tryhard Posted June 22, 2008 Posted June 22, 2008 G'day all, time to post up my annual fishing report, you know what I'm talking about, the time I actually go out and catch a fish! Headed out from Apple Tree Bay, at about 5.00 pm, returning again at 5.20 to collect the bait from the car !!! headed up to Jeruselem & set about feeding the fish. after about half an hour, my mate has a nice 60cm jewie caught on a Hawkesbury Prawn. another 15 mins. sees me pull in a Hairtail ! We had a couple of Hairtail takes (they are very distinctive), unfortunately the fish seemed very tenantive, and a couple of frustrating hours saw us with a 35 cm tailor, & another jewie dropped at the boat. An another hour & I was on to a good Jewie ( felt the head shakes) sadly, a minute or so saw the Jewie morph into a rather large Ray that refused to come to the for the next 10 minutes !! (Bugger). There were a few boats out there & from what we could hear there were a couple of Hairy's caught and another small jew. The Hairtail are certainly not there in any sort of numbers at the moment, maybe when it cools a little more they might be more prolific. A couple of Ugly photo's for those (like me) that need a photographic fix ! Why do they always look smaller in the photo's ??!!
Dreamtime Posted June 22, 2008 Posted June 22, 2008 So that's what a hairtail looks like! Nice effort. Are hairtail surface feeders? (We used to catch something similar in PNG inside the Yacht Club Marina. They had some serious teeth and once hooked were quite acrobatic. Can you eat them?
georgieboy Posted June 22, 2008 Posted June 22, 2008 Some great looking fish there mate Me and the boys are planning a nite trip this thurs setting off from brooklyn and will b stoked if we can get into teh jews and hairtail. Can i just ask what the hairtail was caught on, never caught one b4 and would love to and were u using ganged hooks/wire??we're going to try ang grab some livies b4 we head out, but fi not will prob have to fall back on old reliable squid. Congrats again on the catch Georgieboy
tryhard Posted June 22, 2008 Author Posted June 22, 2008 So that's what a hairtail looks like! Nice effort. Are hairtail surface feeders? (We used to catch something similar in PNG inside the Yacht Club Marina. They had some serious teeth and once hooked were quite acrobatic. Can you eat them? Mariner, Hairtail are predominantly mid water feeders in my experience, and are not built for acrobatics, but a good size hairtail puts up a reasonable fight. You can definately eat them but opinions on quality vary - I recently saw someone comment that they are OK if your tastes tend toward wet horse manure ! I have to say though that this is not my experience, & the big ones (160cm +) are better that the small ones. I think that the flesh is not too disimilar to leatherjackets but not as sweet. They have about 20 brazillion bones to the lineal metre, but the bones are not difficult to remove. I am planning to try this one in a Thai gren curry style dish, so if any one has a suitable recipe I'd be keen to hear it.
jewgaffer Posted June 22, 2008 Posted June 22, 2008 Good effort on the jew and hairtail in Jeruselum Bay try Hard Speaks volumes for good results at the hairtail social this year. I will be fishing the social myself in digger's 43' foot flybridge with a couple of my jewfishing friends and I am looking forward to it and pretty pleased to have shelter, but I know I won't be able to go inside all that often. Seeing hairtail in the system is half the battle and I reckon the social weekend will be prime jew time as the larger fish seem to be late comers this year, and one thing to note is that jew have no problems grabbing a bait with a wire leader on. Raising a heavier drop shot rig a metre or so on a short rod or two at the back of the boat under the others could prove to be a benefit I'd say. Cheers jewgaffer
tryhard Posted June 22, 2008 Author Posted June 22, 2008 Some great looking fish there mate Me and the boys are planning a nite trip this thurs setting off from brooklyn and will b stoked if we can get into teh jews and hairtail. Can i just ask what the hairtail was caught on, never caught one b4 and would love to and were u using ganged hooks/wire??we're going to try ang grab some livies b4 we head out, but fi not will prob have to fall back on old reliable squid. Congrats again on the catch Georgieboy Georgieboy, The rig that I use is a sinker above a 200mm wire trace with a single 1.0 suicide hook. I sed to use ganged hooks but found it just as easy with a single 1.0. Good on Thursday Bait is pilchards but Ibelive that live yakkas are also good.
georgieboy Posted June 22, 2008 Posted June 22, 2008 Thanx for that, dunno if i'll target them though, those teeth are a bit a decent Jewie will do me nicely hehe georgieboy
glennmreid Posted June 22, 2008 Posted June 22, 2008 great result. the cooler water hasn't seemed to affect the fising in places. well done
inhlanzi Posted June 22, 2008 Posted June 22, 2008 Good report there tryhard Good to see the little silver ones have arrived. I hope their parents and grandparents are with them !!! Cheers inhlanzi
ant180 Posted June 22, 2008 Posted June 22, 2008 I've caught 2 so far this season, and yeah they are really fickle biters ate times. I had one absolutely smoke me on 20lb two friday nights ago, definately a hairtail as they have a very distinct bite and fight. I personally disagree with the negative comments on taste. I like the flesh, it IS very similar to leatherjacket. It is very delicate eating, and i prefer it fried to baked. If you cook them in 15cm sections, one side of the fish lifts off to reveal the bones, which then lift off pretty much all connected together. There are a few bones but you can see them and remove them very easily, much easier than other fish. The thing that has me hooked on hairtail fishing is the night out on the water, and how even when you don;t get any fish, the stillness and quietness on the water make it all worthwhile.
abiasin Posted June 22, 2008 Posted June 22, 2008 I've caught 2 so far this season, and yeah they are really fickle biters ate times. I had one absolutely smoke me on 20lb two friday nights ago, definately a hairtail as they have a very distinct bite and fight. I personally disagree with the negative comments on taste. I like the flesh, it IS very similar to leatherjacket. It is very delicate eating, and i prefer it fried to baked. If you cook them in 15cm sections, one side of the fish lifts off to reveal the bones, which then lift off pretty much all connected together. There are a few bones but you can see them and remove them very easily, much easier than other fish. The thing that has me hooked on hairtail fishing is the night out on the water, and how even when you don;t get any fish, the stillness and quietness on the water make it all worthwhile. gee that was a good night wasnt it. i love eating the buggers too. might have to head out mid week if i can get time off or on the weekend if lucky.
flatty hunter626 Posted June 23, 2008 Posted June 23, 2008 nice catch there. where were you fishing me and a mate in 2 boats came in around 5-30, 6-00 and stuck it out all night to only get 1 hairtail and a ray.
tryhard Posted June 23, 2008 Author Posted June 23, 2008 nice catch there. where were you fishing me and a mate in 2 boats came in around 5-30, 6-00 and stuck it out all night to only get 1 hairtail and a ray. Hi Mate, I certainly know where you were ! I heard you when you caught your Hairy. Would I be right in suggesting that you had a disagreement about whose rod was in whose rod holder ? We were in closer to the rocks than you guys, on the Western side about level with the big boat that was moored up. your 1.5m is a good size Hairtail - I have not seen one like that for a while.
flatty hunter626 Posted June 25, 2008 Posted June 25, 2008 lol yer that was me and one of my mates. it was our first eva hairtail so we went a bit ova tha top!
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