Summer cod

[Pighunter]

Hi lads not something I have fished for is it a waste of time till the first big tides in May?

[OuTkast76]

Worth a shot but i would try around the borders, Eyemouth and st Abbs will be your best bet with fresh crab

[david.northeast]

Fresh crab flat seas warm weather. Not slot about anywhere at the minute though

[davidhayley1945]

if the weather is warm and the sea flat you should get odd ones from eyemouth and st abbs,seahouses,or beadnell,used to get some decent Pollock from st abbs at easter as long as it was dry and the sea flat. davy.

[Pighunter]

There just seems to be nothing but small stuff every where or is it just the marks I am fishing

[davidhayley1945]

same for every one at the moment on local marks till the crabs start peeling. davy.

[Lynnzer]

same for every one at the moment on local marks till the crabs start peeling. davy.

Time to get the fly rods out then. At least the trout will still be in the river and with some sunshine we may get a decent hatch of flies to get them moving.

[berwick]

I was thinking about this the other day - Does anyone else remember a post on here a while back that was very interesting and ended up with a massive number of posts? It was regarding summer cod and whether they were a separate species, why they were never caught in winter, did they lose their colour and appear as fresh run, why did some return to the rocks, why were they coloured so etc etc.

It was very interesting reading, different theories and perspectives. Also interesting there didn’t seem to be a definitive answer.

I was thinking that if (if) the colour is due to the kelp, I say if as this was only one theory for colouring, how long does it take to take on the red. There was a catch report last year in June for a red codling. If it was red in June in may have been in amongst the kelp for a while already to take on the colouring.

That was my thought

[g-force]

I was thinking that if (if) the colour is due to the kelp, I say if as this was only one theory for colouring, how long does it take to take on the red. There was a catch report last year in June for a red codling. If it was red in June in may have been in amongst the kelp for a while already to take on the colouring.

That was my thought

I'd been told a while back that cod can change colour pretty quickly, so during the winter tried a little experiment when I had a just undersize codling off St Mary's during the daytime. I released it into a nice weedy, kelpy pool whilst I carried on fishing - when I packed in about two hours later I waded in to flush him out and found that it had already changed from it's original pale green to a deep golden orange. Mind you, cod are nowhere near the flounder when it comes to being masters of adapting to their surroundings...



Gary

[berwick]

Very interesting Gary, I had no idea the colour change was that quick!

I am off work for a week at the end of this month and I am planning to fish the rocks and see what is about

[g-force]

Just to add, there were a couple of instances this winter, when fishing club matches, that lads had caught cod from the weeds that were pretty dark brown when weighed in - however, when photographed at home an hour or two later had changed back to green (despite being dead for a short while!) - they looked like different fish.

Gary

[rt6693]

I'm currently up Eyemouth and haven't had anything over the last 3 days on marks I know produce cod, just not happening at the minute

[lead chucker]

Maybe it isn't that they colour changes with time and the kelp rubbing against them, maybe they change to environment like a camileon, so when fish died it slowly changed to normal colour when its brain and instincts died??.

[codcatcher3000]

BBC Four - Weird Nature, Devious Defences, Checkmate pretty cool vid