The Garfish is the UK’s fastest fish and one I adore catching. It’s a powerful fighting fish for it’s size and it jumps and kicks like a mini Marlin. Its appearance is totally gnarly, with an uber streamlined body and long beak which is filled with tiny teeth. It has almost a radioactive green colouring to its scales which easily enables you to spot any successful Garfish fisherman.
Garfish meat used to be thought to be poisonous, which is very far from the truth, the meat is similar to a mackerel although a bit firmer. When you fillet a Garfish you can see how people got that impression though, as the skeleton is a bright green colour, it’s really a sight to see!
My favourite method of catching Garfish is with a small Dexter Wedge which is spun and then quickly retrieved. However you can use many different methods such as micro-feathers or float fishing with mackerel strips. Garfish travel high in the water and are sometimes refereed to as the Mackerel’s guide as they often travel just in front of a shoal of mackerel. They are in our waters from Spring until early Autumn and I really recommend that you make the effort to try and catch one the next time they’re around.
Below you can see the size of one in comparison with an average size mackerel:
