We'll be right back.
Good day, I'm Gordon Piver. In this episode of Fishing for Fun, we go on the hunt for the
mysterious hairtail. See a few big fish banged at the Toyota Fishing Expo on Fraser Island,
and I call in on Lord Howe Island on my way north. Look in on Quinney and his struggle
with one of the monsters of the deep, and check out the boat the boys are going to take
Esbury Fishing. Talk about some of the do's and don'ts of rock fishing. So sit back with
your favourite beverage, and let's go fishing for fun on the east coast of Australia. Good luck.
Rock fishing is sometimes exciting and sometimes tranquil, but always very dangerous. This
type of fishing is mostly enjoyed on the east coast from northern Victoria through New South
Wales and southern Queensland. Most other parts of the coast do not offer the same access
or suitable locations. A very important aspect of rock fishing is the great variety of fish
species that can be caught. Tailor, brim, small tuna, snapper and very many more. Rock
fishing is potentially the most dangerous form of angling. Unless we all treat this
sport with the utmost respect it demands, lives are at risk. Never fish alone. A companion
is very important not only for safety reasons, but to help you gaff and net your fish. Here's
something every fisherman loves to see. Hundreds of seagulls following a school of fish close
to the rocks. Nice fish that Gordon. Here look sir, what size is that Brian? Well I'd say
he's about 6-7lb this one. Greg actually got him this morning. We went fishing for snapper,
we were fishing for these tailor and trevally. That's a trevally. What are these little fellas
here? They're brim. They grow up to about 3-4lb round here off the rocks if you get a good
one. But these fellas grow quite large, this is really a bit of a baby. The biggest one
I've ever caught was about 12lb. Roughly double the size of that one. Sort of bait you use
for something like this fella? Well normally you'd use a bit of octopus or squid or something
like that for a snapper, but Greg caught this fella this morning on a filtered bait intended
for a tailor, which is also quite common. The snapper don't mind coming along and taking
the filtered now and then so a lot of people have been surprised. Pilchard seem pretty
popular for bait along the coast. Yeah they're a good all round general purpose bait. So
you caught this fella this morning did you Greg? Yeah Gordon had, he got him this morning,
he was pretty lucky to get him actually. Here we are on a really calm day and would you
believe it, squid. They were taking pilchard baits intended for tailor. Oh well we're happy
with that, they're great to eat and an even better bait. We'll see if we can get a few
more. Nice cuttlefish. Woah watch out Greg. You can see all the water, the white water
is going out a good 50 to 60 feet so an easy cast out there and there should be fish around
in those family waters. Footwear is another important part of rock fishing. Rock plates
are available at all tackle outlets and should be worn at all times when fishing wet and
slippery shoals. They adapt to sand shoes and light footwear easily. It's extremely
dangerous to fish the rocks with sneakers or thongs because once they become wet they
have no cohesion. Oh and by the way never turn your back on the water. Beautiful isn't
it. Thousands and thousands of kilometres, just like that. We've had a really big run
on another one of our live bait sticks. It was first in best dressed. The way this fish
was pulling drag, chances are it's what we've been after. Good sized tuna. We've got the
gaff ready. You're going to have to go down fairly close to the water. It's really important
with a good fish to make your gaff shot count. You can't afford to slash and miss at them
as you may hit the line and break it. Feel the wrath of the angler. Yeah it's a nice
fish. Got him. What a great day. You couldn't have planned it better. We targeted these
fish, we caught the live bait and we've caught one. Even though it's one between three of
us, off the rocks it's no mean feat to get a nice tuna like this. Capped off a great
day. It was congratulations all round. It really is a team effort to land one of these
fillers off the rocks. So Brian you've got Greg Baker and Brian Cooper turning up. You've
got to show them how to catch hairtail. A few myths. Yes Gordon there is a lot of myths
about the hairtail. One of the most popular myths is that you can only catch hairtail
in the evening or late at night. So Brian and Greg are coming up and I'm going to take
them out in the middle of the day to prove all those myths incorrect. There's a few fallacies
about the type of line you've got to have. Some people recommend a 60 pound line, Brian.
What's that all about? Well Gordon up in the creek, Cullen County Creek where they fish
the hairtail most of the time. All the old style of fishing used big heavy hand lines.
I'm going to take Brian and Greg out today and show you light tackle sports fishing at
its best. So what's the story with this business about the hairtail only going up and down
vertical all the time? Is that the truth or is that just another myth? Well we haven't
got a sounder out today but if you had a sounder what you would see in the water would be a
dense mass of fish all swimming horizontal and not vertical as other people believe.
So hairtail are found mainly in this area on the central coast Brian is that true or
false? Gordon they have shown up in other parts of the world. Botany Bay they showed
up for a little while. Newcastle Harbour they have shown up but I believe that they got
washed out of the Hawkesbury in the floods. So what you're saying Brian is that it is
true that hairtail are really only found around this part of the coast? Well as far as we
know there's not a lot known about where they come from but hairtail have been here on the
central coast for many years. So well what do you reckon the day will bring for you with
Brian and Greg? Do you reckon they'll catch any? The chances will be great today Gordon.
Slight water, slack tide, beautiful sunny day, it'll be a great chance. We should get
20 or 30 fish today. What sort of bait would you use for hairtail? Well Gordon probably
the best bait to use here on the central coast is pilchards. They're easy to buy, easy to
put on and a great bait. And what's some of your favourite fishing spots around this area
for you? Well here on the central coast Gordon they're mainly found in Colham County Creek
as has been described before but here in Braken Bay is a great spot for hairtail.
30 of the most fish. One of them is a good sharp knife. We'll just cut in behind the
back of the neck. Do they have many bones though? A bone in the top section about there but
most of the fish are about that far down as the bone is. Just take your head off and cut
the complete gut cavity out right down to the bent. One go. And we'll just clean the
tail fish in one go. What would you do then fillet it? Well it can be filleted. It's not
a big fish Philip but the simplest method is to simply cut it up into plate sized pieces.
Thanks very much Gary, looks lovely. Enjoy your meal Gordon. Thanks.
If there's a more ideal spot on this earth to enjoy a beautiful catch of the sea like
this I'd like someone to point me in that direction. You see what I've done is just completed
three beautiful days on this wonderful island, this unique island. I say unique because this
beautiful subtropical paradise has been listed as a World Heritage Area along with Yellowstone
National Park, the Great Barrier Reef, the Pyramids, Kakadu National Park and the Grand
Canyon. It's situated just 550 kilometres off the mainland of New South Wales Australia
and Lord Howe Island must be without doubt one of the best all round fishing experiences
that one could ever encounter. For many years I've heard about the legendary catches taken
in these waters so I thought I'd take you along with me to experience some of the wonders
and excitement of what must be one of the best fishing holes in this country. Let me
show you how I caught this little beauty for a start.
Morning, Pope.
G'day Gordon, nice to meet you.
Good to see you again.
G'day, Joe.
This is your son.
This is Craig, Gordon and Joe.
What's the water look like, Brian?
Well, it's a little bit moist but a pretty good sort of a day for fishing we reckon.
So what's the most popular?
Is it live or real?
Well, no. Really, I'll just get one for you and show you what's the most popular gear
in the world.
It's a very simple setup but it's a fantastic experience if you run into a school of kids
right now out here, and if they want to be aäd correctly they throw out the
You heard him, mate. Well done.
There's your breakfast, mate.
Yes, sir, we will.
OK, bring him in.
OK.
Hi, sir.
It's absolutely amazing here at the Back to Fleet Fisheries.
Right now it's a rather, a place of money.
Yeah, it's like, nice to walk through this fishing,
and I leave the helm and the tent and I can float a bit.
I've been watching all the time.
Sometimes we'll live about 15 nauts,
10 metres from the shore, in front,
5 to 3 quarter, but just on that shore,
it's not just the pillars that get out of trouble.
All right, well, we'll be off down here.
I'm just going to look and see if I can find some formality for him.
That's the next object.
OK.
For value of money, you'll find them in one place one day
and somewhere else in the next.
Yeah, fish are coming on this side there.
That's the beauty of fishing, they're so unpredictable.
It's a value of something of deep water, aren't they?
They're a lot of fish, aren't they?
Well, most times, but at certain times,
they'll come up after the belly, too.
Put him back out the side again.
No, no, no.
Beautiful.
All right, then.
Oh, there we are.
You might have just beaten the weather fly, don't you?
Looks like it.
It's that clive you've, you're born and bred here.
Yes, I've born, bred, schooled, worked the lot.
Yes, some 59 summers, sir.
You were saying earlier that Ball's Pyramid is a great spot.
Yes, Ball's Pyramid, you've got a picture of it there
that you're looking at now, is situated about 14 miles clear,
about 12 knots clear of the southern end of the island.
And again, it's subjected to very strong tidal movements.
But because it's comparatively remote,
so far as Lord Howe's concerned,
it has not been fished nearly as much
as the area around the island itself.
In other words, until the advent of power boats
in the late 1920s and more, in the 30s and then 40s,
and even more so today,
where quite a bit of fishing is done down there,
there was very few times that the area was fished.
And so you could, and even today, you still can.
You can say 99% of the time that you go to that,
to Ball's Pyramid, that you're going to succeed fishing.
And it's a tremendous thing to be able to say.
But I should also tell you that around the island itself,
that the number of times that you would come home in a year
without a feed of fish, if you went out looking for a feed,
you could count them on the fingers of one hand
without any trouble at all.
Is that right?
There's a saying about bait,
it can't rust and it has no use by day.
But if your bait is going to attract fish,
it must be frozen fresh.
Once frozen, bait will last indefinitely in the freezer
and stay frozen on the rocks for quite some hours.
It's kept out of the sun, of course.
What's this, Brian?
Mullet.
You're going to have to wait for the back of the ship, mate.
And that's a bait.
That's a bait, yeah.
And what about that?
Mullet strips, mullet fillets, and again, for easy.
If you cut up into strips, make an excellent bait.
And it's not very expensive.
And what's this here?
Sand worms, beach worms, the whiting, the scrims,
mainly in the estuaries off the beach.
And of course, we've got the old, the runny old prawns, eh?
One of the times I was fed the fish of them, mate.
Yep.
Probably the...
Beside filets, that's the next best.
They get selling on, yeah.
Is that right?
They're good for off the rocks, then?
Yeah.
For drama,
for him,
snapper.
Filets are the best.
I feel the filets are the best off the rocks.
Other alternatives to frozen bait
are green weed and cabbage for blackfish,
a good sturdy knife will get you fresh kunji,
which can be kept for long periods if salted and frozen.
This is a top bait for silver drummer,
groper,
rock blackfish and brim.
And an old favourite, the crab,
he'll go on the hook quick smart
and is an irresistible bait for groper.
These tentacles are an excellent bait for snapper and brim
and numerous other species.
Kingfish don't mind a nice piece of octopus either.
They'll keep this bloke for bait for later on.
One of the most productive baits for estuary fishing
is a live pink yabby.
Pumped from the sand flats at low tide
and will stay alive for a long time if kept in fresh salt water.
Another excellent bait is the beach worm.
There's a bit of an attribute,
you have a little bit of pippy skin in between your fingers
and then you entice the worm out slowly a couple of inches
and when he bows his back,
that's when you grab him with your fingers.
Got any yet?
That's the theory, but I haven't got any yet.
He's got the smell of the old stink bag as they call it.
They're grabbing real quick.
A couple of fellas told me if you grab them too quick,
you'll lose them.
Missed him, they're quick.
That's the theory anyway.
But he is right, there's an art to it, an acquired one.
That's a good one.
Greg and I went north to try their lap on flathead and wind.
They turned off the Pacific Highway towards North Beach
and found a great spot called Stewart's Point,
a fishing haven, good safe angling with plenty of fish
and a great holiday spot for all the family.
That's a good one.
Oh, who's that beauty?
I'm a bad flathead.
Nice flathead.
There's two boys.
It is important to follow waterways regulations
to ensure safe boating.
This is a typical situation of bad preparation.
These two boating enthusiasts went out without anything,
but life jackets, their bailing buckets and no form of communication.
And if Tony hadn't come along when he did,
they would have been in deep trouble and severely sunburnt.
Estuary fishing is the safest form of angling
and should be enjoyed by all the family.
Courtesy on the water is very important.
However, there are still areas of danger that must be observed.
Even the experts can come undone.
Watch out for weed beds and most of all,
look after your boat and motor,
because sometimes it can be a long way to row home.
Make sure to clean your riggy chowding to prevent corrosion,
which will keep your family safe in a float.
As if Fraser Island doesn't have enough allure of its own,
add to it the possibility of a share of almost $200,000 in prizes and cash
just for catching a fish,
and you have the recipe for the Toyota Fishing Expo 91 extravaganza.
Also billed as the greatest gathering of four-wheel drive vehicles
and two-wheel drive vehicles in the world.
Also billed as the greatest gathering of four-wheel drive vehicles
in the southern hemisphere,
the week-long expo attracts keen anglers from all eastern seaboard states
as well as the territories.
And don't they come equipped?
Fishing tackle, amping gear, boats to get out and chase the big one,
and of course, elixir, fueling medicinal or just in case of snake bite.
From the mainland, it's only a short haul to destination Fraser Island.
While on the barge, there's enough time however to prepare the vehicle
for the hard driving to be faced during the week ahead.
Catch the big one?
Sure, I will.
Onshore, a welcome from one of the natives.
Just one of the myriad of attractions that draw tourists like a magnet to this,
the world's greatest sand island.
And just to show that fishermen really are a funny lot,
the long haul up the island to the expo site at Orchard Beach Resort
can be interrupted with a critical view of a couple trying to catch a meal.
Arrival at the most popular camping area at Waddy Point
shows once again there are plenty of anglers, all with the same idea,
all in the hunt for the elusive big fish and its accompanying big prize,
and geared up with millions of dollars worth of vehicles, boats and fishing rigs.
Almost prophetically, it was another golden dawn that greeted contestants at Waddy Point
as they set out on the first day of competition.
As the official ribbon had been cut, it again became a race to be first to the water,
as if the first wet lime held the key to a successful and profitable week.
Creating such movement, the services of a traffic patrol were there, if required.
All year round, fishermen flocked to Fraser Island to catch fish and fish.
All year round, fishermen flocked to Fraser Island in their thousands.
In late winter and early spring, the action becomes frantic with the trek to the annual run of Taylor.
At that time, anglers packed the beaches shoulder to shoulder in the chase for schools of this fighting fish.
And on many occasions, it gets so crowded that even casting a line can be a big problem.
And with only the ocean for company, it's a case of working long and hard and rewards will come,
although they could be bigger.
And while some don't figure in the 14 categories, they do have a saving grace.
When not fishing, there's always time for a chat.
While the trip may have part-filled a bin, there was nothing that day for the honour board,
although for Brisbane's John Quincy, his day would come.
In dry land, however, the omens were right.
The big reds had been about, although not in prize-winning size.
Others had returned from the sea with a mixed bounty.
These weren't going to worry the leaderboard, but you have to remain confident.
On the way in stage, the action was thick, fast and spectacular.
Just to show that it's not just one time of the year there around, the Taylor once again made their presence known.
More spectacular rewards lay ahead as the benchmarks for the week were established.
In this class of competition, however, even they don't last long.
But this result was to hold up all week for Rodney McCann of Scarborough as he took home the prize for heaviest wahoo.
Then it was time for some of the ocean's prettiest fish to make their appearance, and they did by the kilo.
Red Emperor, all with a winning chance, soon hit the scale.
14.005.
And straight away recorded for history.
But how short can history be?
With last year's divisional winner, Sun Bradley, proudly looking on in the background,
the Sunshine Coast's Ray Muckett produced a big red, and weighing in at 16.1 kilograms, this was to prove a $2,000 fish.
In an effort to cater for so many contestants, organizers introduced a midday weigh-in session,
and it immediately proved a big hit, particularly for those who adopted nocturnal habits.
I haven't been to bed since yesterday morning.
And then the sight that took most people's breath away, a 35.2 kilogram black king, the expo's heaviest overall fish.
But would it last?
Well, I hope so, yeah. Yeah, it'd be good if it didn't.
Actually, I'm going to do a few rain dances tonight and hope the weather blows up.
As if that's not enough, a kiss for good luck.
And for Graham Weldon, who described himself as just an old yellow-bellied fisherman from the Condamine,
the good luck held, and he went home to Chinchilla, $2,000 richer.
Music
So while I've been languishing on Lord Hell Island, Quinny,
you look as though you've experienced the same weather pattern up here at Harvey Bay as I've just left.
Yes, Gordon, the wind was blowing in from the north at a rate of knots,
making it almost impossible for us to fish outside today.
So I checked with the locals to see if there were any good land-based spots to fish.
Bill, our skipper, suggested Yurangin Pier at the southern end of Harvey Bay,
where large scales of whiting frequent the area.
Music
The bush telegraph must have been buzzing this morning.
It seems like the whole town has found out the whiting we're on.
Music
Later that afternoon, I decided to try a little lure fishing.
Music
The weather started to clear and is looking great for tomorrow.
The only thing that happened here was no fish and very dirty legs.
At dawn the next morning, our skipper Bill Zeach and his first mate David
made our charter vessel MV Tara ready for a day's offshore fishing.
Bill and David are in contact with other vessels and local fishermen daily,
and with their many years of experience,
can almost pinpoint where the fish are going to be.
That structure over there is the deep end of Yurangin Pier.
At certain times of the year, this is the best land-based game platform in Queensland.
The vessel seems very well equipped.
Yep, they supply and prepare the bait and refreshments,
and even provide the tackle if you need it.
The bay is recognised to have the most diverse fishing on Queensland's east coast.
Lady Luck played its hand with Juley landing the first fish.
Music
Beautiful fish mate.
Good eating?
Very good eating.
Unfortunately it's just not quite big enough.
Music
It hooks down the throat so we might just have to cut the hook out of that fish.
Someone's got to go grabbing him too on the way out.
Music
Things seem to go a little quiet, but not for long.
Music
Looks like a little cave isn't it?
Yeah, it's stuck in the ground.
Looking for a bloody, um, hide, maybe?
Yeah.
They're stuck in the ground.
See how they've stuck us there, obviously. See that too, how they've cooked onto us there. Looks a bit caviarish at first, don't it?
Yeah, some people take fillets off of them, Brian, and actually market it as cake.
Do they?
Yeah. That's why I try and get away with it.
Cake, thank you, Joe.
Mate, there seems to be a tremendous amount of birds working further out there in the bay.
Yes, Gordon. It looks like a large girl of mack tuna chopping through shoals of smaller baitfish.
What method would you use to catch them?
The best method is spinning, using a metal lure as close as possible to the size of the baitfish, with a very fast retrieve.
Go on.
Just watch the holes.
Oh, he's following us.
Not in a bit.
Oh, there's a neat gaff shot.
Willie, are they good eating? Are you kidding? They're awful, but they make an excellent bait.
Tough as boot, better.
That's what we end up with.
Is he on first?
What's that?
Looks like a whale up there.
A whale? Where?
You know what's the point?
No.
What's the point?
I don't know.
He's only a baby Brian, come on bring him back.
Just follow him up a bit.
He's come to life again.
Let's squeeze him out a little bit.
That was it.