Tackle up right for garfish and you’ll set yourself up for an exciting fishing session hooking these great little delicacies.

I know very experienced, big fish, anglers who always have a float rod ready on their boats so they can target the “gars”. 

Many anglers ignore garfish ‘cos they don’t think they offer much sport…

…. but on light gear, with a pencil float they’ll give you a bit of action and an extra bonus…they taste great!

Garfish are usually a shallow water species but they sometimes follow berley trails into deeper water – that’s how boat angers catch them…so berley is the key to getting them close.

They feed mainly on plankton but aren’t too fussy about other food…and you’ll do pretty well using chicken, whitebait, cut pipi, peeled prawn, dough…but their favourite seems to be silverfish.

You can have a lot of fun with your mates, or the kids, fishing from the piers, rocks or a boat in Port Phillip or Westernport bays….

….you just need to get your bait into water as shallow as two to five metres and use tackle delicate enough to fool these little fish.

You might not like winter too much…but gars love it. They’re most plentiful between July and December and can turn up in real big schools….and while the numbers can be big…don’t expect the fish to be…a fish around 25 to 35cm is a good size.

If you catch fish over this size then you’re getting into “trophy” size.

The best way to catch these fish is with a light float set up. Use 2 to 3 kg line and you’ve got plenty of power to get the biggest gars out of the water. I even go lighter than this sometimes….when I want to feel a bit of fight from these little sports fish.

I use 1.8kg line on a 2 kg graphite rod with a 1000 series spin reel with a small waggled float (English lake float) and a size 14 hook….

Heavy duty? No!

Good fun? Yes!     

The most productive setup is a skinny pencil float or waggled float weighed down with a couple of split shot. The smaller the float the less the fish will feel it…and the more likely they are to take your bait.

You can start with about 1.5metres between float and hook and if you don’t get bites with this move the float up further….the fish might be holding in deeper water.

If the conditions are right and they’re really on the bite they’ll move up in the water and you’ll have to adjust your float for this too.

A berley bomb tied to the pier, rocks or side of boat that lets berley leak out at the surface of the water will attract the fish.

A good berley mix is chicken pellets and tuna oil that slowly break down in the water and release an oil slick with the current. The pellets release small particles without feeding off the fish and they last quite a while before you have to top up…..

…other wise you can just throw in small amounts of breadcrumb mixed with tuna oil as an alternative….but bring a towel or rag with you to wipe off the tuna oil…..it really sticks.

Make sure you hold your float in the berley trail so the gars find it…

….and make sure you watch your float! One of the exciting things about this type of fishing is watching the float go under….but you gotta strike when it does. Gars don’t usually hook themselves!

Strike lightly and you’ll hook your fair share.

KEEP YOUR BAITS SMALL! 

Gars have a very small mouth…yet so many anglers throw out big hooks with big baits.  I usually don’t use baits larger than a frozen pea because the best anglers I know catch more than their share of garfish with baits this size…using something bigger will miss you bites.

The best time to fish is the rising tide as it approaches high tide.

Look for areas over weeds for good results and keep the berley flowing to keep them in the area.

Gars are most active in the Winter and Spring months so that gives you some fishing options when many other species shut down till the warmer weather.

Garfish really are a great little sport fish. They’re easy to catch and a bit of excitement on light float gear….

….and one other bonus, they taste great.

Gars have a delicate flesh and simply scaled, gutted and butterflied they can be cooked whole with a bit of butter and garlic to make a meal fit for a King…or Queen!