Pouting

Trisopterus luscus · Cod and relatives

Also called pout, bib, pout whiting

Pouting — Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What fish is this?Identify a fish from a photo

A small, deep-bodied scavenger common over clean sand and shingle. Most shore catches are 8 oz to 1 lb.^[1]

How to recognise it

A tall, rounded body with a well-developed barbel under the chin.^[1]
A dark blotch at the top of the pectoral fin base.^[2]
Broad, faint bars on the flanks that fade once the fish is out of the water; poor cod are smaller and have larger eyes.^[1]

When and where

Found over: sand, shingle, mixed ground, rough ground^[1]
Baits: ragworm, lugworm, mackerel strip^[1]
Light: Pouting move shallower and feed more freely as the sun sets, so dusk is a good time.^[1]

Sources

These notes are a draft: we gathered them from the sources above and are still checking them. We don't work out best times for this fish yet. The size rules come from the same checked byelaws as every other fish.

Fish guide