Where and when to catch Garfish in Queensland: the QLD season, the spots in our guide that hold them, and where to find QLD's current size and possession limits.
Called Tropical Garfish on our Western Australian guide.
QLD limits for Garfish are set by Fisheries Queensland and change from time to time, so we link them rather than copy them.
Check Fisheries Queensland's limits before you fish.
Western Australian limits don't apply in Queensland.
Small pieces of prawn, maggots, bread or flour dough, dough with tuna oil
Lures
N/A — a bait fish. Tiny flies or a cut-down bait jig will take the odd one, but a float and bait is the method.
Rigs
Quill or small stick float, a tiny split shot and a size 10–12 long-shank hook, set 30–60cm deep, on 2–4kg line and a light spin rod. A cut-down bait-jig of two or three small hooks under a float works when the school is thick.
Technique
Berley first — bread, pollard or a little tuna oil trickled over weed or sand edges — then drift a float rig down the trail and wait for the float to slide under. Garfish feed at the surface in daylight, so set the float shallow and lift gently rather than strike. Keep the berley going and the school stays; stop and it wanders off. Kept for bait, they're best rigged fresh the same day.
Best Time
Year-round in the north. Daylight is the window — the published work on tropical gar shows them feeding mainly by day, with gut fullness dropping after dusk. Calm mornings before the afternoon breeze are easiest for float fishing, and on the flats a flooding tide puts water back over the weed where the schools graze.
Identification
Also known asGar, gardies, three-by-two garfish (robust garfish), barred garfish, longtail garfish, snubnose garfish
Size & Growth
Most are 25–35cm, and 40cm-plus is a good fish; barred garfish reach about 45cm and three-by-twos a little more. They're fast-growing and short-lived — barred garfish are reported to four years — so a school tends to be one size. If the fish under your float are all small, move rather than change bait.
Eating Quality
Yes — tropical gar eat as well as southern ones: sweet, delicate white flesh and big scales that come off easily. Butterfly them down the back and lift the backbone out, then crumb and shallow-fry, or pan-fry whole in butter for a minute or two a side. They go soft quickly in northern heat, so ice them straight away. Freeze the extras for bait rather than the table.