Come ere till I tells ya, eh, say some of those salty folk. Newfoundlander’s are inventive and resilient and on the ball 24 seven. Some of you perhaps think that Newfoundland being so far north that they are behind the times. In fact, Newfoundland is far ahead of the world of electronics and power grids, and Infrastructure, and even housing. The highways are cared for like no other as it is how Newfoundland gets its food and goods from town to town perhaps 50 to 150 kilometers apart. In addition they love to travel abroad and to the USA for a change of weather and scenery. The cost of living in Newfoundland is higher, I believe than in the states in general.  But the locals fish and hunt and garden to add to the larder at a lower cost. Especially cod fishing…

On the cod fishery, it was decades ago that Newfoundland found its cod fish rapidly disappearing, due in large part to over-fishing. Cod numbers plunged! The Canadian Government literally shut down cod fishing for years to allow for recovery. Science based research and action was extremely painful for every household as cod was a staple food source. But Newfoundlander’s are resilient and so are the cod fish!

Today cod fish in Newfoundland abound. My wife Susan and I and I travel each year to a family owned cottage along Bonavista Bay. We flew out of Boston on Air Canada and all was terrific. We only stayed a week. Too short for sure. We landed in St. John’s and as always we stop at the nearby Quidi Vidi Brewery there in Quidi Vidi Village and buy our Iceberg Beer made with water from 20,000 year old Iceberg’s that float out at sea.

On the family property this year, we dedicated time to scrape and paint along with our vacation. The weather can do a number to rot exposed wood. Newfoundland is a paint rich environment!

Below a view from the porch. 

It is a steep walk down to the beach in front of the house as wife Sue demonstrates.

Over the past 3 years we have been to the cottage and cod fished on legal weekends. We are allowed 5 fish per person per day or 15 fish per boat. In all three years we fished less than an hour and caught our limit each time in three separate locations. Having a fish finder and depth finder were key to locating the fish, often in very large schools. The rule is you keep what you catch until you get to your limit or less. This week my wife Susan and I again fished with ardent Newfoundlander’s Mike and Angie Hogarth and son Michael on their wooden boat in Trinity, Newfoundland.

I believe the Hogarth’s depend on cod for as a major yearly food source.  Mike is a hunter as well, and hunts Moose with the 30-06 Springfield, a great Moose Rifle!

Mike, like myself,  is a real outdoor kind of guy.

Back to cod, The Hogarth’s use the tried and true method of salting the cod and then freezing it as well. Angie’s favorite recipe is to make fish cakes using cod and potato. Mike gave us a few bags of salt cod to try. Young Mike was eager to catch a big one, perhaps 10 pounds with a hand line.

Cod jigging is the best way to catch them, but be aware that in a school of Newfoundland cod, an upward jig is likely to snag a fish as to have one bite the hook. I know from first hand experience. When I let my jig hit bottom it was bumping into fish on its last few feet to hit the bottom. My line would go slack as the jig made its way through the school of fish. I learned to raise the jig slowly and hope that a cod would bite the hook instead.

On this trip we left the dock found our fishing spot and caught our boat limit all in a span of 45 minutes.

The scenery here at Trinity is breathtaking!

Young Mike and his dad both caught bigger fish than I did, and matter of fact, I was thrilled just to be fishing with them.

Angie was right there to cheer son Michael on as we all were. Michael is a fine young man at the age of 12. Mike and I filleted the fish and young Mike took out the cod tongues. Cod tongues are tender and a delicacy to all Newfoundlander’s. We fry them up in a fry pan dipped in flour or a batter. Wow!

Off to fillet the fish!!

I brought my fillet knife along to help. I am not as fast as Mike but I have filleted my own fish for decades and do it well. Got to have a sharp knife!

We freeze the fish and bring it home in a cardboard boxed cooler. I thing maybe 20 lbs of fish and a pint of backyard blueberries Sue picked. We bring some Iceberg beer back as well but be sure to meet all customs requirements.

Mike and family are hockey fans and hope to make it to Boston to see a Bruins Game this fall. Who knows, maybe we can have the Hogarth’s visit us here in New Hampshire as we are just 40 miles from Boston.

Cheers!

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