Eel or Hairtail?

[the gecko]

After the last thread on hairtails, Im stil confused. This toothy boy fought more like a barracuda than pike eel, but I still think hes an eel. Hes not hairtail is he?

He took a slab of tailor in the Broadwater, went 110cm, and took 10 mins to land on heavy gear. I released him. I don’t bring things into the boat if Im unsure.

Thanks
Andrew

[kevvie]

That my friend is a beautiful example of a pike eel....

I once made the mistake of thinking it was a hairy... the asian guy next to snaffled it, put it in his bucket, packed his gear up and went straight home. It was like his xmas' came all at once.

From what i hear apparently good eating. Personally i wont go near the mongrel, bait stealing bastards....but the big ones fight really well.

[Noelm]

yep, that is one angry Eel alright, Hairtail is very easy to identify, very, very Silver, not like that bugger.

[the gecko]

Yeah, I thought so, just checking. Im not used to pike eels, I seem to get hundreds of knots eels where I fish.

Are these the ones that you dont bring into the boat cos they go you?

[kevvie]

yep...there the ones. Very angry individuals they are.

Ive seen a pic of one that latched onto a dudes achilles heel. Needless to say the damage was horrendous... the leg looked heaps severed. Ugly stuff.

[Dirtysanchez]

Conger pike eel I believe.
Caught an enormous one in the pine once, almost as long as my tinny, and a head like the mother in law

A Pommy mate of mine caught one in NSW and took it home to eat.. he said it tasted good, but was a bag of bones.

ewww

[tailorboi99]

Pike eel mate Nice size one too. What was he caught on?

Cheers Tom

[the gecko]

My father in law is an avid fisho, and he says 'theres not a boat built thats big enough for a man and a pike eel.'

After that story on the achilles, now I know why.

[Local_Guy]

pike eel definately.

apparently if you chop them up into little scollop type rings and throw them on the hot plate, they supposidly come up ok... never tried it though.

[ILikeBlu]

You will know a hairtail when you catch one, looks similar to that but dipped in chrome. I caught one in the southport seaway of the north end of wavebreak island one night years ago, put up a good fight and scared the crap out of me when I brought it in never saw one before, angry little sucker it was. Was good eating from memory.
At the time I was told you had to scrub the chrome off lol I remember getting that silver stuff everywhere, it was like paint.

[Outsider1]

My father in law is an avid fisho, and he says 'theres not a boat built thats big enough for a man and a pike eel.'

After that story on the achilles, now I know why.

That's a quote from Ern Grant, love his story on the Pike Eel.

" I have said time and again that no dinghy has ever been built large enough to hold one angler plus one Pike Eel; the boated Pikey makes a series of inspiring tailstands as it lunges about the boat, biting indiscriminately at feet, bags, creels, hands and thwarts. If the dinghy is not to be abandoned, the Pike Eel must be clubbed to bring it under control; but the angler needs to be pretty certain of his aim. In years past I had the opportunity of standing on a high bank on the Brisbane River (S. Qld) where I watched two fisherman in a dinghy enliven an otherwise fishless afternoon by frequent recourse to Moreton Bay porridge (rum and milk). Suddenly the dinghy became a focus of activity and attention as a fish was struck, fought, and brought aboard; a large Pike Eel. As the Eel thrashed about over the floorboards one fisherman tried to subdue it by standing on it. The other rummaged in a bag; produced a tomahawk; took careful aim at the Eel; whacked at it - and missed. His tomahawk took out a plank and, in moment, all three occupants of the dinghy were swimming, It is not know whether the Pike eel managed to escape duirng the excitement."

Cheers

Dave