Montauk Cod Methods

[Leif]

The cod are coming this way so get ready. Last year, it was around the middle of January when the fishing got hot. Here are some tips I put together for codfishing out of Montauk and the Block Island area.

Over the past few years the codfish have been on the rebound. Tight restrictions put on the species in the New England area have started to pay off and the prolific cod is starting to re-appear in numbers.
Some of these fish have been filtering down to areas not far from Block Island RI and Montauk NY.


The codfishing has also improved in N.J. as some of these fish have trickled down and taken up residence on the local and off shore wrecks that exist 20-50 miles off our coast. Some cod have also made an appearence on the farms in the spring and are occasionally caught fishing for blackfish and ling. Hopefully the trend will continue and we will able to continue to target this fine fish.

With that being said, I have had a lot of questions regarding cod and cod fishing in different areas, specifically Montauk.

This post will primarily deal with Party boat techniques in that area with respect to the codfish that have been invading that area in Mid January, February and March.

This is typically not wreck fishing. You are typically drifting over "piles" or "pods" of fish that are actively feeding on herring or mackerel. They have the feed bag on and are getting ready to spawn. These fish are not line shy and will agressively engulf large (7/0-8/0) hooks baited with clams and can be taken on jigs as well.

Sounds easy, right??? It is if you are prepared. You need to be prepared because the "bite" does not last all day long in most cases. Without the proper gear and rigs you may only end up with a few cod, instead of your limit. You may use what you like and these fish can be hooked on almost anything, but to be more efficient and productive I recommend the following.

Rod
I recommend a heavy 8ft 30-60lb cod rod or the like.

Why? This is not light tackle fishing and you are on a Party boat. You will be using 10-20 oz. sinkers.
These fish are generally under 20lbs and most are 5-10lbs. You want to be able to lift these fish into the boat, unhook them and send the rig back down. You need a heaver rod for that and in some cases you will be dealing with double headers.

Reel

I recommend a Penn 4/0 sized reel loaded with 40-50lb mono. line or 65-85lb braid. This reel will match the rod you are using and make life easy for you.

Why? Cranking up two ten pound cod with a twelve ounce sinker from 100-160ft of water with this type of reel makes it that much easier. Why the heavier braid??? In the cold, it is much easier to untangle 85lb braid, take my word for it.

Rigs

Again for the most part, you will be drifting on pods or piles of cod. When drifting or in a currrent, I recommend a two hook rig with swivels attached to the hooks. (see tangle free cod rig to right ) The rig is aproximately 40 inches long and has two 8/0 O'Shaunessy hooks equiped with 8in curlytail grubs in pink, white, chartreuse or blue and white. The hooks are looped onto 6inch droppers and 80lb test mono is used.

Why? The swivels prevent any twisting of the rig while fishing and cod will twist while being brought to the surface. The less time dealing with "fouled" rigs, the more fishing time. The swivels will also allow a natural presentation of the bait and the curly tail grub will provide enticement.

Note...Bring traditional cod rigs as well. Often the boat will anchor when the bite slows and in those cases a rig without all the bells and whistles may work better.

Jigs

When the action slows I have found jigging to be productive. Bring 10-24oz hammered and Viking jigs tied on 80lb leader with a teaser. I have seen much success with a sliver and blue teaser on the bottom hook of the jig as the flash imitates a mackerel or herring.

Leif

[jmurr711]

forgot to tell me when we're going!

[John_Henderson]

Good post Leif, but I think that since this is a post for beginners mostly you might want to mention the worms that often infest the fillets. I know they were a big surprise to me my first trip up there. I know you can pick em out and that they're not dangerous if cooked, but they are worth being aware of. Also, I always like to get to the boats a good bit early, because the bunks often fill up fast, and when the bite is hot, space is often at a premium. One more thing that got me the first trip up is that I didn't bring a big enough cooler. At 10 fish a person, if you have a couple of guys you will fill a 100 qt cooler up pretty quickly. See you up there.

[Leif]

Originally Posted by John_Henderson

Good post Leif, but I think that since this is a post for beginners mostly you might want to mention the worms that often infest the fillets. I know they were a big surprise to me my first trip up there. I know you can pick em out and that they're not dangerous if cooked, but they are worth being aware of. Also, I always like to get to the boats a good bit early, because the bunks often fill up fast, and when the bite is hot, space is often at a premium. One more thing that got me the first trip up is that I didn't bring a big enough cooler. At 10 fish a person, if you have a couple of guys you will fill a 100 qt cooler up pretty quickly. See you up there.

Excellent points John. Very important to say the least. Thanks for sharing those. Hopefully it will be a good run.


Leif

[Slacker]

1. What is the recommended cooler size if fishing alone? I don't want to lug some huge casket unless I have to.

2. With that 2 hook grub rig, what is at the end of it... sinker, jig or is either one OK?

3. Stupid question, but with the grub rig, does it get sweetened with a clam strip or do you just fish straight plastic? Do you fish it only when drifting or also at anchor?

4. Are these fish always down in the bottom 5' of the water column or are they sometimes at mid-depths?

5. I have an 8' Lami telephone pole that meets your specifications. If I wanted to also bring a lighter rod, how light can I go? Is a 7', 20-40# rated enough stick for the average cod trip? (seems like more than enough for a 10-30# fish but if I knew, I wouldn't be asking)

Thanks.

[TAB95]

Thanks for the tips.. Looking late Jan or early Feb Montauk bound
________
Littlebutterfyfor4

[Leif]

Originally Posted by Slacker

1. What is the recommended cooler size if fishing alone? I don't want to lug some huge casket unless I have to.

2. With that 2 hook grub rig, what is at the end of it... sinker, jig or is either one OK?

3. Stupid question, but with the grub rig, does it get sweetened with a clam strip or do you just fish straight plastic? Do you fish it only when drifting or also at anchor?

4. Are these fish always down in the bottom 5' of the water column or are they sometimes at mid-depths?

5. I have an 8' Lami telephone pole that meets your specifications. If I wanted to also bring a lighter rod, how light can I go? Is a 7', 20-40# rated enough stick for the average cod trip? (seems like more than enough for a 10-30# fish but if I knew, I wouldn't be asking)

Thanks.

Slacker,

1) Bring a cooler big enough to fit 10 cod in it 94 quart

2) At the end of the 2 hook grub rig is a sinker 10-20 oz

3) Not stupid...fish the rig with clams, I use a half a clam on each hook or a whole one if I can. You can fish the rig on the drift or on the anchor. Most of the time you drift over the piles of fish.

4) The fish are mostly on the bottom but can come up following the herring.

5) 8 ft Lami is great. You can use lighter 7ft 20-50 heavy as long as you use 30-40lb mono or 65-80lb braid.

I made the following suggestions because I have found they are the most productive.

You can use almost anything and I have seen guys using all kinds of tackle out there.....BUT in most cases on a somewhat crowed Party Boat, the above recommendations will increase you chances. You will get the fish in quicker, have less tangles and wind up with fish in the cooler.

Thanks for the questions and GOOD LUCK!!

Go get em.

Leif

[peterb]

I have done about 12 Cod trips to Montauk over the past several years (including 7 last year alone).

During this time I learned a lot about Cod fishing.

Leif's comments are right on. Here are a couple of additional points:

• If possible bring 2 rods (1 for clam and 1 for jgging). I usually start out with the clam rod but I am ready to switch to jigging at the drop og a hat.
• Bring plenty of plastic grubs, worms and squids. My favorite colors, are pink, white and blue, but I bring other colors as well. There are days when one color out produces all other colors.
• If the bite is on, jigging is a lot more fun. If you are going to jig learn the different techniques (squidding, pounding the bottom and etc). These can be seen on utube.
• Whenever I take one of the Montauk party boats I will bring a beanbag chair. It is a great place to crash on the 3 hour ride out and ride back.
• I am a big believer in bleeding fish. I will bring a 7 gallon bleeding bucket and will fill it with fresh salt water. As soon as I catch a cod I bleed it.
• Most importantly, if you drive to Montauk, on the way back stop at Wok and Roll (in Montauk). For a fair price they will cook up some of your cod and it is fantastic.
  
  Good luck out there
  

Peter

[BigBassJim]

Lief question. I got one of those tsunami jigging rods 20-50, 1-6 oz but i jig up to 10 oz with it*this is my primary jigging rod* i had bass up to 27lb on it and cod up to 10 lbs, good idea to bring it or should i just go with the 30-80lb jigging rod i have which is what i use for smaller bluefins.

[Leif]

Originally Posted by BigBassJim

Lief question. I got one of those tsunami jigging rods 20-50, 1-6 oz but i jig up to 10 oz with it*this is my primary jigging rod* i had bass up to 27lb on it and cod up to 10 lbs, good idea to bring it or should i just go with the 30-80lb jigging rod i have which is what i use for smaller bluefins.

You can get them on the 20-50, as you said. I prefer the heavier rod and have used the 30-80 penn torque successfully in Mass. Jigging cod with heavy jigs.
Again, on most of these trips you are drifting on piles or pods of cod with bait on the bottom. The heavy rod comes in handy when flipping a 10 lb cod over the rail with 12 oz of lead. The mates are generally not gaffing these fish. If you can't lift it you are waiting at the rail for the gaff.

I have seen some fisherman do well on jigs at times on these trips. If you jig be sure to bring blue and silver and white teasers and jigs, They immitate the Herring and Macks and really outfish other colors.

Leif