On March 20th, 2011, I was presenting my latest soft lures designed for cod and pollack in a tackle shop. The following day, I headed offshore to put them to the test, never imagining that an extraordinary cod fishing session — and a series of record fish — was waiting for me.
During winter, I mainly target two species: pollack and Atlantic cod (commonly called morue in Northern France). These two gadids can reach sizes even larger than seabass, and in their older years can exceed the 10 kg mark. That is exactly what fascinates me most in fishing: quality over quantity. Earlier that year, I had landed an 8.4 kg pollack in February, and I thought that would be my biggest winter fish of the season. But unexpectedly, the sea proved generous and offered me an exceptional day with record cod. Here is the story of that unforgettable session.
Choosing Deep Water to Target Big Cod
Departing from Boulogne-sur-Mer, my priority was to target Atlantic cod — more often referred to as morue in Northern France. In 2011, I was living in Bordeaux, working on product development for the Sakura brand. Needless to say, I had lost touch with this cold-water species. Before heading out, I gathered information, and the reports were extremely discouraging. Both commercial fishermen and recreational anglers were saying the same thing: cod were scarce. In fact, throughout winter 2011, cod were almost completely absent from fish markets. That was not enough to discourage our small team, made up of Thomas and Didier, two childhood friends. When the first calm weather window of the month was announced, we knew we had to take advantage of it. I was determined to go offshore — and at the very least enjoy some fresh sea air.
We headed for deep-water areas likely to hold cod at the end of winter. We were fishing in the northbound shipping lane of the Dover Strait, an area known as the “cargo highway”. The traffic here is among the busiest in the world. To locate cod in such a vast zone, there are two main options: fish a wreck, or prospect a productive seabed rich in food. With exceptional tidal coefficients reaching 118, wreck fishing was extremely difficult. That is why I selected an area marked on the chart as “bkSh” sediment. This abbreviation stands for Broken Shells. These shell beds attract brittle stars (ophiures), relatives of starfish, which large adult cod feed on in great numbers.
Additionally, these big cod do not hesitate to prey on any fish they encounter. They swallow herring, poor cod, whiting and flatfish as if they were sweets.
The cod pin us to the bottom on the first drift
The very first drift revealed what we were dealing with: a strong bottom mark appeared on the sounder.Bingo ! The rods instantly bent to the limit. Heavy fish — without any doubt, cod ! These fish pinned us to the seabed and came up only centimetre by centimetre !
Thomas and I each landed a cod weighing over 6 kg on large soft lures. Meanwhile, Didier landed a smaller cod of 1.5 kg on a slug-style lure (a thin, straight soft bait). It was small — even though cod usually love sandeels. But not that day. Our predators were clearly focused on herring. As the drifts went on, we quickly understood that if we wanted to target large fish, we needed large-profile lures. At the very least, we needed fat-bodied soft baits that matched the shape of herring. And that is exactly how we steadily started landing cod over 6 kg on our soft lures. Meanwhile, the three other boats fishing in the same area caught absolutely nothing. They were using traditional heavy spoons weighing between 250 and 500 g.
Light Tackle: From Rod to Lure
To target the big cod holding on the bottom, we needed large-profile lures with as little weight as possible. We used 15 to 20 cm soft lures, thick-bodied, rigged with jig heads weighing between 75 and 125 g. To keep the bulk of the shad without the tail vibration (which slows the descent in deep water), it is possible to cut off the paddle tail.
The rods used were high-end carbon models — expect a minimum price of around €150 for a rod with proper action. Rod length ranged from 1.90 m to 2.25 m, with an average casting weight of 20–85 g. Reels were size 4000 to 5000, spooled with braided line between 0.18 and 0.23 mm.
That day, I also used a baitcasting setup for maximum sensation.
A Festival of Record Cod, Averaging 6.5 kg!
What a contrast between the heavy spoons used by other boats and our soft plastics fished on light lines. While the others caught nothing, I experienced a true festival of massive fish: four French records cods and one European record, weighing: 6.845 kg, 6.855 kg, 9.060 kg, and 10.190 kg. These fish were caught respectively on braided lines of 0.20 mm, 0.10 mm, 0.38 mm and 0.14 mm. We reached the daily limit with an average cod weight of 6.5 kg — an incredible result.!
Record cod thanks to light tackle
Record-setting cod thanks to light equipment
Later, I went to speak with one of the boats on the area. The skipper had bought tackles from me the day before. Following my advice, he had purchased a complete cod setup at the shop: a rod, a reel, 0.16 mm braid, soft lures and jig heads — everything needed to be ready.
But he surprised me by admitting that he hadn’t brought any of it onboard. He had kept fishing with his usual gear — what we now call “broomsticks”.
Given the size of his rod and braid, I handed him the heaviest lure I had: a 15 cm shad rigged with a 125 g jig head. On the very next drift, he landed a beautiful 6 kg cod. That fish saved him from a blank ! And proved a point he would never forget.
The three boats fishing “the old way” with heavy tackle allowed me to confirm how important light gear is when targeting record-sized cod actively feeding on herring. A slow-gliding soft lure imitates a herring far better than a 300 to 400 g spoon.
Cod or Morue: A Matter of Preservation
In the post-war period, commercial fishermen had no ice onboard their boats. They were not constrained by modern quality standards. Their best method for preserving fish was salt. Salt allowed cod to be stored for up to a month onboard the trawler — a major advantage at the time. Cod were stacked in layers separated by coarse salt. Cod preserved and then dried this way is known as morue (salted cod). Huge quantities of salted cod were brought back to shore and sold very cheaply. The latter allowed cod to be kept for one month in the trawler. A stroke of luck at the time! Cod was stored in separate rows of coarse salt. The cod thus preserved and dried is called cod. Colossal quantities of salt cod are brought to the coast and sold at very low prices. That is why it was known as the “poor man’s fish” in Northern France.
Preservation methods have evolved, but salted cod is still sold today. Fresh cod is still commonly referred to as morue. The “poor man’s fish” image stuck to it for a long time.
Today, however, cod has become scarce and has almost turned into a premium fish. Cod loin is expensive ! A fresh cod, gutted at sea and cooked in court-bouillon within 1 to 4 days after being caught, is absolutely delicious. If the fish weighs over 2.5 kg, you can cook the remaining court-bouillon as a gratin. It is one of my favourite fish, and its flavour has nothing in common with salted cod still sold today. And if you cannot catch one yourself, you can still find good-quality cod at a fishmonger’s shop or directly from a professional fisherman at the market.
Cod or Morue: The Word Choice fish.
To be technically correct, I could have written “cod” (cabillaud) throughout the entire story. But the term morue is far more common in the vocabulary of both commercial fishermen and sport anglers. Naturally, it is also the name I prefer for this incredible fish.
