Garfish fishing is popular - and for good reason!
When it's garfish season, there are plenty of fish, and they are quite easy to catch, both with lures and flies.
Whether you're a novice or an experienced angler, there are many hours of good entertainment to be had on the coast when the rapeseed blossoms and the many migratory fish "invade" our coasts. Read our guide or watch our video in the article below - good luck with the garfish season.
Garfish season 2026 - Has the garfish arrived?
Guide to garfish
Watch the video here and get all our tips and tricks for garfish fishing:
How to catch garfish?
If you want to catch garfish, we have good news for you. It's a quite easy fish to catch, and it can be done almost anywhere in Denmark.
If you're going to catch your first garfish, we recommend trying silk snoods, small flies like copper bass, or long, slender lures.
Many times you've heard that you should retrieve your bait very quickly when catching garfish, but we don't necessarily think that reflects the truth. Small baits fished quite slowly are often more effective.
The reason it can be advantageous to retrieve your lure quickly is that garfish often strike the bait harder, and thus get hooked better. Unfortunately, fast fishing can also lead to foul-hooking many fish - which you of course want to avoid.
NOTE: It happens that garfish strike your bait with their tail, which means your hook gets stuck there. Don't be confused if this happens, it's very normal.
Avoid too many hooks when catching garfish
During garfish season, there are often many fish and fishermen along the coasts. Multiple hooks on your leader will mean you foul-hook more fish, and it also increases the risk of tangles - both with your own line and with your fishing buddy's. Do yourself a favor and stick to using only one hook on your bait/leader.
The garfish is an easy and fun fish to catch - and it can be done all over the country.
When do garfish arrive?
Garfish usually appear in mid-April and will be in our waters until the end of September/beginning of October.
Garfish come to Denmark in search of food, which our coasts have historically been so rich in during early spring.
If you lift a clump of seaweed on the beach, you will often discover a very large number of sand fleas jumping around, which is pure delight for the fast-swimming garfish.
When is the best time to fish for garfish?
The best time to fish for garfish is at the beginning of May.
There's plenty of food for the fish to find, so they're actively looking for their next meal.
If you're into fly fishing, or have considered it, garfish are a good fish to target, precisely because their prey is easy to imitate with a small fly.
Garfish have arrived in Denmark in large schools, and they are looking for food.
All our Danish coasts will be filled with this exciting fish, and there are plenty of opportunities to catch some out there.
REMEMBER: our coasts also offer great opportunities to catch other species, especially sea trout, which hunt the same things in the same places.
Where is a good place to fish for garfish?
Garfish are easiest to catch along beaches with sandbars and mussel beds. Here, there's plenty of food for the fish to find, and good breeding grounds nearby.
Many people believe that garfish should be caught from piers or harbors where the water is deep. This is NOT the case at all.
During the summer months, you can almost stand anywhere on the Danish coast and have a good chance of catching something.
Ideal spots for garfish are often known sea trout spots. In our video guide, for example, we are at Glatved Strand, which is a popular spot for many anglers. But you can catch garfish everywhere. Our clear recommendation is to drive to the outer coast, a relatively easily accessible place, and bring a packed lunch.
The garfish often reveals itself by hunting in shallow water or mating on the surface.
Once you've spotted them, you're in the right area. You can even use the Fishing in Denmark app as a guide to good spots - and remember, there are often just as many people as fish at the piers.
Gear for garfish
Long, slender lures are typically excellent for catching garfish. At the beginning of the garfish season, most things work, as the fish are here in such large numbers that there are usually always one or twenty who gladly throw themselves at your bait.
We have created an entire category exclusively with garfish lures.
You can find all our garfish gear here.
Can you catch garfish when it's cloudy?
Yes, you can easily catch garfish when it's cloudy.
Although it is said that bright sunshine and good weather are optimal for garfish, you can easily catch them in cloudy weather. Garfish actively hunt almost around the clock, and you will only have difficulty catching them during regular night fishing; for the rest of the day, you will easily be able to outsmart garfish with your garfish lures or your small flies.
Where is the best place to catch garfish?
It's best to fish along seaweed belts and reefs, as this is where garfish find their food. Many also fish under bridges by the Danish fjords, as it's often a place where the shipping channel comes close to shore, and it's easy to fish from there. Don't miss out on a fishing trip along the outer coast, as there's a great nature experience to be had there - and also a garfish.
By taking a quick look at Google Maps, you'll discover many good garfish fishing spots. Alternatively, there's almost always a good chance at piers and harbors, as you can cover a lot of water there and quickly find a few fish.
These are the kinds of flies we use ourselves for garfish fishing
Can you catch garfish from the beach?
Yes, garfish are particularly easy to catch from the beach.
Especially on the outer coast, it is quite easy to catch garfish from the beach, and it is often from here we get the first reports. The garfish season 2024 truly started on the outer coast of Djursland. A good pair of hiking boots and a solid packed lunch, and you're ready to catch garfish.
What do garfish eat?
Garfish primarily feed on sand fleas and shrimp when they are along the Danish coasts, but they gladly feast on gobies, sand eels, and other small fish.
As a fly fisherman, you can advantageously imitate the smaller prey, as the small hooks simply have an easier time hooking the fish.
The long beak means you will have a lot of "nips" that never result in a fish staying on the line.
With small flies and/or a small treble hook, you will hook significantly more fish than you otherwise would.
Should you use silk snoods for garfish?
You certainly can, especially if you have your children with you.
The silk snood is excellent for the little ones, and it significantly minimizes the risk of accidents during fishing.
However, we are biased because we also want the chance to catch a trout. If you fish with a silk snood, you definitely won't catch them - and that's a shame.
With small hooks, you significantly increase the chance of the garfish staying on the line, and there's still a chance to catch a sea trout.
If you fish in the summer, there's also a chance that species like mackerel or sea bass will take your bait, and it's a real shame to miss out on these fish.
Therefore, we recommend using a hook like the Owner stn 36bc, which is light in the wire and can be obtained in very small sizes.
What size hook should you use for garfish?
For garfish fishing, we recommend as small a hook as possible, preferably size 12-16.
We ourselves are very fond of Owner stn-36 BC.
We recommend it because it has a thin wire and hooks incredibly well. It's also the hook we use for our tube flies, and we know it can hold even a large salmon, so you can easily have a good garfish season in 2025 without having to worry about the hook.
Garfish season 2026
Once the rapeseed has bloomed, the garfish have arrived, and the 2026 season is underway.
You can catch garfish from mid-April until the first night frost truly hits us.
Initially, fishing is good in the deep water on the outer coast and in the shipping channels of our fjords. After that, you can find the fish everywhere in Danish waters until mid-June, after which the remainder of the garfish season 2026 will take place on the outer coasts. You can definitely catch tons of garfish when fishing for mackerel and sea bass on the Jutland west coast.
Good luck with garfish fishing!
Remember, you can always reach out to us at Nordic Anglers for more tips and tricks. Contact us at info@nordicanglers.com or 40384081. See you by the water.
