Welcome to the Garfish Fishing Guide Victoria. Garfish local fish species facts and Limits. Gars, garfish, or mini marlins are popular fish species to target within Victoria. They have very small mouths, are silver in color, and have a slender body profile. It requires fishing with finesse and small tackle to master catching them. These are great bread-and-butter species for kids to catch. They can be caught in big numbers and are easily accessible from piers jetties and rock walls.
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Garfish Facts & Catch Limits
- Garfish has the scientific name Hemiramphidae
- They can grow to 50cm in length
- Most commonly caught between 20cm and 35cm
- There is no minimum legal size limit
- Daily bag limit of 40 garfish
- They are renowned table fish.
- Garfish are quite bony fish but overall are excellent eating fish with sweet flesh.
- Garfish will school up in massive numbers
- They also make great bait for other saltwater fish species such as snapper.
Best time to catch Garfish ( Seasons )
In Victoria, Garfish can be caught all year round however the best time is around Winter. They are often best targeted at Dawn/Dusk and on tide changes and respond very well to berley.
How to catch garfish
Watch our detailed instructional video guide on how to catch garfish
Garfish love shallow weedy areas. This provides them with good shelter and food. In Victoria, the colder winter months are the prime time to target garfish. The majority of garfish fishing will be done from piers, jetties, and rock walls. Therefore berleying is an important tool when targeting garfish and they respond well to it. You can purchase premade berley pellets or powder from your local tackle shop. Or you can make your own use of tuna oil, chook pellets, and bread. You will know when this is working well as you can catch them in big numbers and quickly.
When fishing for gars with a float watch the float carefully. They are small light fish and their strikes can be very subtle. Another idea is to fish with 1 rod and keep it in your hand so you can visually see and also feel the strikes.
Light-class fishing rods 1-3 or 2-4 kilo nibble tip rod that is 7 to 9 feet in length is perfect when chasing garfish. Paired with 1000, 2000, or 25000 size reel spooled with 4-6 lb line. Garfish have large snouts but very small mouths so the key to catching them is to use very small size hooks. Small long shanks between size 10 and size 14 are ideal choices. The preferred rig setup should consist of using a pencil or quill float, and then having a small split shot roughly 20cm above the hooks to keep the bait down. the floats will help suspend baits such as glacies, maggots, or small pieces of fish flesh for best success. Garfish can be caught all year round at any time of the day.
Best Baits to Catch Garfish
Garfish will eagerly take small pieces of fresh bait like silverfish, prawn, and pilchards. They also respond really well to maggots. berley will be the key to bringing in the garfish and keeping them around. Remember to use very small fine gauge hooks.
We recommend using the following baits. Garfish have small mouths so remember to use small hooks and small pieces of bait.
- silverfish
- maggots
- prawn
- pilchard
- dough
- Pipi
Lures and soft plastics to catch garfish
Targeting Garfish with soft plastics and lures is quite challenging because they have such small mouths. That’s why they are most commonly targeted with bait suspended from a float with small hooks. It’s an area we are continually experimenting with and hope to share more information on soon.
Best rigs to catch garfish
Watch a step-by-step guide on how to make your own garfish rigs
Garfish are not bottom feeders therefore float rigs are the best way to catch garfish and get your baits in the optimal strike zone. Watch our detailed video below which provides a step-by-step tutorial on how to create your own DIY Garfsh rigs.
These rigs consist of 2-rod lengths worth of 6-pound fluorocarbon leader. Join the leader to your main line using a simple double uni knot. Attach a pencil float to the leader followed by several split shots finished with either a size 12 long shank hook or a size 12fly hook depending on the bait that you’re using.
Good hook options include
- Size 12 Mustad 4540 1/2
- Size 12 Gamakatsu long shank
- Size 12 Daiichi Black long shank
- Size 14 Mustad Kirby long shank
locations to catch Garfish
- Beaumaris jetty
- Frankston pier
- Brighton
- St Kilda Pier
- Kerferd Road pier
- Queenscliff Pier
- Princess Pier
- Mornington
- Williamstown
- St Leonards
- Portsea Pier
- Sorrento Pier
- Blairgowrie pier
- Mount Martha Cliffs
- Rye Pier
- Rosebud pier
- Lagoon Pier
- Dromana Pier
- Seaford Pier
- Geelong
- Patterson River
- Mordialloc Pier
- Sandringham rock wall
- Port Welshpool long pier
- Cunningham Pier
- Portarlington Jetty
- Swan Bay Jetty
- Point Lonsdale pier
You can obtain a free Victorian recreational fishing guide from the Victorian Fisheries Authorities weblink
Thanks for visiting the Garfish Fishing Guide Victoria If you feel this fish species guide is missing key information or needs any corrections. Then please let us know by emailing our team at enquiries@fishingmad.com.au with specific details in the email. Thank you