Hairtail Are Back

[Idol threats]

Hi All

Went for a fish last night after hearing of a report of hairtail in cowan , every year I normaly wait until it is freezing cold and brave the elements for no result.

This time it was a little bit warmer and the fish where on the chew.

After setting up in the mouth of (secret location)

We threw out some chook pellets and it wasent long and the gar fish moved in and then followed by the yakas and tailor , those gar fish can be bloody dangerous every time I turned a light on in the boat they would launch themselves at it like an IBM , it was a quick way of catching a few for live bait and a feed.

Anyhow back to the hairtail.

Floated out a stund yaka on a set of gang hooks and cracked open the port and bang the reel starts peeling off line thinking at first the yaka has come good and been spooked I slowly siped my drink and to my suprize the ever tell tale signs of a hairtail having trouble digesting 3 gang hooks was present.

After only a short fight and a few swearing at the bloody garfish now trying to jump into the boat after my mate had turned on the torch to try and find the gaff and net. After my mate found the gaff we bought up to the side of the boat the monster from the deep , set the gaff into his silvery body and quickly put him out of his missery.

The end result was a personel best for me and the first for this time of year.

We did have a few more runs and we could see them under the boat but this was the only one landed.

[kikila]

G/day Idol

How big was the hairtail? Its good to hear that they are about might be a good season for hairtail has any one heard of any hairtail over at Box Head it used to be a reliable daylight spot for hairtail.

[Idol threats]

G/day Idol

How big was the hairtail? Its good to hear that they are about might be a good season for hairtail  has any one heard of any hairtail over at Box Head it used to be a reliable daylight spot for hairtail.

46916[/snapback]

Hey kkila

I have a photo but having trouble attaching it , it would be close to 4 maybe even 5 feet long I will PM you in a PDF see if you can attach it.

Cheers

[Narralakes]

well done, the hairtail social guys will be happy with that report.

[ko-i]

Nice one mate

Thats a very good start to the season Idol, unless that was the only hairtail left in the world Gives me inspiration to heap up next week.

Cant wait to see the photo.

cheers,

Andrew.

[heckendorfmortgage]

Now about this photo Idol.

I am a bit skeptical after a couple of winters with no hairtail.

Lets hope that they have in fact returned.

MH

[Idol threats]

Now about this photo Idol.

I am a bit skeptical after a couple of winters with no hairtail.

Lets hope that they have in fact returned.

MH

46933[/snapback]

I have got Swoffa to post it for me as I have had trouble with the photo dont know why but it should be up soon.

[Trouble]

Great stuff mate good to hear someone has landed one and has a photo to back it up..great effort...im very keen to get out there now..thts the kind of evidence i was looking for..

[Idol threats]

Here ya go:

46939[/snapback]

Thanks Andrew

[heckendorfmortgage]

Happy days, They do exist still.

Better get out there.

MH

[Guest bluecod]

Great work on the hairy guys ......... BUT .......... [and this is where I cover my tail] ............

........ the old timers reckon that if the first hairtail to arrive get a pounding in the first week or so of their arrival, the main school won't come in. They reckon they're like scouts for the main mob.

Has anybody else heard of this ............ fable or truth ???

[Guest bluecod]

Swoffa,

I don't know that its organisation like we know it but possibly something else. I remember reading [Vance Palmer] that the old-time mullet fishermen would not net the first few winter mullet coming into an estuary as they knew if they interefered with the "scouts" the schools wouldn't come in. Whilst Palmer was a novelist, his stories were well researched.

There again, if there is not some level of instinctive organisation/co-operation, how do you explain pelagic species balling up a school of bait so they can give it a solid hammering.

In certain parts of the coastline, its instant death from other fishos if they catch you cleaning snapper on the snapper grounds - they reckon it puts the snapper off the bite for weeks. Is there a death scent issue or more probably a scent/signal given off by well fed, happy and unstressed fish that's attractive to other fish of the species. Hairtail have one hell of a lateral line so they must be able to pick up on the tiniest of vibrations

Just a thought!

[wakd]

This is getting a little off the hairtail topic, but on my recent trip up North, one of the guides was talking about catching golden snapper (fingermark) off the reef. He reckoned that if you let any fish go, or lost a hooked fish, they would go off the bite straight away. He would keep even undersized fish in a livewell till he had finished fishing before returning them to the water. Strange but (possibly) true (but hey, its a fishing story, so who knows!).