# Cowan 130708 - Hairy tales



## sbd (Aug 18, 2006)

got one! [live]


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

Good onya Dave. Figured you'd follow up after Johnny. And well done Johnny on getting the first AKFF yak hairtail.

I had one good take but struck too early and failed to hookup. Otherwise a very peaceful time soaking baits. The paddle back was magic - water was completely glassed out


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## bazzoo (Oct 17, 2006)

aaaawwwwwww, you bugger , your doing the old tease em job again , now i have to stay up and wait to hear the story aaarrrgghhhh


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## onemorecast (Apr 17, 2006)

Will also await eagerly for the full tale, especially if Johnny got one, that should be an interesting report!


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## sbd (Aug 18, 2006)

A tremendous turnout for an evening of lunacy. We arrived in dribs and drabs but eventually it was Peril, Paulb, Clarkos, Johnny & myself that settled in for the long night. We floated about, Paulb had a captive firefly on a stick, Steve had a take, I burleyed up a storm for nought. Meatloaf sandwiches.

We mislaid Johnny early, then as Dave (Peril) pulled the plug, we found him, bearing a hairy (as it were), so Dave & Paul checked it out as they were leaving (and almost photographed it), and Steve and I nosed into Johnny's slick. Hardly non-stop action, but we could feel occasional micro-takes, and there was periodic activity on the sounders. Finally, on my "finesse" rig, a gentle pull turned into a stronger pull, I gave some line then set the hook and had a spirited battle before a chrome snake came into the light. This fish took drag and gave good account of itself as I jockeyed for a suitable landing angle. A quick grab behind the head, and rapid bazzing and the mission was accomplished. We bailed about 2300, and had a serene trip back.

Fish went 135cm, but he was missing the "hair" end of his tail - maybe another 15 cm full length. Not sure if he lost this during capture, as the break looked fresh. It was a much more solid specimen than the one 2 weeks ago (not from the yak). Very bloody scary animal to land in a yak - snapping and lunging. Photos tomorrow.


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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## bazzoo (Oct 17, 2006)

Good to see Dave , they are very very timid biters arnt they, easier when its light as you can see the line tighten and imperceptibly move slowley backwards , well done mate and i'm glad the bazzoonka came to some good use, but dont tell Perils wife , she thinks i make them to club baby fur seals


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

SO Dave

I am awaiting the culinary delight that you shall whisk up later............. will it be hairy with ginger and shallots...... or hairy black bean.............hairy .battered :lol:

I'm sure its going to taste good !!! But do you have a fish kettle long enough ??

ANyhow well done - sounds like fun - and your one of the rare breed to encounter such a strange beastie ....


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## sbd (Aug 18, 2006)

bazzoo said:


> Good to see Dave , they are very very timid biters arnt they


Very much so Baz - they creep away with the bait like you're imagining it. A good donger is an asset when you land them, thanks mate.



redphoenix said:


> Not a bad way to finish the weekend guys.


By the skin of our teeth Red.


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## sbd (Aug 18, 2006)

More pics


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## Marty75 (Oct 23, 2007)

Nice work guys, good on you for braving the cold and the hairtails themselves!

Marty


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

Johnny for President !!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Zed (Sep 18, 2006)

Awesome!
What is it? Lancetfish? Snake mackerel? Scabbardfish?

Enough of the mystery.


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## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

Its a hairtail - http://fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=1288

BTW, fishbase article mentions sashimi - expecting a report Dave


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## Marty75 (Oct 23, 2007)

Hey Peril,

I had a read of the Hairtail link you posted, dunno about that bit where they say Dangerous : Harmless :shock:

I reckon they'd be pretty dangerous to handle out of a kayak :twisted:

Marty


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## johnny (Aug 12, 2007)

I went to yum cha today..then drank...oh chit I gotta go fishin........2pm
Past Mawson's hut
Past Heard Island
Into the deafening darkness
To find Paul B...Peril..Clarkos..and SBD..-at night-by brail
Phark-no batteries---
Burley sliced bananas of pilchard-slow-gradual...anchored up for the most finessy of finessing
Squid suck takes...6' of line..dropped one...sucks and drops for all
Baitrunner silstar 1989 scores a bumperbar-12 good lunges-top fight
Tucker him out..lead him to rest his head on boat side-I priest him behind the eyes and roll him like a jam rollette into the bucket.Leave trace in mouth-pink glowlight
SBD tags on to the tail of my kayak to help burley trail...swarms of baitfish pick whilst bumperbars periodically cruise as a school down at 15-20 feet-SBD scores a nice vampire of the deep
Clarkos diligently perseveres whilst the others have had to go..its us and Tensing Norgay for the summit
Leave 12.30 am -carpark
johnny


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## Zed (Sep 18, 2006)

Ah, cutlassfish. I knew it was some swordy reference. Very cool. I'd like a food report too.
Oh and a fillet report. Yikes.


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## paffoh (Aug 24, 2006)

Congratulations guys,

Glad your plan came together, well done on a AKFF milestone.

Bet the breakfast tasted good the next morning...


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## Clarkos (Oct 11, 2006)

What a night. Fairly mild temp wise I thought. Was expecting icicles, but just a cool winters night on the Cowan. I think the cloud cover helped us out.

Didn't help me out catching fish though. Had a take early that felt like what everyone had desribed, but it failed to take the hook. Perservered with Dave and Johny and glad I did. Watching Dave tame the beast made the night worthwhile. A couple of pics to prove it was taken from the yak. The trip back was one of the more pleasant paddles I've had. As Peril said, it had glassed out and with no other traffic it was sureal.

One tip for young players though. The thermos of coffee seemed like a good idea at the time, but after getting home at 12.35 feeling knackered, I was still watching the clock at 2am. Faark I was tired today at work. Will have to re-do everything tomorrow cause I'm sure it's all wrong.










Trust me, that's Dave subduing the beast.



















he looks a bit happy doesn't he.


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## bazzoo (Oct 17, 2006)

Ahhhh boys , i love it when a plan comes together


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## paulb (Nov 12, 2006)

Well done Dave - glad you called in the catch ! It was a great night to be out - very peaceful - very dark. It was great not having to fight a current, drift or swell - just chatting and fishing. Even better that hairtail were caught...... Johnny took full advantage of the dark and disguised himself by switching off all of his lights and hiding behind a mooring. I on the other hand had to put up with complaints of my boat light being too bright ;-) 
Paddling back in the dark with a perfect reflection of the hills and sky on the water (black and not so black) was unreal - especially when we paddled through the gentle wake of a passing boat - suddenly my sense of balance / orientation was thrown as the reflection in the water became rolling shades of grey and I felt like I was floating in the sky. Weird but fun!
Great night guys !


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## justcrusin (Oct 1, 2006)

top stuff guys and well deserved results for the effort. That does look quite mean to handle from the yak and in pitch black too.

Cheers dave


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## yankatthebay (Dec 14, 2007)

I was wondering what was in some of those black photos, so I played with the images to see what was there. not much detail there but you can see it a bit better now at least. here are my edits, only spent a few mins on them, so not brilliant, but useful none the less.


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## sbd (Aug 18, 2006)

Cooked him last night - after last time opted to smoke the majority of it, and once again with pleasing results. Smoking transforms the flesh, tinging the surface amber & lifting and separating the bones. It seemed generally appreciated. I got lazy with removing the silver from one of the more difficult pieces before smoking, and found the scrubbed ones smoked much better (insulation maybe).

I took a half fillet off one piece and we tried it raw - the flesh is pale, with a translucent pick tinge. A careful fillet resulted in a nice little slice, the texture was excellent, the taste was very mild. My daughter liked it (but she'll eat any raw fish), I thought it was better smoked. Strange how "fishy" fish rarely taste fishy raw, it certainly left its smell on my clothing the night before.

I kept the jaws as a grisly keepsake, and to alarm the (eventual) grandkids.


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

theres a fine line between 'keen' and 'deranged' fishermen..... and I think you guys have crossed it :shock:


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## avayak (May 23, 2007)

Davey G said:


> theres a fine line between 'keen' and 'deranged' fishermen..... and I think you guys have crossed it :shock:


Davey you are starting to sound like my wife!!!!


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## cummins (Jul 7, 2008)

hey you look like you whent down at apple tree bay i live near thehere and new to yacking i wonder of you can give me a hand


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## wopfish (Dec 4, 2006)

Hey Tim

If you look at the bottom of the main page - it will have fishing trips - the NSW section will have trips that people are going to - see whats happening there if you want to tag along - have a good read of the disclaimer at the top and make sure that your up for the trip in terms of ability and safety.. then post your interest and tag along.

Safe yakking

PS If your just starting out it might be worth doing the Cowan in the daytime and work up to night adventures :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## karnage (Jan 18, 2006)

outstanding achievment boys. this should make front page of a fishing mag.


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