Hairtail

[Phil]

hey all...I went for a solid night fish down the coal and candle way a couple of nights ago on a perfect full tide stocked to the max with fresh squid caught that morning.. Me and me mate fished some pilons, points and drop-offs near cottage point, no dice....It was set, text book approach for jewie, kingfish or hairtail...nothing, numero zero. The phosferesence in the water was amazing though ..could this have restricted their apetite..

How do you recommend I catch one of these narlie wrigglers of the sea (hairtail) ....My mate in particular is soo keen he almost shits himself with exitement in contemplating catching them ...Can you help us out...a couple of spots and techniques would be gold..

Thanks, Phil

[Grantm]

Ahh Hartail, do they even exist ? Im sure our experts from the social night will enlighten you

[Guest Boppa]

Wrong time of year for a start

I will auction off a seat on my boat for next year for a guanteed hairtail as long as you stick to my rules.

The money auctioned will be paid to a charity of Kens choice

If you dont catch one I will match the auction

Boppa

Btw up to a certain cost to me

Edited November 9, 2005 by Boppa

[riders]

Ahhh hairtail as elusive as the 60kg jews caught in the hawkesbury

riders

[Guest bluecod]

They'll be back - you've just got to be there when they are Edited November 9, 2005 by bluecod

[Guest]

hey all...I went for a solid night fish down the coal and candle way a couple of nights ago on a perfect full tide stocked to the max with fresh squid caught that morning.. Me and me mate fished some pilons, points and drop-offs near cottage point, no dice....It was set, text book approach for jewie, kingfish or hairtail...nothing, numero zero. The phosferesence in the water was amazing though ..could this have restricted their apetite..

How do you recommend I catch one of these narlie wrigglers of the sea (hairtail) ....My mate in particular is soo keen he almost shits himself with exitement in contemplating catching them ...Can you help us out...a couple of spots and techniques would be gold..

Thanks, Phil

Hey Phil ,I have caught numerous HAIRTAIL in the Hawkesbury .Good spots are JERUSALUM BAY ,WARATAH BAY on the second mooring buoy in as you come from cottage point on the left hand side.The trick is to get the small yakkas and tailor and hardy heads to come round your boat with plenty of bread and mashed up pillies as berley,You use a starlite about 12 inches above your bait which is usually a pillie or a small livey and a wire trace is a must 4 .6 kilo line is plenty for them.Set your bait down far enough so you can just see your starlite and berley all nite .The Hairtail circle round most of the bays and will come and go as they move around .Preferred depth is around 20 to 30 feet and you will see them on the sounder when thick .When u get a hit it is a slow pull backwards !! strike hard repeatedly to hook em as they have hard mouths full of teeth .When you get one up close use those really big long pliers with the big teeth around the head and wack em straight into a fish box ,they die quickly .Any time from april onwards is good till around September

Cheers Stewy

Edited November 9, 2005 by Guest

[Martin]

Thats some great advice Stewy. I think you have just been nominated as Raiders resident Hairtail expert guru.

Did you get many this year or last year, because as you can see not much success for many of the Raiders.

That may just all change come next year with a touch of your experience.

Edited November 10, 2005 by Martin

[Bardy]

Ahhh hairtail as elusive as the 60kg jews caught in the hawkesbury

riders

I'd gladly trade my Hairtail for a decent Jew

[KingsRule]

Thats a hairtail!

[Phil]

Thanks alot fellas...in particular swordfisherman......

I'm stoked, shame there out of season though..

I mean, sure I love catching my kingies and jew but hairtail is a must, nothing quite like them.

Thanks again, have to pass the time with a bit of the old combo.. .......................

[KaneMc]

Coming from New Zealand and still to new to the site to understand the “Hairtail social” jokes, can someone enlighten me on why they are so sort after?

Do they pull like a 40 horse outboard, do they jump and do flips, do they taste like KFC?

It may be one of those “I've never caught one of them fish” which I could understand but there definitely seems to be a disproportionate amount of talk about them.

They just look like a silvery eel to me, give me a King or Jewie any day.

[bluefin]

Hairtail can be summed up in two words, elusive and scary! Very SCARY!

[Guest bluecod]

Coming from New Zealand and still to new to the site to understand the “Hairtail social” jokes, can someone enlighten me on why they are so sort after?

Do they pull like a 40 horse outboard, do they jump and do flips, do they taste like KFC?

It may be one of those “I've never caught one of them fish” which I could understand but there definitely seems to be a disproportionate amount of talk about them.

They just look like a silvery eel to me, give me a King or Jewie any day.

At certain times of the year hairtail used to be as thick as flies, however for the last decade they've been something of a rarity and many on this forum would not have caught one. Cooked well, I like them on the table BUT imagine something up to seven feet long with a set of barbed fangs, razor sharp on both the leading and trailing edges and if allowed to get a purchase on the boat, is quite capable of lunging at you with those teeth and if you're bitten you'll end up with a wound that is more than likely going to require stitches.

On the other hand if handled correctly, hairtail provide no dramas at all

[REKLESS]

I think that hairtail are rated so well as the things are just pretty freaky to look at. Fangs like a doberman , silver like a bumper bar, they put up a wiggle thats for sure but you can catch the things on 1kg . They are also measured in feet ,not by the kg or lb as they just wouldnt rate,from memory the ANSA method of point scoring had st some where near a flounder as far as fighting .

Si

[Guest Jewel]

And Tasty!!!!!

[Guest]

Thats some great advice Stewy. I think you have just been nominated as Raiders resident Hairtail expert guru.

Did you get many this year or last year, because as you can see not much success for many of the Raiders.

That may just all change come next year with a touch of your experience.

Martin ,These fish are so hit and miss, the last time i went was around 3 yrs ago and we got 6 nice ones around 5 ft or so and i did not mention this but phosphoresence in the water does not make them go off in fact they are great to watch in the dark smashing into bait fish .If it is possible next season when its cold we can all go and have a lash at them ,but you have to stay all night as they can come on at any time right up until the sun breaks through in the morning ,Its best to set up around 3 pm in the winter time and start from then and go all nite ,its cold but worth it when u actually see one of these wierd fish up close and personal .As for eating em ,not for me

Cheers Stewy

I think that hairtail are rated so well as the things are just pretty freaky to look at. Fangs like a doberman , silver like a bumper bar, they put up a wiggle thats for sure but you can catch the things on 1kg . They are also measured in feet ,not by the kg or lb as they just wouldnt rate,from memory the ANSA method of point scoring had st some where near a flounder as far as fighting .

Si

I think it was point 8 from memory and guys did get em on 1kg but a big fella will give you a work over on that gear and it is very hard to set 3/0 gangs in that hard mouth on that gear as well

[TailorNut]

And Tasty!!!!!

All I can say is yum. Think I have caught a total of 4 fish in 4 years.

[pulse]

Was a few years back though, probably about 7 years i reckon was the last succesful hairy season. We used to catch them in the bay near the Akuna bay boat ramp. just launch turn right and head towards the end. Been a few times in the two years following that for nothing but a cold wet beanie. They pull quite hard (no fight, just pull). They were big back then, and tasty. But like everyone else has said before, there has been nary a report of any captured. You may hear about one or two a season now. I think you can still catch them in Japan.

[Kingy]

I know I will cop a lot of flack for this one, but here goes:

Yesterday I heard first hand that 2 small (approx 1m) hairtail were caught at the road bridge at Brooklyn last weekend (he released them, otherwise I would have demanded a photo). He is a very reliable source, but even I find this hard to believe. I thought he might be confusing them with pike eel but apparently not.

another aloof story about the elusive HT

[riders]

I'd gladly trade my Hairtail for a decent Jew

Ok Ok egg on my face

Who has the picture of the 60kg jew now ???

[Guest bluecod]

I know I will cop a lot of flack for this one, but here goes:

Yesterday I heard first hand that 2 small (approx 1m) hairtail were caught at the road bridge at Brooklyn last weekend (he released them, otherwise I would have demanded a photo). He is a very reliable source, but even I find this hard to believe. I thought he might be confusing them with pike eel but apparently not.

another aloof story about the elusive HT

Kingy,

Doesn't surprise me at all considering the weirdness of these fish. I've caught one in Careel Bay mid December [night] and one in Flint and Steel Bay mid January [broad daylight] - both these were incidental captures quite a number of years ago.