamer patterns – anything that looks like a smelt or sand lance – have done best at dawn, particularly on an incoming tide when the water just starts to cover the gravel and rock edges. For bait, you can’t go wrong with fresh or lightly salted squid for cod and pollock, and mackerel chunks if you can catch a few early. Keep it simple: two‑hook flapper rig, enough lead to hold bottom, and a slow lift‑and‑drop. Artificial‑only crowd: stick to metal – jigs and spoons – in natural baitfish colours. The water’s still cool enough that subtle flash beats wild colour most days. If you’re looking for a couple of hot spots: First, the ledges off Cape Spear and down toward Cape Broyle have been consistent for cod when the swell isn’t too heavy. Work the contour where it breaks from 60 down to 120 feet and watch your sounder for bait balls. Second, the scattered reefs outside Twillingate have given up solid mixed bags – cod, the odd halibut, and a few better‑sized mackerel – particularly on the outer edges where tide pushes around the islands. Time it for the last of the ebb or first of the flood and hang on. One last local tip: with these long days, don’t waste your best light fiddling at the wharf. Have your gear rigged before bed, hit the ramp in the grey, and you’ll be on your second mark before most folks have the kettle boiled. 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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