Help with Mornington gars

Mornington, Mt Martha, McCrae, Safety Beach, Mt Eliza
e.welch
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Smile Help with Mornington gars

Post by e.welch » Tue Jun 30, 2020 9:59 am

Heading down Mornington pier and today for a fish I want to catch my first garfish and would like some advice thanks in advance because I know there are a lot of gar pros

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Re: Help with Mornington gars

Post by purple5ive » Tue Jun 30, 2020 10:36 am

Theres plenty of people fishing for them there atm mate, find someone who is willing to talk to you and ask them to show you what to do, its very simple stuff.

Go prepared.
Take berley (lots of it), breadcrumbs mixed with some tuna oil and water to make a slurry is plenty.
buy some garfish premade rigs from bcf or your local tackle shop.
Get yourself some silverfish, or maggots for bait
have a suitable rod and reel, almost anythign will do for these fish.

then head down to the pier and find someone who can help you set it up, lots are willing to help and watch what they are doing so you know first hand what to do next time.

when they are on, its a fish a cast and quite a fun way to fish with floats.
good luck and have fun..

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Andrews
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Re: Help with Mornington gars

Post by Andrews » Tue Jun 30, 2020 11:59 am

I'll share my experience as a beginner chasing the gars, caught my first ever garfish on the 17/6/2020, just hit my 50th yesterday.

I agree with purple5ive's advice! My go-to burley is bread crumbs, garlic powder and tuna oil, add some water on the pier and make into a crumble and toss out with burley thrower. It should be fine enough that it breaks up when it hits the surface.
Tuna oil soaked bread in a burley cage at the surface works great too if the currents going away from the pier.

Pre-made rigs work well, I've found that making my own rigs have worked better, less tangles. I run a neptune tackle medium blackfish float 250mm (BCF $4) connected to 60-80cm of 10lb .24mm mono joined to a small 2-3kg swivel. Then 50-60cm of 6lb .21mm fluro-carbon, two spaced split shot to a size 10 longshank. Just enough weight to cock the float.

A light rod is great, 1-2kg is ideal but 2-4kg works perfectly.

Silverfish or maggots you can't go wrong, I add 1 big, or 2 small silverfish to the hook. I always try to have the head and tail hanging off for natural presentation.

If they're keen they'll dunk the whole float, if they're picky they with gently bounce the float a few times. Sometimes you'll strike and they'll get off, I always check my hook/bait every cast to make sure the barb of the hook is not covered by the bait.

Happy to answer questions if you have any. Goodluck! :)
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e.welch
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Re: Help with Mornington gars

Post by e.welch » Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:06 pm

How far below the float should the bait be?

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Re: Help with Mornington gars

Post by e.welch » Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:06 pm

And thank you for all the help so far am going to head down relatively soon

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Re: Help with Mornington gars

Post by Sebb » Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:15 pm

e.welch wrote:
Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:06 pm
How far below the float should the bait be?
Depends how deep they are in the water column. Generally I'd set about one meter. One or two split shots and that's it.
If the water is super clear and no wind, use like 4lb fluorocarbon leader.
------------------------------
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Andrews
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Re: Help with Mornington gars

Post by Andrews » Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:22 pm

e.welch wrote:
Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:06 pm
How far below the float should the bait be?
I have been rigging and running between a total length of 110cm to 140cm, varies between each time I re-rig.
I've found anywhere between there has put the bait in the strike zone for my area. The gars will adjust their depth too in that top/mid water range.

We've had a huge school of gars 100+ sitting 1-2ft off the bottom, 4-5m depth but they've been completely uninterested in biting, only the fish in the higher water column have been.
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Re: Help with Mornington gars

Post by e.welch » Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:33 pm

Yeah at Frankston they’re always there they just aren’t biting

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Re: Help with Mornington gars

Post by e.welch » Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:33 pm

You can see them in the burley trail but they won’t bite

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Re: Help with Mornington gars

Post by Andrews » Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:49 pm

e.welch wrote:
Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:33 pm
You can see them in the burley trail but they won’t bite
I've found twitching the bait a few times and letting it reset is enough to perk their interest, or even putting a new silverfish on.

When the water is a clear as it has been, you can see them swim up to the bait.
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