Pollock
A cold-water member of the cod family found on both sides of the North Atlantic, pollock range from inshore kelp beds and rocky headlands to deep offshore wrecks and banks.
Juveniles hug the shallows; adults school through the water column and down to the bottom in water that rarely warms above 55°F.
On light tackle from a rock ledge or a heavy jigging rod in 400 feet of icy water, they pull with a crash-diving, shoulder-straining stubbornness that belies their modest reputation.
Scientific Name: Pollachius virens
Also known as Saithe, Coalfish, Boston Bluefish, Green Cod
- The quickest field mark: a pale, nearly straight lateral line running the length of the body — cod's lateral line is white and arched; pollock's is straight and sits against dark sides.
- Lower jaw juts past the upper jaw, giving the face an undershot look; a small chin barbel is present but often reduced or absent on large fish.
- Brownish-green to olive on the back, fading to yellowish or silvery grey on the belly — darker overall than Atlantic cod, with a distinctly forked tail and sharp corners.
- Most fish run 2–3 feet and 4–15 lbs; the maximum reaches roughly 4 feet and 70 lbs, though anything over 30 lbs is a genuine rarity.
What to know
Habitat Distribution
- Native to both sides of the North Atlantic — western range runs from the Hudson Strait south to the mid-Atlantic coast; eastern range covers the Barents Sea and Iceland south to the Bay of Biscay.
- Adults live offshore over sand, mud, rock, and vegetation, typically between 115 and 430 feet deep; juveniles use inshore kelp beds and rocky intertidal zones as nursery habitat before migrating offshore as they grow.
- Water temperature shapes where you find them more than depth does: adults stay within roughly 39–52°F (4–11°C), pushing deeper or further north when surface water warms in summer.
Specific Spots
- Wrecks and offshore reefs pull large adults year-round, but pollock don't pin to the bottom the way cod do — they suspend at various depths over the structure, so running lures through the entire water column from bottom to mid-water is worth the effort.
- Where a rock ledge drops sharply into deep water, baitfish stack along the edge and pollock follow; the transition between the shallow shelf and the drop is the productive zone, not the flat bottom on either side.
- Kelp beds with defined channels running through them concentrate juveniles and smaller fish; at high tide they scatter into the weed, but as the tide drops they school up in the open channels — that's when lures get hit.
Pollock FAQ
Answers from onWater's species guide.
What are the best lures and bait for Pollock?
Sandeel-profile soft plastics on lead-headed jigs are the most consistent producers across both sides of the Atlantic; work them with a lift-and-drop retrieve near the bottom or count them down to where the sonar shows fish holding in the water column.
What do Pollock eat?
Inshore and juvenile pollock feed heavily on small crustaceans, copepods, amphipods, and krill-like euphausiids, which is why small soft plastics and shrimp-profile lures draw strikes in shallow water where bigger presentations get ignored.
Where do Pollock live?
Native to both sides of the North Atlantic, western range runs from the Hudson Strait south to the mid-Atlantic coast; eastern range covers the Barents Sea and Iceland south to the Bay of Biscay.
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