My First Hairtail - Cowan 8/6

[harold]

That is awesome! I was there Saturday night! It is freezing out there! I was at Jersualem bay, i didn't catch anything there though.

The water is warmer than outside! I was in the water loading my boat in apple tree bay haha!

What is WB?

Waratah Bay

[ginko]

Raiders,

I hit cowan this morning on the falling tide (can't always hit it at the right time) and tried for some hairies in the rain. There were about 4 boats there at ~5:30am when we arrived in the dark.

Loads showing on the sounder, but no hairies. Lots of yakkas! My boy, 7, caught a few of these, and we sent them out on a circle hook for what looked to be jewies lurking at 18m deep. One livie did get taken, but missed the strike.

The sounder still was showing, and at around 7am, the gulls started circling and diving over a school of something... My boy had a big yakka take his hook, and as he pulled it up, saying "it's really heavy" I peeked over his side of the boat. Kingie! actually, it was just chasing the yakka, which was a big one and really panicing. I'd grabbed the net when he said "heavy" and was expecting a tailor or bream on his line, and was happy/a bit sad that the kingie did not just swim into the net! Anyway, I think it is the first time I've got the net out for a yakka!

Then 5 minutes later, he was onto a decent sambo. A great fight! Now that was heavy. We got it in the boat, high 5's and then all went quiet.

10 mintues later, out of the blue, more gulls and alot of surface action. In the quiet, I'd just rigged up a #2 long shank with a half pillie on my flattie rod as I thought we might switch targets... but when the surface action started, I just cast it out gently, with the drag set to withstand a serious run. Something was on the pillie straight away, and streaking circles around the boat. I could see its size, (about 40-50cm) and it was super fast, but it was too blue for a kingie... around and around at about 50 kph, then it turned straight at the boat... WIND! and into the boat came a Watson's leaping bonito! I've never seen them at this time of year, or so high up the system.

In the end, no hairies, 2 super-wet and smiling fishermen.

Bonito sushi and miso/salmon soup tonight.