The red gurnard. One of my favourite fish to be caught from both shore and boat , not a pretty fish but a very tasty one and certainly a suprise when you bring one in as they have a tendancy to croak and groan at you , but its just the air bladder deflating.
There are 3 main type of gurnard in our scope to catch here in the southwest . The red variety which is the smallest , generally not more than 1 and a half pounds in weight , easy to identify from its deep brown and red skin . The next size up getting slightly larger is the more commonly caught grey variety . This one has a light grey skin with small white spots then finally the yellow or "tub" variety which as its name suggests it a yellow colour and this one has slightly enlarged pectoral fins which are easily larger than its two relatives mentioned ealier . The yellow Gurnard has been know to reach over 11lb in weight whilst the others reach only a meagre 3 lb as a top end , so a fish of a 1lb is indeed a quality catch for a red or grey variety.
During the summer months the Gurnard move inshore from their deeper winter grounds to warmer water and enjoy a feast of summer food that is abundant as the breeding seasons of many species happen around the same time providing many small meals that are easy picking. The fish that i caught off budleigh salterton whilst kayak fishing had stomach contents of small red shell crabs and very small sandeel , this particular fish ahd been cramming the food in
.
The gurnard enjoys a variety of habitat which during the summer will include piers , groynes, rocks and even estuaries, I think the ideal ground will be that of a relatively deep water mark which has a mixture of clear sand , rocks and weed like so many places here in the southwest of Devon present to us shore anglers .
The last red Gurnard I managed to catch was in fact caught on a Sabiki type string of lures that I was jigging for some mackerel to use as bait which suggests they are keen on shrimp type bait.
There doesn't seem to be any specific bait as Gurnard fishing is not a hot topic amongst us sea fishing people but the evidence shows that an ideal bait would be a choice of : sand eel , small crab either peeler or hardback , live shrimp or prawn then backed up with the usual range of rag or lug worm , mackerel strips or even herring , mussel or slipper limpet.
To enjoy any sporting effort the fish is likely to put up I would suggest a light rod and line, maybe less than 10lb breaking strain , which is more than capable of landing a sizable fish just incase you hook into an unwanted bass! Weight the rig just enough to hold the bottom and ideally place it on the sand if you know where it is. A running trace with a small hook no bigger than a size 1 should do the trick and why not add a small flounder spoon as this will flicker as the tide moves the bait around . Best fished on a rising tide as they like to ambush passing prey as it moves in on the tide, a Gurnard will fish well on clear and calm conditions and they don't mind the sunshine either as they hunt from the sea bed upwards and plenty of light helps them feed more efficiently.
