garfish advice please

[codcatcher3000]

does anyone know the best method/rigs/bait/conditions for targeting garfish ? i have tried the tactics in sea angler mag....no luck on roker on wednesday i say about 6 or 7 decent ish sized garfish follwing a small school of sandeels....would love to try to hook one...just one will do .....

[chipper2]

Do you no what,ive never caught one.Ive been told that they swim with mackerel shoals,Ive never seen one caught either

[sandworm]

does anyone know the best method/rigs/bait/conditions for targeting garfish ? i have tried the tactics in sea angler mag....no luck on roker on wednesday i say about 6 or 7 decent ish sized garfish follwing a small school of sandeels....would love to try to hook one...just one will do .....

They are not Garfish mate,they are big Launce around 12 inches long.
I was inshore on Roker on Wednesday morning cathing them for bait.
If you ever catch them or buy frozen ones,have a look in there guts.
They sometimes have 6 inch Sandeels in them........

[shaun]

i think you only get them down south, could be wrong though

[el_sid]

i think you only get them down south, could be wrong though

yeah mate never seen them up this way, mainly down south etc, would like to catch one tho, theyve also got green bones which actually puts people off eating them but there ment to be quite nice

[shaun]

yeah mate never seen them up this way, mainly down south etc, would like to catch one tho, theyve also got green bones which actually puts people off eating them but there ment to be quite nice

yep, they were catching and cooking them on rivercotage

[northeast1]

As stated they will no doubt be Launce and you can catch 100s of them in a day when the shoal comes in.

You do get the odd garfish around here but your looking at less than double figures reported per year.

They are hard to catch due to the mouth shape and you really would be lucky to land one, shrip rigs or small baited float would be your best chance but i would not hold your breath.

[lambtonworm]

ive caught Gars but from the south coast,small slithers of mackerel on size 8 hooks under a float,or in wales,they get them on sand eel feathers off pwhelli beach.....dont half go when you hook them...

[codcatcher3000]

it couls possible be a launce.....but my mate says he`s only ever caught one garfish on that pier....by the way what do you meaN BY HALF GO ? cheers

[lambtonworm]

it couls possible be a launce.....but my mate says he`s only ever caught one garfish on that pier....by the way what do you meaN BY HALF GO ? cheers

by dont half go - they fight better than most sea fish,if they went to double figures im sure they would be classed in the same league as dorado and small tuna....

[codcatcher3000]

i see what u mean i really hope i get to catch one then eat it ..have always eaten what i caught ....those of size anyway .....except bullheadscorpion/fatherlasher and waevers....apart from that have always ate what i caught....my dad tells me they are tasty ....i know my granda liked them ....aint tried so i cant tell ...

[JamesC]

it couls possible be a launce.....but my mate says he`s only ever caught one garfish on that pier....by the way what do you meaN BY HALF GO ? cheers

Hey Codcatcher, I catch Garfish in the Arabrian gulf all year round, the method I use is exactly as MAKO has mentioned, shallow float fished fish strip or squid, I also get the larger gars on small soft shads aswell very large ones on live baits such as Ballyhoos (or sandeel)

I think lambtonworm means they go like stink when you hook them,

Good luck

Cheers
JamesC

[RobAdair]

I was fly fishing the North Yorkshire coast about 4 years ago with a few mates. Wading out between the rocks to about waist height we caught sight of several gars darting between us to catch the sandeels. I only had a small pink and white polar bear clouser on and didn't hook into any, despite putting the fly on their noses several times.

Apparently a lure made of red wool (without a hook) works really well as it gets tangled around their teeth and snout allowing you to land them. A hook up requires a tiny razor sharp hook due to the tiny boney snout, dai ichi, tiemco or mustad stainless steel salt water fly hooks would do the job.

I also remember reading somewhere about the use of self hooking floats for garfish. This is basically a sea float with a large disc of cork glued to the top of the float. When the gar strikes the bait, the resistance of the cork sends the float shooting back up to the surface, hopefully firmly wedging the hook into the gars mouth.

[peter.m]

I managed to land one in Cornwall a few years back on a very thin strip of mackerel belly on a float set about 6ft to a size 6 hook. When we went to Brandon in Ireland a couple of years back Matty kept hooking them but dropping them on the lift, need small hooks to target them. They do go some on light tackle though.

[canman]

As a kid, late 50s and 60s, I use to catch them quite often on Blyth pier using a float baited with just the skin of a mackerel or launce (sandeel). They are acrobatic fish to catch on light gear, but nowadays, you would struggle to target them up hear. More chance if you keep the bait very close to the surface just under the float. We had some good ones down at Salcombe last year actually on the spinner.