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Leerfish

Fish · Last reviewed 2026-08-10

A large, fast, laterally compressed jack of Mediterranean and African coasts, known as garrick in South Africa, and a prime surf and lure target.

A leerfish lying on its side against a concrete quay wall at Durban, seen from the side along its whole length, the body deep and strongly flattened side to side, a row of short separate spines along the back ahead of the second dorsal fin, a deeply forked tail with dark lobes, and a lateral line that can be traced from behind the gill cover with a wave in it over the pectoral.
Leerfish or garrick (Lichia amia) on the quay at Blue Lagoon, Durban. Short separate spinelets run ahead of the second dorsal, and the lateral line waves over the pectoral rather than running straight.Identified by: A deep, strongly compressed body carrying a row of short separate dorsal spinelets ahead of the second dorsal, and a deeply forked tail with dark lobes. The lateral line can be traced from behind the operculum with a discernible wave over the pectoral region — described as discernible rather than emphatic, because on a dulled post-mortem flank it is not the bold undulation a live fish shows.Erwin Sieben — CC0, via iNaturalist — source, licence

Leerfish is a big jack built like a blade: extremely compressed laterally, deep-bodied, with a curiously wavy lateral line and a scythe-like turn of speed. It hunts mullet and other baitfish in the surf, in estuaries and along rocky coasts from the Mediterranean down the length of the African Atlantic and Indian Ocean coasts.

In South Africa, where it is one of the most sought-after shore species, it is called garrick or leervis. In the Mediterranean it is leccia or glaucus. It is the same fish, and the naming difference is a good example of why this catalogue records regional terminology rather than creating separate records.

It is a strong, fast, visually hunting predator, and it is taken most characteristically on live mullet or on fast-worked surface lures.

Identification

FishingHQ holds no photograph of this species whose identity and licensing it can vouch for, so it is not showing one. Misidentified fish photographs teach identification wrongly, and a picture with an unchecked caption would be worse than none. The identification points below are what to look at instead.

Scientific name
Lichia amia
Family
Carangidae
Water
Saltwater, Brackish
Conservation status
Least Concern
Regions
Mediterranean, West Africa, East & Southern Africa, Western Europe
  • Very deep, strongly laterally compressed body — noticeably thin when viewed head-on.
  • A distinctly wavy or undulating lateral line along the flank.
  • Long sickle-shaped second dorsal and anal fins, and no scutes on the caudal peduncle.
  • Silver-blue back over bright silver flanks, sometimes with faint dusky bars in young fish.

Size

Typical
3–10 kg (6.6–22 lb)
Large
15–25 kg (33–55 lb)

Exceptional: FishBase records a maximum of 200 cm and 50 kg

Lifecycle and reproduction

Fast-growing and long-lived, with adults ranging widely along coastlines. Juveniles use estuaries and sheltered bays, moving to open coast as they grow.

Spawns in coastal waters in the warmer months, broadcasting eggs. Juveniles are estuary-dependent, which ties recruitment to estuarine condition.

Feeding and senses

A fast pursuit predator taking mullet, sardine and other schooling baitfish, driving them against surf, structure and the surface.

A daylight visual hunter of clear moving water, keying on schooling baitfish. The species is often located by the disturbance of prey rather than by seeing the predator.

Through the year

Follows baitfish along coasts seasonally, with well-known runs in southern Africa timed to mullet movements. Availability is driven by prey rather than by temperature alone.

Distribution

Eastern Atlantic: southern Bay of Biscay to South Africa, including the Mediterranean. Western Indian Ocean: South Africa to Maputo Bay, Maputo (Mozambique)

This is a biological range — where the species occurs, not a prediction that you will catch one. To browse the fishing geography FishingHQ holds, start at fishing places.

Why anglers care

A prime shore and light-boat target across the Mediterranean and southern Africa, taken on live mullet, large surface lures, spoons and fly. Its significance in South African shore angling is particularly high — garrick is among the most prized surf species there — and it is also a significant Mediterranean lure target. Practitioner consensus in both regions favours live bait for large fish and fast surface lures for active hunting fish.

Handling and returning

A powerful, deep-bodied fish that fights to exhaustion. Support horizontally with both hands, keep out of dry sand, minimise air time, and revive fully in moving water before release. Widely released by shore anglers in southern Africa.

How leerfish are fished, and why

A large, fast, surf-zone predator that hunts mullet and other baitfish in broken water along rocky and sandy coasts, and every method is about intercepting a hunting fish rather than finding a holding one.

SURFCASTING with live or dead bait works because the fish patrols the surf and gutters, and a bait in the wash reaches it where it is already hunting.

SPINNING and POPPING are the specialist approaches, and they work for a specific reason: leerfish hunt visually in white water and will take a large surface lure worked fast across broken water. It is one of the few Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic species that reliably produces surface strikes from the shore.

THE TIMING IS THE HARD PART. The fish moves through, feeds briefly and leaves, so the method matters less than being present at dawn, dusk or in a building sea when the mullet shoals are pushed against the rocks.

Practitioner consensus

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Habitat association, depth range, feeding ecology and prey of the species, from which the method association follows.Background and mechanism onlyPassage read and verified
  • IGFA International Angling Rules and World Record Requirements — International Game Fish Association (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: Recognised angling methods and the tackle classes used for them internationally.Background and mechanism onlyPassage read and verified

Where to go next

How it is caught

What these connections rest on (3)

Practitioner consensus — 3 connections

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • Popping and stickbaiting

    A practitioner claim about how Lichia amia is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for leerfish.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for leerfish and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Spinning

    A practitioner claim about how Lichia amia is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for leerfish.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for leerfish and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Surfcasting

    A practitioner claim about how Lichia amia is commonly fished, following from where and how it feeds.

    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated practitioner accounts of fishing for leerfish.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Practitioner treatment of the methods used for leerfish and comparable species.Citation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Gear for this fish

What these connections rest on (1)

Practitioner consensus — 1 connection

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • Surface lures

    A practitioner claim about which lure family answers this species' feeding or holding behaviour.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Established shore and boat lure practice for the species in north-west European seas.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated lure selection for this species, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as tested fact.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Where it lives

What these connections rest on (2)

Scientific evidence — 2 connections

Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.

  • Rocky shores and reefs

    A habitat association for Lichia amia taken from the environment and distribution data on its FishBase summary.

    • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: The environment, depth range and habitat description recorded for Lichia amia.States this directlyPassage read and verified

  • Surf beaches

    A habitat association for Lichia amia taken from the environment and distribution data on its FishBase summary.

    • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: The environment, depth range and habitat description recorded for Lichia amia.States this directlyPassage read and verified

Where you will find it

What these connections rest on (3)

Scientific evidence — 3 connections

Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.

  • South Africa

    A distribution association between an animal and a described water body, which is what the `inhabits` predicate is for — the kind of water rather than a named mark.

    • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat association and depth range recorded for the species, including its occurrence in the water body concerned.States this directlyPassage read and verified
    • The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature (Conservation authority)Relied on for: Assessment and range account for the species, including the systems and coasts it occupies.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • The Agulhas Current

    A distribution association between an animal and a described water body, which is what the `inhabits` predicate is for — the kind of water rather than a named mark.

    • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat association and depth range recorded for the species, including its occurrence in the water body concerned.States this directlyPassage read and verified
    • The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature (Conservation authority)Relied on for: Assessment and range account for the species, including the systems and coasts it occupies.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • The West African coast

    A distribution association between an animal and a described water body, which is what the `inhabits` predicate is for — the kind of water rather than a named mark.

    • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat association and depth range recorded for the species, including its occurrence in the water body concerned.States this directlyPassage read and verified
    • The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature (Conservation authority)Relied on for: Assessment and range account for the species, including the systems and coasts it occupies.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Sources for this page

  • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Family, maximum size, depth and environment, distribution and the IUCN assessment for Lichia amia.States this directlyPassage read and verified
  • The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature (Conservation authority)Relied on for: The Least Concern assessment for Lichia amia, assessed 19 May 2014.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy.

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