Garfish don't get the glory, but they're some of the most fun you can have on light gear. They school up thick, they're a doddle to keep the kids entertained with, and a feed of fresh gar crumbed and fried is hard to beat. Best part: you don't need a boat or a fortune in tackle. A jetty, a berley bucket and a couple of hours on a calm morning will do it.
About garfish and where to find them
Garfish (often just called "gar" or "sea garfish") are slim, silver surface feeders with that unmistakable long lower beak. They cruise the top metre of the water column picking at floating scraps, which is exactly why berley works so well on them.
They're a southern-leaning species. You'll find good numbers through Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, southern WA and the cooler parts of NSW. The bays and gulfs love them: Port Phillip and Western Port in Vic, the gulfs in SA, and sheltered jetties right around the south coast.
Look for them around:
- Jetties and wharves, especially over sand or weed
- Sheltered bays with clean, calm water
- Sand flats and weed edges in estuaries
- Anywhere a berley trail can hold a school in place
They're a classic light-tackle target and one of those fish nearly everyone tangles with at some point, much like the species we cover in 5 fish every Aussie angler eventually catches.
When to go
Calm is king. Garfish feed best when the surface is glassy or barely rippled, so a still morning before the sea breeze kicks in is prime. Wind chop scatters your berley and pushes the school down or off the bite.
Tide matters less than weather, but a moving tide generally fishes better than dead slack water. Many jetty regulars like the run-in over clean water. Early morning and the last hour of light tend to be the most consistent.
They're around most of the year in their range, with the warmer months often producing the bigger schools in the bays.
How to catch them: it's all about the berley
If you take one thing away, make it this: no berley, no garfish. The whole game is getting a school up to your float and holding it there.
Set up a steady berley trail at the surface. A pollard or bread-based mix works, and plenty of anglers add a bit of tuna oil. The key is little and often: a small handful regularly to keep a constant cloud drifting back, rather than dumping a heap and stopping. A berley pot or bucket hung off the jetty in the current does the job nicely.
Once you've got gar dimpling the surface in your trail, you present a bait drifting naturally in the same line.
Float rigs
A small quill or pencil float is the standard. Set your hook anywhere from just under the surface to a foot or so down, and adjust to where the fish are feeding. Keep it light and unweighted, or use the tiniest split shot so the bait drifts naturally with the berley.
Hooks should be small and long in the shank. A long-shank pattern in a small size suits their beaky mouths and makes unhooking quick. Fine line helps too: garfish can be shy in clear water.
Baits
Garfish aren't fussy once they're fired up in the berley, but the reliable baits are:
- Dough made from flour and water, sometimes with a bit of tuna oil worked in
- Maggots, a gun bait where you can get them
- Peeled prawn, small pieces
- Silverfish or small strips of fish flesh
Match the bait size to the small hook. A tiny pinch is all you need.
Gear
Keep it light and it stays fun. A light spin rod or a long whippy float rod, a small reel and 2 to 4 kg line is plenty. The long rod helps you flick the float out past the berley and mend line to keep the drift clean.
You don't need much:
- Light rod, small reel, light mono or braid
- Small floats (quill or pencil)
- Small long-shank hooks and a few split shot
- A berley bucket or pot and your mix
- A bucket of saltwater to keep your catch fresh
Tips and common mistakes
- Don't go too heavy. Big hooks, heavy line and clunky floats kill the bite. Finesse wins.
- Keep the berley going. The moment you stop, the school drifts off. Steady and constant beats big and occasional.
- Pick calm days. Fighting wind chop is a recipe for frustration. Reschedule if it's blowing.
- Strike gently. They have soft mouths and small beaks. A firm but smooth lift sets the hook better than a big yank.
- Bleed and chill them. Gar are oily and go off quick in the sun, so get them into cold saltwater or on ice.
Eating them and using them as bait
Fresh garfish are excellent tucker. Butterflied, crumbed and shallow-fried is the classic, bones and all once they're small enough. Bigger gar fillet up fine too.
They're also one of the best natural baits going. Whole gar or gar strips are gun baits for tailor, mulloway, snapper and plenty more. If you're chasing those bigger fish, a session catching your own fresh gar first sets you up well. Have a look at how the predators feed in our pieces on catching tailor off the beach and chasing mulloway.
The wrap-up
Garfish are about as accessible as Aussie fishing gets. Find a calm morning, get a berley trail running off a jetty or in a sheltered bay, present a light float rig with a small long-shank hook, and you'll have a school dimpling the surface in no time. Bring the kids, bring the berley, and bring a bucket for the feed. For more on reading water and timing your sessions, our guide to estuary fishing in Australia covers the fundamentals.