Atlantic cod

Quick facts

How to identify it

A heavy, deep-bodied fish with a large head, a protruding upper jaw, a single prominent chin barbel and three separate dorsal fins with two anal fins – the classic gadid outline. The colour varies with the ground from greenish or sandy brown over sand to reddish brown over weed and rock, always with dense dark speckles, a pale, curved lateral line and a white belly. Haddock has a black thumbprint above the pectoral fin and a black lateral line; pollack and coalfish have a tiny or absent barbel and a straighter, darker profile. The freshwater burbot is its only inland relative and shares the single chin barbel.

Where it lives

Cod live across the North Atlantic from the Bay of Biscay and the North Sea to Iceland, Greenland and northern Norway, and a distinct, brackish-tolerant stock lives in the Baltic. They are cold-water fish, happiest at 2–10 °C, and are found from a few metres deep in the winter surf to 200 m and beyond over the shelf. Anglers meet them over rough ground: wrecks, reefs, kelp edges, mussel beds, gullies between sandbanks and the deep holes off rocky headlands. In summer they are mostly offshore in deep, cool water; in autumn and winter they move inshore, and on the Norwegian coast big fish can be caught from the rocks all year. Fjord mouths and tide races with a hard bottom are prime spots.

Season and behaviour

Cod spawn from January to April in deep water; the famous skrei run brings mature fish to the northern Norwegian coast in late winter. For shore anglers the season is autumn and winter: from October to March the fish follow the cooling water inshore, feeding on crabs, worms, shellfish and small fish stirred up by storms, and a big onshore blow followed by a coloured, settling sea is the classic cod tide. Boat anglers fish wrecks and reefs from spring to autumn, when the fish sit deeper. Cod feed around the clock but bite best in low light and on a moving tide, and after dark from the beach. They are opportunists with enormous mouths and will engulf almost any bait presented on the bottom.

Fishing methods

From the shore, bottom fishing with a beach rod of 3.6–4.5 m, a 100–170 g grip lead and a pulley or clipped-down rig carrying a size 2/0–4/0 hook is the standard; long casts help, but cod often feed in the surf at your feet, so fish both distances. From a boat, pirking – jigging a 100–500 g metal pirk close to the bottom – is the classic Norwegian and North Sea method, usually with two or three coloured rubber tubes or twister tails on droppers above it. Over shallower reefs, large soft plastics of 15–25 cm on 40–150 g jig heads, worked slowly along the bottom, now often outfish pirks. Braided line of 0.20–0.30 mm gives the bite detection and hook-set needed at depth; add a strong fluorocarbon or mono leader for abrasion.

Baits and lures

Cod eat almost anything: lugworm and ragworm, peeler crab, mussel, razor clam, squid and fish strips are the shore staples, and a cocktail of worm tipped with squid is the classic winter bait. Big baits catch big fish – a whole squid or a mackerel fillet on a 4/0 hook is not too much. On the boat, pirks in silver, red-and-black or chartreuse, dressed with rubber tubes, imitate herring and sandeel, and big paddle-tail shads in red, orange or motor-oil colours work when the fish are near the bottom. Scent counts in coloured water, so keep bait fresh.

Tips from the bank

1. 01Fish the beach on the first calm day after an onshore storm, when the sea is still coloured and full of stirred-up food.
2. 02From the shore, fish one rod at distance and one just behind the surf – winter cod often feed within 30 m.
3. 03Use big baits and big hooks; a cod's mouth swallows a whole squid, and small baits attract small fish.
4. 04On the boat, let the pirk hit bottom, lift it 1–2 m and drop it again – most bites come as it falls.
5. 05Add a bright rubber tube or twister on a dropper above the pirk; cod often take the dropper before the pirk.
6. 06Braided main line is essential at depth – with mono you will not feel the bite or set the hook at 50 m.
7. 07Check the current rules before keeping a fish; cod limits change every year in several countries.

Where to catch Atlantic cod

Waters where Shoalmap's fishing reports list Atlantic cod.

• Sea

Related species

• Atlantic mackerel
  Scomber scombrus

  The fast, striped shoal fish that lights up summer coasts.

• Conger eel
  Conger conger

  The night-hunting heavyweight of rocks, harbour walls and wrecks.

• Burbot
  Lota lota

  The only freshwater cod — a cold-water night hunter that bites best in winter.

• European seabass
  Dicentrarchus labrax

  The silver predator of surf, rocks and estuaries — Europe's premier shore game fish.

Frequently asked questions