Avalon Trout Hot, Capelin Watch On, Cod Staging Tight to Bottom

This is Artificial Lure with your Newfoundland coastal fishing report. We’ll start on the Avalon. Along Conception Bay this morning you’re looking at light southwest winds, cool single‑digit temps, and a low ceiling with pockets of drizzle. Marine forecasts from Environment Canada call for calm to slight seas inshore, so smaller boats can pick their windows. Sunrise hit around a quarter to six, with sunset near 8:45 this evening, giving you a long stretch of workable light. Tides around St. John’s and Conception Bay are on the modest side today, with a higher high in the late afternoon. The best bite is lining up with that flooding tide: mid‑morning push and again a couple hours before dark. The water’s still cold, so fish are hugging structure and edges rather than roaming the open. Trout anglers have been doing well in the ponds and brooks feeding into the coast from Bay de Verde down to Witless Bay. Local reports out of Salmonier Line and the ponds above Holyrood say pan‑sized speckled trout are taking small silver and copper spinners, size 0–2, and classic worms under a light float. Fly fishers swinging small olive and black woolly buggers, plus traditional Newfoundland patterns like Blue Charm and Silver Doctor, are picking up steady fish in the evenings when the wind lays. Inshore cod is still on the quiet side outside of the official recreational season, but people keeping an eye on the grounds off Bell Island and Cape St. Francis are marking scattered fish tight to bottom in 120–180 feet. When the time comes, plan on 3–6 oz Norwegian jigs in silver, blue, or pink, or simple baited hooks with mackerel strip. For now, many are focusing on flatfish: good numbers of dab and the odd grey sole coming out of the sandy patches off Holyrood and Portugal Cove, with squid strips and clam doing the trick. Farther west, the southwest coast around Burgeo and Port aux Basques is seeing a bit more life. Local skippers out of Channel are talking about small runs of mackerel starting to show when the sun gets up on clear days, especially when the wind swings light northwest. Try 3–4 hook mackerel rigs in green/white or blue/silver, and keep a small metallic casting lure handy for when they push bait to the surface. Capelin are still staging offshore, but folks from Trepassey to St. Mary’s Bay are watching the beaches closely; once that water warms just a touch, the whole food chain will light up. When the capelin roll, keep your gear simple: small spoons, tiny soft plastics on 1/4 oz jig heads, and fresh capelin strips will catch everything from cod to the incidental sea‑run trout. For bait, you can’t beat fresh or salted mackerel, squid, or clam for bottom species. Lure‑wise, think subtle and slow: smaller jigs, natural colours, and keep your presentation close to bottom. The water is clear enough that anything too flashy or aggressive is turning some fish off. Couple of hotspots to keep in mind: – Conception Bay around Kellys Island and Bell Island edges, working the drop‑offs on the flood tide for mixed flatfish and prospecting for early cod. – The Burin Peninsula coves near Marystown and Spanish Room, where sheltered waters are warming a bit quicker and producing good trout and the odd early mackerel. That’s the word from the water around Newfoundland today. This is Artificial Lure wishing you tight lines and safe runs. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn