Sport
Fishing
Hairtail on the move
16May06
THE increasing news on the fishing front is that the mysterious hairtail have commenced their Hawkesbury River pilgrimage.
The chrome-coloured eel-like wintertime quarry with the fangs a vampire would be proud of have turned up along shoreline positions at Box Head and Flint and Steel.
Rowan, from Windybanks, said one part boated 15 fish last week but a session the following night rewarded with a zero. Such are the enigmatic tendencies of this mystery fish.
As yet I haven't heard any Cowan Creek captures from this drowned deep water river valley of the Hawkesbury system but no doubt with this news filtering through the ganged hooks, wire traces, glow sticks and winter apparel will be brought out of the closet for the winter.
The good run of bream continues in the Hawkesbury proper. Spots to target commence at the rail bridge and work up river, mainly at the ``vines'' and Bar Point, and mostly effective when there are smaller tides of 1m or smaller and not so important is the run in or run out factor.
The better baits for the bream are chicken fillets (smeered in parmesan cheese), chicken gut, local prawns and nippers.
There are some school size mulloway on the prowl to about 5kg and squid or live mullet are best baits. Try Flint and Steel and both the bridges.
The northern beaches are fishing very well for big whiting ti 44cm and tailor to 3kg. Narrabeen Beach has been good.
Mulloway have been patchy but worth a shot with a coming full moon with slab baits of mullet, tailor and luderick all effective. Sharks are making a nuisance of themselves here too.
The rockfishing scene should largely be concentrated for luderick and drummer as the water temperature cools. Weed is a problem to obtain for the luderick but bread, abalone gut and cunjie is easier to obtain for the rock baitfish.
