# hairtail are on



## rawprawn (Aug 31, 2005)

For those of you in Sydney and surrounds, the local paper says the Hairtail have been on in Cowan creek. Many boats getting bag limit apparently.


----------



## Peril (Sep 5, 2005)

Thanks Greg. Can't see myself freezing my nuts off while soaking bait for hairies though. Its just too cold at the moment


----------



## fishodude (May 26, 2007)

Bag limits on Hairtail.
Havn't heard of that for a veeery long time.


----------



## onemorecast (Apr 17, 2006)

Peril said:


> Thanks Greg. Can't see myself freezing my nuts off while soaking bait for hairies though. Its just too cold at the moment


I live 10 minutes from Bobbin Head Dave, and this has always been my thoughts about Hairtail.

I'm glad others enjoy it but I guess this is one of the boundries of my fishing obsession.. frozen goolies. 

But I agree they must be around, as I saw lots of them at th local fish shop yesterday.


----------



## sbd (Aug 18, 2006)

I'm keen... Aren't there any other idiots here?


----------



## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Fellas if fishing for hairtail in a yak, suggest a cricketers box [or tupperware container] may be an asset, and may also help testicle temperature as well :wink:


----------



## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

sbd said:


> I'm keen... Aren't there any other idiots here?


what, freakin killer EELS aren't scary enough or ya?? you feel the need to take on a hairtail??? have you seen the teeth on those suckers?? SCARY!


----------



## bazzoo (Oct 17, 2006)

aarrrgghhhh bloody hairtails , just eels with a shiny coat on, they dont fight like fish and they dont look like fish , hate em , yeah , and the teeth , if they get hold of your Jatz crackers , you'll know it , but if you must fish for them , i suggest you take a sugar bag and a priest


----------



## onemorecast (Apr 17, 2006)

Richo,

Sensible testicular care just makes good sense to me no matter where it comes from.

I may adopt your tip even on non-hairtail trips as I've dropped a tailor in my lap and nearly fell out of the yak with the gyrations trying to avoid it exacting revenge on me. - How would you explain that injury to a ER nurse? :shock:

Baz, I don't understand it, but it made me laugh. Can you explan?



bazzoo said:


> i suggest you take a sugar bag and a priest


----------



## bazzoo (Oct 17, 2006)

Hi Eric , i used to catch heaps of these buggers in the dim dark past out of my power boat , as they are terrible things to handle , hard to hold onto , we used to take a sugar bag , and when hooked and landed, we would hold the sugar bag over the side and drop the hairtail into the sugar bag tail first, so then you had something grippy to hold the head of the hairtail just at the gills , and then dong em with the priest [whats the last thing a dying person sees,,,,,,, a priest]. As you can gather , i dont like them.


----------



## onemorecast (Apr 17, 2006)

bazzoo said:


> Hi Eric , i used to catch heaps of these buggers in the dim dark past out of my power boat , as they are terrible things to handle , hard to hold onto , we used to take a sugar bag , and when hooked and landed, we would hold the sugar bag over the side and drop the hairtail into the sugar bag tail first, so then you had something grippy to hold the head of the hairtail just at the gills , and then dong em with the priest [whats the last thing a dying person sees,,,,,,, a priest]. As you can gather , i dont like them.


Ingenious use of sugar, but you must have have been tasting the hairtail in your coffee for the next week


----------



## 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.

----

QlpoOTFBWSZTWU3uDYUAABPbgAAQQAPwMFAKvv/e4CAAlUNU9EGg0NAD0T0mgNVPxU/KR6NR6eU0jQBmkylpGxTDmsZ0Zo/UZqhDIXAyEBfqvGPMMZCw9h4jLsxGgGmBDbxQQyZoRSpUsVtQmCofC1zXuXPuNQ/DqdkoQqDyRNWC8kqHusJWkoXtlxhaBwkyxYfi7kinChIJvcGwoA==


----------



## FletcherG1991 (Apr 17, 2007)

I will put up a report tommorrow (out of the boat, to scared to put the ak in the water when it was pitch black :lol: ).

anyway, we got 40 whilst the other boats around us got 1 or 2. Will leave details for tommorrow


----------



## bazzoo (Oct 17, 2006)

Yeah Flrtch , go for it mate , 40 b#@^%y hairtail :shock: :shock: , you were a busy lad, looking forward to your report , do you still have all your appendages :?: :?:


----------



## rawprawn (Aug 31, 2005)

Gatesy said:


> Dave
> 
> I would be very interested in having a go at these fish. Have seen them caught before but have never done any good myself
> 
> Anyone got tips on how to catch them?


According to Modern Fishing August edition

Stainless steel mono wire or multi strand wire 10kg. Set of two or three ganged hooks for dead baits or 2/0, or 3/0 with stinger hook attached via wire for live baits. Live fish baits such as slimys and yellow tail. Dead baits such as pilchards or fish strips will also work.


----------



## sbd (Aug 18, 2006)

OK boys (and any crazy gals), when's it going to be? I've just loaded up on thermals at the Kathmandu sale. What about Saturday 4th August (comp week)? There's a high tide just after midnight.

FletcherG1991, you're coming to show us where they are (or at the very least providing detailed location instructions).


----------



## bazzoo (Oct 17, 2006)

Well, if you are going to fish for hairtail , you will need to get to your chosen location before dark , i used to begin catching them about 3.00 - 4-00 pm ish, you will need about 10 inches to a foot of wire, you wont need heavy lines as these buggers arnt real good fighters , as a matter of fact , if your not attentive, some of the time ,you wont even know there on your line, as they sometimes just hang and mouth the bait, when i used to get hairtail , and that was a long time ago , i used to fish with a handline for them, 8ld to 10 ld line is plenty, and burley , and keep your bait off the bottom, Fletcher can give you an updated version and its up to him to tell you if he wishes where he caught them , but i always used to get them at the bottom of coal and candle creek just in front of the sandflats on the eastern shore while fishing for bream, i would advise you to seriously watch their teeth , as they have a great set of hooked choppers and they dont mind using them when there caught . Now its over to you Fletcher

ps ,,, i never liked these fish , and would often move when i started getting them, where you are going to store them on a yak is going to be a bit of fun

pps,,,,,, quite often you will find they are hanging right under your boat , so no need for long casts


----------



## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Also vital this time of year at night..rum, port, green ginger, or other to keep warm :wink:


----------



## bazzoo (Oct 17, 2006)

Love the way you think Richo!!


----------



## FletcherG1991 (Apr 17, 2007)

Alright, Hairtail really arn't all that hard to catch, I use multistrand wire (27lb) with a Circle hook crimped on and a Suicide rigged as a sliding snell. about 1ft of wire is heaps. No sinker is used, and a small light stick is attached just above the bait (the colours of the glowstick don't seem to matter all that much, Green is probably my prefered (spelling) colour).

Get to your spot about an hour or so before sunset and get a burley trail going, issential to get the Hairtail in the area and keep them around your boat/yak. Burley isn't anything fancy for them, Pillchards, Tailor, Yellowtail, Herring or whatever fish you have lieing around that you can cut up it to cubes. Just keep the burley trail slow and steady thrrowing in 3 or so cubes every now and then.

Your better off using dead of fillet baits rather than live baits as the way the Hairtail bite you will have a hard time hooking them. Pillies are good baits, but, if you can get them, a fresh Yellowtail or Tailor flillets/strips are the way to go. Put one hook at the top of the bait and the other about 3/4 of the way down the fish.

There is no need to cast your baits out a million miles, just chuck them out a few metres and let them sink down so the lightstick is just out of view. If you don't get any bites at this depth drop it down another few metres. Try different depths till you find the fish.

Some days the Hairtail will be very aggressive and hit the baits very hard, but for most of the time they will be very finicky, you will need to hold your rod until you fill the the Hairtail lightly tapping at the bait or holding it in there mouth (it will just feel like a weight). If the fish are holding the bait free spool the reel and give him some line so he can swollow the bait down deeper (the circle hook comes in handy when in this situation). Don't be suprised if you drop ALOT of fish.

I just use my 4lb bream gear for Hairtail, and when hooked on this gear they don't fight to bad, they have a few very fast runs in them and although the fight is short it is alot of fun.

Im keen on meeting up for a Hairtail night, Coal and Candle isn't my prefered place to fish for them, but they are definantly there and with an easy launch spot [Akuna Bay] it should be alot of fun.

Cheers,
Fletcher


----------



## JD (Jul 2, 2006)

Dodge said:


> Also vital this time of year at night..rum, port, green ginger, or other to keep warm :wink:


I don't know anything about these Hairtails, but it seems from the posts I've just read that Dodge has the right idea. I think you all should stay home, drink the rum etc. and know when you wake up the next morning you'll still have your nuts. (ladies excepted)


----------



## FletcherG1991 (Apr 17, 2007)

For those of you who are wondering what is a Hairtail here are some pictures :


----------



## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

when this trip happens can you all do me a favour and make sure you take your cameras. Someone please get a picture of gatesy getting his nuts bitten off by one of these fish... :shock:


----------



## Clarkos (Oct 11, 2006)

> At one stage during the evening , I counted 24 boats in Jerusalem Bay ,


This is from a report from another site about last weekend. It seems that word has got out. Lots of fish caught though.


----------



## JT (May 25, 2006)

Are these hair tail thingys eadible? I assume there is some reason people chase them apart from the sport?

JT


----------



## bazzoo (Oct 17, 2006)

JT, they are very nice to eat , although for my taste too thin and ribbon like, and the flesh is rather thin on the bones ,the silvery coating on the skin rubs of like silverfrost and they have no scales , but all in all , a nice fish to eat , but not nearly as good as flathead or whiting


----------

