If you wanna catch gars all the tips the guys have mentioned will help you bag out(40). Garfish dont grow that big. A 40cm gar from tip of beak to tail is a good sized gar. As Greg pointed out there is no minimum size which means if you catch small ones they make great snapper/pinky baits in sept if frozen well. Some ppl I know prefer gars around 30cm length than the big ones as they say the bones are finer and become more crispy when fried.
For garfish of any size, I find the best method of cleaning is to scale, gut, decapitate and then roll the fish out(so as to flatten it) and take out the main backbone. You can do a butterfly fillet if you got time or just remove with scissors. Make sure you clean out the black lining in the garfish stomach. Use your fingernails or an old toothbrush.
I do use longshank hooks for gars but prefer using fly hooks(designed for flyfish). Theyre shorter shank which means they get swallowed more by fish but I reckon you get more strikes and hookups when theyre finicky(which they can be often from many of PPB piers).
When you fish for gars you want relatively small baits(1/2-1/4 of 5cent piece). You want the fish to swallow the bait not pick at it. Use the smallest float and weight that conditions will allow. A decent stick float or "blackfish float" will do the job pretty well. When using prawns make sure you peel them. I buy my prawns from woolies, works out cheaper and you get better quality bait. Chicken breast, dough, maggots and small pieces of cut fish flesh all produce gars. I like to take out 2-3 different baits for gars cos they often switch likings.
shaz
_________________ "I told her that I've never had sushi before...."
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