Summer hairtail

[antr]

Hi fished the spit last night on the  boat and caught  a large hairtail ,I thought they are a winter fish? Trying to add pictures 

[Rebel]

Well done. Great photo,

[LuckyFil]

Yeah you typically hear of them in winter but I have caught odd ones in Pittwater in the warmer months when targeting other fish. They are strange fish and not much is known about them.

Fil

[kingie chaser]

Nice work, great size to 

 

Supposed to be pretty good eating but never tried it myself.

 

I have only really read stuff on here about them & yeah they seem to catch them mainly up in the Hawkesbury during the cooler months on dusk.

 

There is some info below for your interest.

 

 

 

[wchh]

That is a large hair tail indeed! Well done!

I would say if they come out to play, they are welcome anytime!

Charles

[GordoRetired]

On 1/18/2021 at 3:43 PM, antr said:

Hi fished the spit last night on the  boat and caught  a large hairtail ,I thought they are a winter fish? Trying to add pictures

Not only are they generally seen as a winter fish but this is the first time that I have heard of a Haretail being caught in the Harbour.
Only ever had a couple caught on my boat, both up around Pitwater. They are excellent eating.
Well done.

[ChrisE]

8 hours ago, GordoRetired said:

Not only are they generally seen as a winter fish but this is the first time that I have heard of a Haretail being caught in the Harbour.
Only ever had a couple caught on my boat, both up around Pitwater. They are excellent eating.
Well done.

Clifton Gardens in the Harbour was once a hotspot for Hairtail. Between my father, his friend and I, we landed six in one session there, but I was just a kid, it was a bloody long time ago, at least 45 years. They were also common in Botany Bay, northern side near the original port development. Both spots fished out long ago.

Edited January 19, 2021 by ChrisE

[Pickles]

Well done and Top effort Antr, a good size “bumper bar” - fight hard don’t they? (Nasty teeth that leaves a deep wound, that bleeds and bleeds).

Interestingly,  I’ve been fishing Sydney Harbour for 40 odd years now and have noticed a positive correlation between “flood years” and appearance of hairtail in the harbour. About 4 years ago, there was a constant run of them for about a month (Feb to March) and they were all good sized ex - looks like there back.

[antr]

Thanks guys for your comments, a very strong tasting meat not sure if I would target them? But don't fancy trying to unhook and then trying to pick up to release with them big teeth snapping around. Like pickles said would bleed a lot.cheers

[PaddyT]

I can remember reading articles in "Fishing and Outdoors"by Bernie Clarke about catching them in Botany Bay and Clifton Gardens in summer time-ive caught them in March at Box Head many years ago, then there have been some strange migrations to places like the Noosa River and Townsville in the last few years. The only constant location for them remains Cowan Creek but the run varies from year to year-they are a weird critter!!

[wazatherfisherman]

During the 70's they were really common in both Sydney Harbour and Botany Bay. Clifton deep hole was the reliable spot, but of a night when the schools are roaming around they were caught all over the Harbour and North Harbour.

The appeal of Clifton deep hole was that they were caught during the day, other spots like the Green Wedding Cake, Sow and Pigs and the Yellow blinker off Neilsen  Park were just some of the spots they turned up regularly of a night. High tide at night they would come right in to the wharf at Clifton Gardens and we fished for them from the back of the swimming pool using small live Yellowtail set about 8-9 ft under a small bobby cork. It was vital to catch really small "daytime" Yellowtail well before dark, the "night-time" Yellowtail are larger and the Hairtail would usually muck around with them.

 

[Pickles]

Thanks for the reminiscences Wazza, I also remember Friday nights in the harbour at Sow and Pigs fishing for tailor with pillies and live small Yakkas and getting the occasional Hairtail (didn’t target them then). Alas the tailor are only an occasional catch now and nothing like they used to be, but the reverse with Kingfish - used to be an occasional catch, but now an almost certainty (if targeted).

Edited January 22, 2021 by Pickles
Spelling

[wazatherfisherman]

4 hours ago, Pickles said:

Thanks for the reminiscences Wazza, I also remember Friday nights in the harbour at Sow and Pigs fishing for tailor with pillows and live small Yakkas and getting the occasional Hairtail (didn’t target them then). Alas the tailor are only an occasional catch now and nothing like they used to be, but the reverse with Kingfish - used to be an occasional catch, but now an almost certainty (if targeted).

Hi Bob fishing the Sow and Pigs was fantastic in those years- you just can't accurately describe how many fish were there of a night. The rougher it was outside, the better the Pig's fished and all manner of species. Reckon there were almost as many Trevally as Tailor some nights.

Never got more than a few Hairtail there each "burst" probably just as they moved through and nothing like some of the other spots in the Harbour for them. Mostly caught them on the old 3 x 6/0 gangs with no wire while Tailor fishing. Biggest ones I ever saw came from the yellow blinker at Neilsen Park- they were genuine monsters

[PaddyT]

15 hours ago, Pickles said:

Thanks for the reminiscences Wazza, I also remember Friday nights in the harbour at Sow and Pigs fishing for tailor with pillows and live small Yakkas and getting the occasional Hairtail (didn’t target them then). Alas the tailor are only an occasional catch now and nothing like they used to be, but the reverse with Kingfish - used to be an occasional catch, but now an almost certainty (if targeted).

thats very true Bob-as a teenager my fishing horizons were limited by where my parents were willing to take me (which was usually Balmoral Beach)-i caught thousands of tailor there in the 80's(in the summer time from the island ) and later when i got wheels i would catch them all the time at Avoca,Winnie  curse them when they chewed up all my live slimies at Tomaree, had 200 fish sessions on various central coast beaches, later again when i had a small tinnie we would see massive boiling schools in the harbour and the front of Broken Bay, caught some monsters in the early 2000's in Cowan Creek and these days i rarely see a good one- there are still some decent choppers in Cowan (we got a few a couple of years back while houseboating) - and the numbers are certainly not there. I like tailor , especially when they get up round the 2kg + mark, then they become a "real" fish. I know JonD still pulls some crackers on the south coast and admittedly i dont target them but when i drive down the harbour i used to see them all the time.

[ace1223]

On 1/18/2021 at 3:43 PM, antr said:

Hi fished the spit last night on the  boat and caught  a large hairtail ,I thought they are a winter fish? Trying to add pictures 

Do you re-call what tide it was?