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Fish guide

Wolf fish

Anarhichas lupus · Everything else

Also called catfish, wolffish

Wolf fish
Photo: Citron, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What fish is this?Identify a fish from a photo

A rare, bar-flanked, fang-toothed fish of rocky ground in deeper water, occasionally caught by anglers fishing for cod or conger, mainly in the north.[1]

How to recognise it

  • Long eel-like body with one dorsal fin running most of its length, and big canine-like teeth at the front of the mouth.[1]
  • Dark bluish-grey, sometimes brown or grey, with 9 to 13 dark vertical bars on the body.[2]
  • Large head and powerful jaws. Handle with care, as it will snap when landed.[1]

When and where

Found over
rocky ground, crevices, deep water[2]
Baits
large fish baits, squid, pirks[1]

Sources

  1. British Sea Fishing: Atlantic wolffish
  2. MarLIN: Wolf fish

These notes are a draft: we gathered them from the sources above and are still checking them. We don't work out best times for this fish yet. The size rules come from the same checked byelaws as every other fish.

Size and bag limit

Minimum size
Sizes vary along the coast. Pick your spot to see the rule there.
Bag limit
None set for the whole UK.
Minimum sizes around the UK
AreaMinimum size
Kent & Essex IFCANone
Sussex IFCANone
Southern IFCANone
Devon & Severn IFCANone
Cornwall IFCANone
Isles of Scilly IFCANot checked yet
North Western IFCANone
North Eastern IFCANot checked yet
Northumberland IFCANot checked yet
Eastern IFCANone
Welsh GovernmentNot checked yet
Scottish GovernmentNot checked yet
DAERA (Northern Ireland)Not checked yet