Trigger Fish

Few fish turn heads like a trigger fish. Oval, armoured and faintly comical, it drifts up from warmer southern seas each summer to haunt our rocky Cornish ground. Don't be put off by the leathery hide: under it sits firm white flesh that is worth every minute of the filleting.

How to catch triggerfish: the short version

Fish close to rocks, piers, harbour walls or moorings in late summer and early autumn, when the sea is at its warmest. Use small, strong hooks and a tough bait such as squid, mussel, crab or prawn, presented on a float or a light ledger right next to the structure. Strike at the first firm pull, because triggerfish pick baits apart with their sharp teeth, and unhook them with pliers, keeping your fingers clear of the mouth and the dorsal spine.

How to spot it

There's little else like a trigger fish once you've held one. The body is oval and noticeably flattened side to side, tapering neatly to the tail, and clad in toughened, almost leathery scales that give a real sense of armour. The head is large, roughly a third of the whole fish, with small eyes pushed well back and a small mouth full of sharp little teeth. Colour shifts from blacky-grey to a browny hue depending on the light and the ground beneath it. The giveaway is the dorsal fin's clever locking spine, which raises and holds rigid.

Where it lives

Trigger fish are creatures of shallow, rocky ground, hanging just off the bottom where reef, boulder and broken structure offer shelter. They visit us in summer: as the sea warms through the season they push up from the south and turn up with far more regularity. Around the Cornish coast, the rocky marks near Porthcurno and Lamorna are about as reliable as it gets, where the broken ground gives them both larder and cover. Look for them holding tight to the reef rather than ranging over open sand.

Catching it

A prawn on a baited hook is what consistently tempts a trigger fish, presented on or very near the rocky bottom where they feed. The trick is patience and a watchful touch, because these are notorious bait-thieves; those small, sharp teeth will leave you reeling in stripped hooks more than once before the hook finds home. Fish the warmer summer months from rocky marks where the ground breaks up, such as the reefs around Porthcurno and Lamorna. They hold so tight to structure that you'll want to mind your footing and your tackle. As ever, take only what you'll use and return the rest, so the marks keep producing season after season.

In the kitchen

The armour is the off-putting part; the flesh underneath is firm, meaty and white, closer to monkfish than to a flaky round fish. A trigger fish is genuinely bony, so don't try to cook it whole. You want to fillet it: slip a sharp knife in behind the head, work down each side of the backbone and skin the fillets off the tough hide. From there it stands up to bolder handling than most white fish. Cut the fillets into chunks and char them on skewers, or sear hard in a smoking-hot pan so the meaty texture catches some colour, with a little chilli and garlic. It can take it.

Where to find triggerfish in the UK

The grey triggerfish, Balistes capriscus, is a warm-water fish that has become a regular summer and autumn visitor to the south coast of England and Cornwall, with fewer further north. It likes structure: harbour walls, pier legs, wrecks, reefs and moorings. Triggerfish often turn up in small groups in calm, clear, warm water, roughly from July to October, then vanish once the sea cools.

Rigs, hooks and baits for triggerfish

Triggerfish have small mouths and strong teeth, so small but strong hooks work better than big ones, and many anglers use a short length of heavier line next to the hook. A simple float rig set at mid-water beside a harbour wall, or a short running ledger close to rocks, is all you need. Squid and mussel stay on the hook longer than soft baits, and small pieces of crab or prawn are hard for them to resist. Small baits mean fewer stolen ones. Our beginner rigs guide shows both set-ups.

Handling a triggerfish safely

A triggerfish can give a hard nip, so never put your fingers near its mouth. Hold it with a wet cloth around the body, unhook it with long-nosed pliers and mind the first dorsal spine, which locks upright; pressing the smaller second spine behind it releases the lock. Return unwanted fish quickly. Size and catch rules vary by area, so check the current rules with your local IFCA before keeping one.