Once again the time is nearing towards the opening of the 2022 Newfoundland Recreational Cod Fishery season. If you’re a local you already know what it’s all about or certainly know people who do. This is the time of year when everyone’s excitement for tight lines and crystal clear waters grows exponentially.
Everyone is hungry for a feed of fresh cod, and when the season opens the bays throughout Newfoundland will fill with residents and non-residents alike, fishing for Cod with traditional cod jiggers and rods from an open boat. If you’ve never been jigging for cod in Newfoundland you’re really missing out on a world-class experience. I mean yes, the fish is amazing, but the experience on the water is even better.
What dates is the 2022 Newfoundland recreational cod fishery open?
Last year the 2021 Newfoundland Recreational Cod Fishing Season was open for 39 days and saw a lot of participation. The fine weather of last summer coupled with significant uptake in outdoor activities made the Newfoundland recreational Cod Jigging season one of the most popular activities and for good reason. Jigging your own cod with a traditional Newfoundland jigger from an open boat with your friends and family taking part in the cod jigging is a favorite pastime and super popular summertime activity. If you’ve never jigged for cod, you really need to get out there and experience it during this 2022 Newfoundland Recreational Cod Fishing Dates.
The dates for this summer’s food fishery have finally been announced.
The fishery will be open for 39 days, on every Saturday, Sunday, and Monday starting July 2 and running through the summer until September 5.
Another fall fishery will open from September 24 to October 2. The daily bag limit is five groundfish per day, with a maximum boat limit of 15 fish when three or more people are fishing.
Cod Jigging in Newfoundland is about more than Cod Fishing
The bycatch of all the fun is access to some of the highest quality groundfish on the planet, and it only takes one bite of supper that evening to confirm our last statement. Newfoundland Cod is prised for its top quality and taste all over the world, but the activity itself is magical. It’s an opportunity to spend time with friends, see icebergs, puffins, whales, and experience what Newfoundland was founded on.
Why is Newfoundland the perfect spot for Cod Fishing?
As if the thousands of miles of coastline surrounding Newfoundland didn’t make this Atlantic Canadian province iconic enough, Newfoundland is situated at the perfect spot, where the warm Gulf Stream mixes with the cold Labrador Current, one of the big reasons this part of the globe is so rich in marine life. People from all over the world used to embark on major ocean crossings from Europe every year just to be able to fish here in Newfoundland. There is no other fishing ground on earth that comes even close.
What dates is 2022 ocean fishing in Newfoundland open?
Catch and release Ocean Fishing in Newfoundland is open every day of the year. On top of this, there is a healthy ice fishing season for trout and smelt, a world-famous salmon angling season, and an average of 40 days when you can keep up to 5 Newfoundland cod per person and 15 cod per boat throughout the 2022 recreational cod fishing and food fishery season.
The 2022 Newfoundland Anglers Guide
In Newfoundland, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is responsible for managing all fishing activities in the province. When looking for specific information on fishing in Newfoundland and Labrador, from shellfish to salmon, recreational and commercial, you can find the most detailed information in the 2022 Newfoundland Anglers Guide on the Newfoundland Department of Fisheries and Oceans website where dates and updates and posted in real-time.
The Fisheries and Oceans website itself can get a little overwhelming with the voluminous database of information it contains, but if you want to geek out on everything angling, this is the place.
Official 2022 Recreational Cod Fishery Dates Release
While we’re still waiting for the official announcement from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans on the exact 2021 Newfoundland recreational Cod Fishery and Newfoundland groundfish food fishery dates to be released, our inside sources are telling us to expect something similar to what happened last year.
The 2022 recreational cod and groundfish fishery dates will most likely be open weekly throughout July and August 2022 from Saturday to Monday and fishing times will be limited to daylight hours only. We also expect catch limits to remain what they have been in years past, which is 5 fish per person per day and 15 fish maximum per boat. Want to be notified as soon as the official 2022 Cod Fishing dates are released? Follow the Whale House Guest House Twitter for updates, news, travel tips, and more.
Newfoundland Recreational Cod Fishery Tips
When jigging for cod during the 2022 recreational cod fishery, it’s important to keep in mind what a privilege it is to have this kind of resource at our doorstep. Newfoundland has one of the richest fishing grounds on our planet, which means it’s both a resource to enjoy and protect. Rules of cod jigging include keeping what you catch, be it big or small, pack out what you pack in, ensuring everyone is safe, and never overfishing.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is responsible for ensuring the Newfoundland recreational cod fishery is managed properly, and part of that is enforcement which includes covert surveillance and stiff penalties for rule-breakers, so be sure you enjoy yourself and follow guidelines to maximize your enjoyment of the 2022 Newfoundland cod jigging season.
Do you have a fish tale of jigging for cod in Newfoundland? Do you have a favourite bay or technique? Please share your experience with us in the comments below.
21 Responses
I lived in
Curling. NFLD in 1946 and 47. My Dad worked for Curling Fisheries, Curling. One day doing back to school there was quite a comossion ot the wharf. a bunch of men were jiggng for cod off the side if the wharf. the line could hardly hit the water but a cod would bite an it wouid be slung aboard. John , now in Burlington,Ont.
That is the best ideal i have read regarding the food fishery .
Thursday to Tuesday would be a great idea for locals and Come Himers in 2022
It should be as stated…a food fishery for residents only. Not for guys to come from toronto and load up their truck and sell all there catch in ontario. I know because i could buy it when i lived there..
I think it it should be open a couple of weeks strait for people coming home for couple weeks holidays so they could get out on the water more than just the weekends
It is utterly ridiculous that the cod fishery is only open on weekends. In 2021 it seemed that mother nature saved all the windy days for the weekends, on the east coast. When the fishery opens for fishers on July 23rd, they set their nets on the prime fishing grounds so at that point your pretty much out of luck to get any fish. As it stands now, we will have nine days to fish before the ground is covered with gillnets. The gill net fishery is open until November so no chance of getting fish during the fall fishery either. Open it up and leave it open.
Just wondering why cod fishing is so different from others recreational sports rabbit’s game birds salmon and moose hunting it’s just not open weekend only but cod is it my knowledge of cod lacking or the people we hires to make decisions on our behalf as a tax payer makes you wonder
I think the announcement should be made known to the public by at least June 1st. People take their holidays, based on the recreational fishery. Those people who are applying for a disabled permit will be told there is a backlog and the fishery will be half over again before they get permission. I know this from experience.
the 3 day weekend, is not so good, MONDAY is an holiday onLy 3 times during the summer FISHERY ,therefore the people that can’t go out from TUESDAY to FRIDAY ,also can’t go out on MONDAY.iT would be much better to have the fishery open for the first 21 days straight through and then SATURDAY and SUNDAY from there to the end,i think our people would enjoy it more,thank you
While taking in the sights in Lower Lance cove in Trinity Bay several years ago I bumped into the then retired former provincial minister of fisheries John Efford. We talked about the then present state of the Newfoundland cod fishery. He told me something that many people may not be aware of. He told me that when John Crosby implemented the moratorium on the cod fishery in 1992 he had no intention of shutting down the food fishery. John Crosby , the DFO and the scientists all knew that the traditional food fishery wasn’t hurting the cod stocks around Newfoundland and Labrador. He told me that within two weeks of the closing of the commercial cod fishery the fisherman’s union had kicked up so hard complaining that if the fishermen couldn’t catch cod for a living then nobody should be allowed to catch them. So he gave in to the fisherman’s union and decided I guess to punish every living sole in the province for something that wasn’t our fault. In my opinion it’s high time , I’d even go as far as to say it’s far beyond high time that someone in the government in this province take a stand and try to get the the unfortunate decision that John Crosby made back then reversed. Everyone knows that the cod move around and there is no danger they will all get caught up by rods and hand lines. I’d even go as far as to say that less cod would get caught anyway if we could just go out anytime we wanted to and catch a meal. It would most likely give a much needed boost to the tourist industry in the province.
While cod jigging, I thought I had the biggest fish in the arm but my surprise, when I got it to the boat, It was a skidoo bonnet haha. I laughed and laughed.
I think there should be compensation for days lost to weather Last year on the Burin Peninsula I only got out 6 times
This fishery is not a recreational fishery but a food fishery. The notion of recreation puts it in the same category as salmon angling but it is much more than that for the vast majority of people in Newfoundland. It is at the heart of our identity and a mainstay for food for the majority of outport people in Newfoundland. Enjoy the recreational aspect of this fishery but do not call it recreational which is a bureaucratic word that can be used negatively.
Because of the cost of gas it’s getting very expensive to go for just 5 fish and something not in good weather. I would like to see a tag system and you can go fill them when you like. It will cut down on make many trips and the expense. It will also give people safer days to go.
I think the cod fishery should be open from Friday until Tues to allow people traveling back home to enjoy fishing . Over the past couple of years as we all know there has been little travel home and with the price of gas and the limited time to fish from Sat to Mon and with the weather and other commitments I think would make for a more enjoyable holiday. I have been involved in the recreation fishery for 30 years and the most enjoyable part is watching people catching fish for the first time not catching 15 like many people think. We have been regulated to death for the past couple of years and here is a way for the Fed Govt to give back a little to share a lot of joy.
Agree
I personally would prefer the season to be open for 7 days a week for the duration of the fishery, this would enable participants to choose between going or not with regard to wind and sea heights and given a little bit of common sense should make for a more safe and enjoyable experience for all participants, stay safe and have a blast.
I’m thinking you should have the rec fishery open more because of high winds most days people cannot go out in water besides give them the tags so when they get a good day they can catch there quota and dont have to worry bout bad weather .
since it’s come home year Why don’t they open fishery during the week So more people can experience the cod jigging . Most people work during the weekend also and outdoor be nice to go out fishing when it’s not too congested with boats Thanks
Quite the catch!
We were visited by a TUNA fish this past summer. First time he /she surfaced from under our boat I was shocked at the size of the fish.
Later we had a basking shark swim nearby.
Most exciting day ever fishing Bonavista Bay.
While cod jigging I caught a whale.I had a fish on and a whale had it for lunch. I lost my line and lunch . Quite an experience.