Chasing Leerfish on the coast of Morocco - Jake Jones

Chasing Leerfish on the coast of Morocco - Jake Jones

Jake Jones has worked for the Garry Evans team for 3 years now, mainly in our Newport store. He spends a lot of his spare time targeting a range of species such as barbel, pike & Bass, but also enjoys the thrill of chasing big, powerful predators on trips to far flung destinations. His trip to Morocco on the West coast of Africa was no different. In this report Jake provides an insight into his recent week long trip where he was targeting Leerfish using lure & popping gear, whilst accompanied by his two friends Sam & Tom, as well as their expert Guide Karim. 

 The Leerfish, also known as the Garrick is a predatory species that can reach up to 30kg in weight, with lure fishing being the method used to target them. It became evident early on in the trip that the reward for casting at a longer range would result in a better quality of fish, however this can be physically taxing whilst fishing all day in the Western Saharan sun! Despite these challenges, Jake was able to land some of his best fish of the trip during these first two days, using a Majorcraft 30-50g lure rod, set up with a Penn Slammer VI loaded with heavy braid. It is essential to use a reel such as the Slammer VI that is salt resistant, in order to stand up to the punishment that they take on these trips from both the salt water and the target species. When it came to lure selection, Jake found that most of his success came on the Samson 'fat minnows' and HTO 'shore jigs' not just because of their action, but also due to his ability to punch these jigs the furthest. 

 After a hectic start to the trip with numerous fish up to 8-9kg, the wind directions changed and it was evident that the fishing became much more difficult. Although the fish were still feeding, Jake and his two friends Tom & Sam found it difficult to hook up to the bigger fish regularly like they had done during the first two days. However, down to the expert guiding from Karim the boys were able to get amongst the fish consistently, even if they were of a smaller size. In the picture below, this small yet feisty juvenile nailed one of the HTO shore jigs in the ‘blue eel’ pattern.

 As the winds started to affect the fishing more towards the tail end of the trip, Jake switched his outfit in favour of the Samson long-cast lure rod in the hope that he would be able to get more distance due to it's extra length (12') and heavier casting weight. This proved to be a success with plenty of fish being caught at distance, at this stage double or triple hook ups were becoming common! 

 A variety of metal & hard plastic jigs are the most effective way to target these high speed predators as they tend to chase shoals of mullet as their main source of food. These jigs fished on a fast retrieve provides the perfect imitation which is irresistible for the leerfish, no matter the size! 

 Despite Jakes angling ability, his success on this trip would not have been possible with out the help from his guide Karim, who was relentless in his attempts to get Jake, Tom and Sam in and amongst the fish all week. Karim angling provides trips throughout the year and can be tailored to your groups needs. If you think this might be a trip you are interested in you can contact Karim directly via his Whatsapp: +212 650-689448 . You can also find his profile on Instagram & Facebook under ‘Karim Angling’. 

 If you would like more information about targeting leerfish and other predators as well as any queries abut the appropriate tackle, feel free to give us a call on 01633855086 and ask for Jake or Andrew, who are both highly experienced when it comes to targeting predatory fish.