During the Winter and Spring White Water 3 operates out of Penarth Marina fishing the Bristol Channel (Mor Hafren). The Bristol Channel has a reputation for superb fishing in its fast flowing silty waters and particulary noted for its Cod Fishing, not to mention the excellent Conger and Ray fishing.

Cod must be the best known of all the fish around our coasts and during the colder months the Cod is invariably the top target species in the Bristol Channel. Cod are easy to recognise with a large head, mottled reddish brown sides and a white under side. Cod have a bucket like mouth with an appetite to match, searching the sea bed for its food.

The Cod season tends to start at the end of August and runs right through to the middle of May, with the best time being October to January when the Cod are feeding vigorously in preparation for spawning, then again in March and April which is generally known as the spring run of Cod that feed up before they move off into the Irish sea for the summer.

Throughout the winter months the Bristol Channel the waters become even more coloured with silt, so its obvious that bait fishing is the only way to catch fish, as the fish especially Cod can't feed by site and have no choice but to search out their food by scent only. The most common method to catch a Cod is downtiding using squid baits on a 6 hook lowered to the bottom by a 1lb lead.

One of the most productive and enjoyable methods of fishing for Cod in the Bristol Channel is Uptiding, this method of casting a bait away from the boat with a 6 ounce lead. The tackle used usually consists of a 9 foot uptiding rod and a multiplier filled with 25 lb braid, read more about uptiding in the Bristol Channel.

Squid is the most used bait for Cod, but the best bait is usually squid and lug worm cocktail, remember that the more scent you put in the water, the easier it is for Cod to find it in the silty coloured waters of the channel. A Worm Cod Bait needs to be 6 inches or more in length, black and blow lugworm is usually more productive than ragworm. Also remember Cod have big mouths and big appetites so give them a big bait! read more about Bristol Channel Bait.

Click here to view more Bristol Channel Cod Photos.

Penarth Marina is an ideal location from which to explore the Bristol Channel for Cod in the Winter with its many fishing marks, more about Penarth Boat Marina.

Want to catch more fish especially Cod in the Bristol Channel, then know what species of fish to target and when, bristol channel fishing seasons.

Also take a look at Bristol Channel Fishing Tackle and Bristol Channel Fishing Tides.

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