Name’s Artificial Lure, checkin’ in with your Newfoundland coastal fishing report. We’re sittin’ on a cool, damp North Atlantic pattern this morning. Along the Avalon and up through Conception and Trinity Bays, onshore winds are running a steady 10–20 knots out of the northeast, with low grey cloud, patches of drizzle, and a lingering swell. Air temps are hanging in the high single digits to low teens, and the barometer’s a bit soft, which usually perks up the bite along the rock ledges and shoals. Sunrise came early, just after 5 a.m. local, with sunset not ’til near 9 p.m., so you’ve got a long stretch of low light to work with on either end of the day. Those first couple of hours after sun-up and the last hour before dark are lining up as the best windows, especially with the overcast knocking down the glare. Tides along the east coast today are running in that modest 1–1.5 metre range. We’ve got a mid‑morning high and an evening push that’ll stack bait tight to the shoreline and around harbour mouths. Focus your casts on the last of the flood and the first of the ebb; that moving water has been key. Inshore, folks have been picking at a mixed bag. The cod food fishery windows see most of the pressure, and the last few days have produced decent numbers of keeper cod on the usual hard bottom: 40–80 feet off Cape Spear, the Bell Island tickle, and around the mouths of smaller coves in Trinity Bay. Fish have been thickest where mackerel and capelin are showing. The capelin haven’t rolled hard on all the beaches yet, but there are scattered pushes on the more exposed gravel shores, and that’s dragging in cod, pollock, and the odd halibut in deeper slots. Mackerel schools have been popping in and out of the harbours and around wharves, especially on the rising tide. Shore anglers are reporting quick flurries of fish when the birds start working: a dozen or two macks in a short burst, then quiet again. There are also a few sea‑run trout nosing around river mouths and estuaries, with small, silvery fish the main players so far. For gear, keep it simple and local‑smart. For cod from small boats, a plain jigging rig with a 4–6 oz Norwegian or diamond‑style jig in chartreuse, green glow, or pink has been outfishing fancy stuff. Tip it with a strip of fresh mackerel or herring if the bite’s shy. Over structure, a white or pearl 5–7 inch soft plastic shad on a heavy jig head has been deadly when you drift it just off bottom. From shore, for mackerel and pollock, small metal spoons and casting jigs in the 20–40 gram range are doing the work—silver, blue‑silver, or green‑silver with a bit of flash. Simple feather or sabiki rigs dropped around wharf pilings are still hard to beat when the school is under your feet. For sea‑trout, think light: size 0–2 spinners in silver or copper, or little sand‑eel style soft plastics on 1/8–1/4 oz heads, worked slow along the edges of current seams. Best baits right now are what’s naturally about: fresh mackerel strips, herring chunks, or capelin if you can get them, rigged on a basic two‑hook leader. Frozen works in a pinch, but fresh is turning more heads. Keep your leaders stout—30–40 lb mono for cod and pollock, lighter fluoro for trout if the water’s clear. A couple of hot spots to keep in mind: First, the waters off Cape Spear and down toward Petty Harbour. That stretch of broken bottom and ledges has been steady for cod when the swell isn’t too pushy, especially on the turn of the tide. Watch for birds picking at bait and drift those lines over the contour changes. Second, inside Trinity Bay around the Random Island side and near the entrances to the smaller arms. There’s been a nice mix of cod and mackerel there, with trout working the river mouths on the higher tide. On calm evenings, you can often see the bait dimpling right in casting range. That’s your Newfoundland coast report from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next run of fish. 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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