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HAIRTAIL - afternoon investigation


mrsswordfisherman

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We are off on a bit of a hairtail reccy this afternoon/early evening. 
Hopefully I will have a live report from there later. 
We will be at the “secret” raider spot and launching from Apple Tree Bay. 
There is a security guard there for 4 hours at ATB.
 

If any raiders are around come say hello. Strict social distancing please ;) 

Msg me if you need any info. 
Wish us luck :)

mrsswordie

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35 minutes ago, Scratchie said:

Go get em Donna and Stewy. No doubt everything rigged ready to go! Lol 😝 

Good luck and I’ll be following with optimism 👍👍👍

cheers scratchie!!! 

What was that call we used to yell out Jeff?

20 plus boats in the dead of night. Suddenly the hairtail would appear and it became very noisy :)

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4 minutes ago, motiondave said:

ah, ok, then again, I m not out after dark, so not an issue here 

Well if you hunt for hairtail it’s usually night time. It’s a good thing someone there watching the cars :)

Some stay all night!

On our socials we had a mothership houseboat and would cook everyone bacon and eggs breakfast. 
 

We won’t be doing an all-nighter that’s for sure. 

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2 hours ago, mrsswordfisherman said:

Thanks Zoran they are here :)

Awesome, I look forward to the report !  The weather for the rest of the week does not look accomodating so you have certainly picked the night... best of luck.

Cheers Z

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5 hours ago, mrsswordfisherman said:

Well if you hunt for hairtail it’s usually night time. It’s a good thing someone there watching the cars :) 

Yeh that's a great thing, I presume that's a council paid for thing??

 

I would cringe leaving my car at a ramp during the night.

 

To many rat bags.

 

Good luck!

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Great to see you guys are getting onto them Donna or should that be mrs swordie since we haven’t officially met as yet, obviously they are still biting before dusk but are they still on the chew well into dark or is the bite slower. Been so busy with work lately hopefully I’ll get a chance to tangle with a few soon 

1 hour ago, kingie chaser said:

 

So question, are hairtail just a Hawkesbury thing??

 

Every talks about them being up there but to they inhabit any other areas??

 

Just curious!

That is the most reliable spot but they also frequent Newcastle & Sydney Harbour from memory they’ve been caught in Sydney in the last few years & I’ve heard they occasionally are also caught in Botany Bay & on the odd occasion I’ve picked them up outside of broken bay, they also make an appearance in Queensland at a place called 1770

Edited by 61 crusher
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2 hours ago, kingie chaser said:

Nice effort again Donna.

 

So question, are hairtail just a Hawkesbury thing??

 

Every talks about them being up there but to they inhabit any other areas??

 

Just curious!

Hi KC as Dieter says Cowan most reliable but in 'good years' there are plenty in the Harbour, Newcastle Harbour and in years past, some giants came from Botany Bay. Coffs Harbour had a mass "invasion" of them years ago and they regularly catch them in places like Cairns Harbour, not sure about the size of them there though.

Akuna Bay in Coal and Candle Creek (a tributary of Cowan Creek) was once the gun spot, but since the marina was built, for whatever reason/s,(I think maybe the noises of auto-bilge pumps and the like) it doesn't produce consistently like pre-marina days.Still can produce good numbers if there are big schools of Yakka's in there, as they need a large bio-mass of baitfish to feed the big schools.

Back in the late 70's we caught them all over the Harbour, right up to Drummoyne and Birkinhead Point. The bigger the bio-mass of the schools, the more they seem to rove around of a night looking for food.

The "daytime" and "night-time" bite patterns also can vary from super timid, soft, slow takes by day, to really aggressive, strong, fast takes by night. Sometimes this is reversed, particularly in deep spots like Clifton Gardens and Box Head where by day, Hairtail bites were mostly a firm grab of the bait, followed by a strong movement down and away.

Flint and Steel also sees them bite aggressively in the faster moving water.

They are genuinely fascinating fish and great fun when around in numbers.

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