First Fish for 2024 more summer hairtail and a crab

[whiskey299]

No donut 🍩 day is a great day!

First fish for 2024.

Chasing #hairtail and #blueswimmercrab at the Hawkesbury River.

Perfect conditions in the morning and as predicted the wind would pickup around midday and it sure did.

All Hairtail caught using #roundherring caught from Sydney Harbour. 3 for me and 3 for my dad.

With a broken mirage drive sprocket I had no choice but to use only the electric motor today and I’m very happy that I had 42% battery left.

Included a photo fail, the downside of trying to do this solo.

My favourite way to eat crab is mixed with mayo and sriracha on toast 🍞

Gear used:
Rod: Daiwa TD Black V2 Mangrove Masher 642MFS
Reel: Daiwa 21 Caldia MQ LT3000
Line: #Tasline Elite PE1 (15lb)
Leader: Sunline FC Rock 20lb
Hook: double trebles with flexible wire
Bait: Round Herrings

Edited January 4 by whiskey299

[jenno64]

Those hairtail are corkers and that crab recipe looks delish!

[bessell1955]

They are great looking Hairtail.

[Larkin]

Nice catch Brad!

how do prepare/cook the hairtail?

[Yowie]

Good looking hairtail, good effort for this time of year.

[Pickles]

Awesome job Whisky - they are massive Hairtail - well done my friend.

[big Neil]

What an awesome result. I have never seen Hairtail and always thought them to be caught only in the colder months. Obviously, that's not correct judging by your excellent results. Great photos.

Cheers, bn

[whiskey299]

On 1/5/2024 at 8:29 AM, jenno64 said:

Those hairtail are corkers and that crab recipe looks delish!

Putting crab on toast is a great way to add texture and crunch. Simple but nice

On 1/5/2024 at 3:08 PM, bessell1955 said:

They are great looking Hairtail.

Thanks

On 1/5/2024 at 8:15 PM, Yowie said:

Good looking hairtail, good effort for this time of year.

Thanks

On 1/5/2024 at 3:59 PM, Larkin said:

Nice catch Brad!

how do prepare/cook the hairtail?

You can either shallow/deep fry or you can steam/bake/airfry in foil. The flesh is soft and not dry, texture wise probably softer than bream.

One great thing about this species is there are no lateral pin bones, so it's great for children, so we cook the fish whole that is not filleted.

Just steer away from the bones around the stomach/ribs as they're long and tiny so we don't give that section to the kids.

In the first dish we have fried the whole section of hairtail and served this with green mango in a fish sauce mixture. The green mango helps refreshen the taste buds and cuts through the fried fish. The second dish is hairtail baked in the air fryer to be eaten with Vietnamese rice paper rolls.

On 1/5/2024 at 8:45 PM, Pickles said:

Awesome job Whisky - they are massive Hairtail - well done my friend.

Thanks Bob

 

On 1/6/2024 at 3:34 AM, big Neil said:

What an awesome result. I have never seen Hairtail and always thought them to be caught only in the colder months. Obviously, that's not correct judging by your excellent results. Great photos.

Cheers, bn

I used to think that as well until I stumbled on them in summer while chasing jewfish in the Hawkesbury. After multiple times being cut which I thought was tailor, I managed to get one to the surface, sight it and then get cut lol. After that I came prepared with wire trebles.

Edited January 8 by whiskey299

[Max Power]

That looks delicious @whiskey299!

It’s hard to tell where the foil ends and the Hairtail starts, it is so shiny 🤩

I do enjoy a prawn sandwich on fresh white bread so I may have to try crab on toast when I get back over to the coast. Great tip thank you 😊