Fatty Cod??? And I don't mean fat looking fish, I mean a cod with a ton of fat in its gut

Roccus7

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I've left you folks alone regarding my pathetically pitiful second striper season in a row, and even if we have an excellent Chesapeake spawn this year, my woes will continue until at least 2030, but that's my cross to bear.

So what's a person to do up in Maine which doesn't have the same variety of inshore fishing that LI does? Just slap on the diamond jigs and play with the cod on the inshore humps. We do have a Sep/Oct recreational season so if you do catch one over 23", you've got your limit for the day. Yes, I've been playing with the cod on the rare, lightly winded days as of late, which has become a real rarity this fall.

Got out this morning, and regrettably, the wind was just a little bit stronger than NOAA promised, big surprise there, huh?, but it was manageable at my Plan B spot. The problem was a ton of mackerel and small pollock that made getting down to the bottom quite problematic. Well I did manage one nice 25" fish that grabbed a Captain Bob, not John, Skinner Custom for Roccus Cod Fly, so the morning wasn't a total failure.

What struck me as odd, was all the belly fat in the fish. In the hundreds of cod I've filleted in my life, I don't remember any fish with this much fat in its gut. Actually I don't remember any cod that way. The last time I've seen fat in a fish's gut is during the late bass season, late October - November on LI. Just an interesting observation...

And I don't mean fat looking fish, I mean a cod with a ton of fat in its gut...
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WRONG!!! Turns out those are sperm sacks full of milt, as cod spawn over the winter. They didn't seem tubular at all.

Bizarre that I've never seen it before considering I've been cod fishing in October for the last 16 years. Guess this guy was an early horn dog...
 
WRONG!!! Turns out those are sperm sacks full of milt, as cod spawn over the winter. They didn't seem tubular at all.

Bizarre that I've never seen it before considering I've been cod fishing in October for the last 16 years. Guess this guy was an early horn dog...
First, I am happy to see that Bob Skinner's creations are still slaying the fish throughout the Northeast!

With the declining stocks and increasingly tougher regulations, I have not been Cod fishing for many years now. On rare occasions we still see a stray caught on some of our Tog trips in the eastern Sound in November.

But, back in the day, I loved Cod fishing and would actively pursue them during our spring run off Block as welll as annual trips to Coxes Ledge each summer. I have certainly cleaned more tnan my share but never saw one like yours. Mostly crabs, lobsters, and other samll finfish in their stomachs. No doubt you caught one with other ideas on his mind!!
 

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