The Gar Punt: in a league of it’s own

You’ll probably never fish the same way again

Floundering, Prawning, Garfishing.

A type of fishing that sets itself apart from the rest.

No rods, no tackle.

Some lights and a net.

And a completely different realm of capturing seafood, opens.

Yes, it’s a pretty big call to never fishing the same way again.

It’ll just be VERY hard to go back to ‘normal’ landbased fishing.

The concept

All that is needed is a light and a net.

When darkness falls, the wading through the shallow water begins.

Fish can be attracted to the light (like Garfish), other species might glow (prawn and flounder eyes).

When the fish are in range, scoop ’em up.

With a nice school, dinner is sorted.

Enter the Gar Punt

The original set-up was a dolphin torch and an inflatable boat from Kmart.

Esky and the valuables would sit in the boat and would be towed behind.

Needless to say, 2 sessions would be the only 2 sessions with the inflatable boat, even with a compressor on blower duty.

The Original Gar Punt

Plans begin on the original Gar Punt.

A plywood boat, with wired 4-inch light bars (4 of them) and an 18ah battery.

This thing was big.

1.2m long and almost needing it’s own trailer.

Initially I thought to make it as big as possible, as long as it fit in the ute tub (bigger is better right?).

The original Gar Punt was in service for over a year before the second prototype began yelling too loudly inside my head.

Gar Punt V2

I didn’t want to build a timber boat this time around so I opted for a pre-built hull.

After a bit of searching the perfect vessel was found.

A baby bath tub.

Some upgraded light bars and a brand spanking 20ah Lithium battery and Gar Punt V2 was out stalking the night.

It was lighter and fit into all cars a lot easier (no need for the ute tub).

Gar Punt III

Obviously a baby bath tub wasn’t designed to float with 5kg worth of lights, batteries and fish.

The seaworthiness was questionable on some nights which led to the inevitable “third time’s a charm”.

Gar Punt III was basically a lovechild between the previous versions.

Incorporating a small yet efficient size while being seaworthy and able to withstand some chop.

Tried and tested features

No shortcuts exist on Gar Punt III, with every feature from real world usage of over 2 years walking the dead of night.

Twin 1700 Lumen light bars keep it lit.

20Ah Lithium out the back.

Strip LED lights light up the cabin.

Power meters, safety fuses and emergency cut-off switches because safety never sleeps.

The most tech you’ll see on a flounder punt.