Hairtail in mooloolah river

[tanyap]

Hi I've just heard that hairtail are in the mooloolah river - I'm heading out on Sunday and would love some info on how to catch them - rig setup? Hook size? Bait? Day or night time? Lures maybe? I really have no idea

Thanks in advance

[onerabbit]

HAIRTAIL.....

use wire,
live yellowtail, or fresh dead butterflied,
herring will also work

dont try to net them, just pull them into the boat,

give them the same respect you would give to a Pike eel,
their teeth are RAZOR sharp,
they can curl & strike like a snake.

They are OK eating, a bit fishy.

Good luck.

Muzz

[onerabbit]

OH,

this is DEFINITELY a night-time adventure.

Muzz

[ollie1]

mate at times recently around la balsa park you could just about dangle ya big toe in the water and catch one, 3-5 inch plastics or hard body's just on or after dark. almost a fish a cast. lost a couple of plastics to bite offs, but was using 6 pound leader.

[004dam]

We went out for a fish last weekend night using dead bait to avoid them and it works!. We pulled in heaps of tailor and bream and only 1 hairtail.

If you really want a hairtail Find a old hard body you dont mind a few thousand teeth marks in and just slow roll it in around the rocks at la balsa. Seriously you will get a hit if not a hairtail every cast. Night works the best but there still thick during the day. If you want to use plastics use anything with a curly/ T tail They dont seem to touch the flickbait style as much.


When handling them watch out for there tails too, Kinda distracting when they whip the shit out of your shins and you have its ugly gob in your hand.

[tanyap]

Thanks for the replies guys

I called into the local bait and tackle store today and the guy there also said they are so thick and will take any hb lure - advised me not to use a good lure and a wire trace

I would like to catch one as they seem like an 'interesting' fish

Will give it a go sat night

Thanks again

[onerabbit]

WOW...I have never heard of Hairtail on lures before.

There was a time when you only caught these creepy fish in the Hawksbury (when I was a kid)
or when they did their migratory thing to China (for a good time).

A sure sign of climate change & global warming.........

can we send the leatherjackets to you guys as well???

Muzz

[004dam]

Keep the hairtail and leatherjackets... Send some salmon my way Would love to tussle with one..


Tanyap.

If you really struggle to find any though you shouldn't. There has been a MASSIVE school of hardy heads that hang around the basin where all the gar fishos hang out. There hairtails also lurk down around there chumping up on the hardys. They were so thick last week down there smashing the surface up.

[randell]

Like 004dam says, they are biting on anything anytime...
How many do you want?
I heard one thing, scrub the silvery stuff off their sides with a small scrubbing brush, as they taste better......
I got a few on tailor slugs..........
The bigger ones are better to eat, as they have many bones... Better to release them under 1 mtr.
Nice sweet flesh, like flathead...
Don't forget your longnose pliers..........

randell

[bondy99]

randell,

How about I come up and get a feed of hairtail? I have not caught one since I was a kid in the Newcastle Harbour, Port of Newcastle

I dont have a boat thoug but can chip in towards fuel costs.

Cheers, bondy

[tanyap]

Hey bondy - You can get to the location everyone is talking about from the shore - I'm going down tonight and will post how I go - would love to get a big one

[randell]

Hey Bondy,
It's just down Pt cartwright Dr to kawana boat ramp jetty...............
Don't forget the long nose pliers......... I did last time...................
That's where I fish.
good luck
seriously I did some research on hairtail and they have been plentiful here in Mooloolaba 30 years ago.....
The trawler men used to net them offshore....
There are a couple of places up the Qld coast that hairtail congregate..... but mainly small ones.
There's a lot of small ones here , I mean less than a metre, and they have heaps of bones,, but can be eaten with care.
I've heard that the big hairtails of the Hawksbury rv are no longer that big as i guess they were an excellant target for fisherman... and now they are much smaller......

I have heard of hairtail in the broadwater , but not as much as here.....
It's a big trip, probably get better fish down your way....
randell

[bondy99]

Tanyap and randell,

Thanks for the info on location and technique. Mooloolaba is not the far, been there many times and is a lot closer than Hervey Bay.

What time is best at night?

What size hook and type?

Thanks, Bondy

[tanyap]

Bondy

We went down tonight - tried lures but no takers so switched to a gang of 3/0 s and pillies and caught a few like that - wire trace is a must - people there when we got there had been catching them during the day also so I dont really think you have to go at night - they really are everywhere down there at the moment

Fish from the rocks along la balsa park or the pontoon at the boat ramp

[bondy99]

Tanyap,

Thanks for the update, gang 3/0's no problem, I have wire trace, multi filament.

Balsa Park and pontoon at the boat ramp? Is that in Mooloolabah, I'm on the southside of Brisbane, not all that familiar with Mooloolabah, send me street name and suburb and I'll find it.

Cheers, Peter