First Hairtail

[wazatherfisherman]

9 minutes ago, James Clain said:

Thank you for that great information. I believe that  4 metre deep water in within casting distance although where the Hairtail turned up was actually in around 1 metre or even shallower. I also I believe i have seen big head-wakes on that same say in winter. Would large kings come that far inshore in late august?

If the water is decent quality, some years they stay in the estuaries. We have seen really big ones right up the end of Smiths Creek a few times, along with stray Frigates during August, but not something you'd really target with any confidence at that time of year

[61 crusher]

What an awesome 😎 read Waza, the way you’ve described the hairtail in detail & the tips you’ve given is brilliant. Your trips in the tinny reminded me of one of my first  attempts in a 12 foot tinny lucky for me it had a 9.8 on the back. I headed for Waratah bay from bobbin head & when I rounded the point there would’ve easily been 50 boats,  after idling around a while the only space left was the public mooring on the western side. After settling in a pattern emerged where about every half hour or so I could here 2 to 5 caught as they came into the bay & always the same boats in one area on the opposite side of the bay, the rest of us were fish less, after three hours of freezing & nothing to show for it I untied from the mooring I let the current slowly take me out to the point I’d rounded earlier when  all of a sudden one of the lines came up tight & I was on, they were in the same eddy that the tinny was in & after 12 in in quick succession I used my dolphin torch on the next three  & was amazed that even 3 foot under the boat in gin clear water I’d only get the odd glimpse of there eyes or an occasional sight of a flank. With 15 onboard & all about 41/2 foot plus I headed home one cold damp happy little vegemite

And I agree everyone should give hairtailing a go & they taste great 👍 

Edited April 7, 2020 by 61 crusher

[GoingFishing]

19 hours ago, wazatherfisherman said:

Used to get them in both Botany and the Harbour during the daylight hours as well.

What a dream, very rare these days !

[wazatherfisherman]

7 hours ago, 61 crusher said:

What an awesome 😎 read Waza, the way you’ve described the hairtail in detail & the tips you’ve given is brilliant. Your trips in the tinny reminded me of one of my first  attempts in a 12 foot tinny lucky for me it had a 9.8 on the back. I headed for Waratah bay from bobbin head & when I rounded the point there would’ve easily been 50 boats,  after idling around a while the only space left was the public mooring on the western side. After settling in a pattern emerged where about every half hour or so I could here 2 to 5 caught as they came into the bay & always the same boats in one area on the opposite side of the bay, the rest of us were fish less, after three hours of freezing & nothing to show for it I untied from the mooring I let the current slowly take me out to the point I’d rounded earlier when  all of a sudden one of the lines came up tight & I was on, they were in the same eddy that the tinny was in & after 12 in in quick succession I used my dolphin torch on the next three  & was amazed that even 3 foot under the boat in gin clear water I’d only get the odd glimpse of there eyes or an occasional sight of a flank. With 15 onboard & all about 41/2 foot plus I headed home one cold damp happy little vegemite

And I agree everyone should give hairtailing a go & they taste great 👍 

Hi Dieter in the early days I often "swore" I'd just spotted a Hairy right underneath the bait, given away by the bio-luminescence being disturbed, but as time went by, realised you generally only saw them when they were sneaking along and not moving fast.

When catching them in Akuna bay from the hire boats, they would rise really slowly to just in view and only make a quick movement for the last couple of feet.

Another feature of their movements in Akuna was watching nearby boats get them when they first started biting each time, they definitely moved fairly slowly around the bay and it was really exciting knowing when you'd be the next boat to get into the action.

 

[wazatherfisherman]

3 hours ago, GoingFishing said:

What a dream, very rare these days !

Lets hope these giant aggregations return to both the Harbour and Cowan systems, don't know about Botany Bay though, the place has changed a bit.

On a side note, they also regularly catch them in Cairns Harbour up north as well.