Hairtail Fishing in Cowan Creek: Bait, Rigs and Fishing After Dark

Hairtail have a special magic. A long silver fish with a mouthful of fangs comes out of the dark, and suddenly sitting in a freezing boat seems a perfectly reasonable way to spend an evening. Up to that point, the argument can be a little harder to make.

One August afternoon in 2022, Mike, Stewart and I started in Jerusalem Bay. Fish were showing on the sounder but ignoring our baits, and an icy westerly was blowing straight down the bay. The vote to move was unanimous. Waratah Bay gave us better shelter, and as the light faded the fishing finally came together. Mike's best went 155cm. We were back at the ramp just after dark with four keepers.

That session contains most of what matters on Cowan: choose somewhere you can fish comfortably, put good baits at useful depths, and be ready when the fish decide to cooperate. You don't have to turn every hairtail trip into an all-night endurance event.

Plan for the afternoon bite and the cold that follows

My Cowan hairtail fishing has often been a cool-weather affair, with memorable sessions from autumn into winter and late August. That is a pattern from our trips, not a promise that every winter evening will produce. In May 2020 we found nothing on the first evening and had a great session the next. On 1 June 2026, a hopeful Waratah Bay trip produced enormous yellowtail and a very thorough reminder to pack warmer clothes.

Arrive with daylight left to launch, find bait, look around and settle the boat. Late afternoon through dusk is well worth fishing. In recent years I've had good Cowan sessions between mid-afternoon and dark. Stay later if conditions suit and the fish give you a reason, but set a sensible return plan before everybody is cold and tired.

Take more warm clothing than the afternoon at home suggests. Beanies, gloves, dry layers and a windproof outer layer earn their space. Cowan's shaded bays can become bitter well before sunset. A headlamp keeps both hands free for rigging; have a spare light, charged communications, the boat's navigation lights working and the required safety equipment aboard.

Wear your lifejacket. On powered boats up to 4.8m, everyone must wear one at night on enclosed waters. Check the NSW lifejacket rules for your boat and crew.

Apple Tree picnic area and boat ramp is a useful Cowan starting point. Check the park's current access information and local alerts before leaving. Park entry fees apply. Confirm your launch and return access rather than assuming every park road follows the same hours.

Open Apple Tree Bay on our fishing map to plan your launch for a Cowan Creek session.

If you stay after sunset, slow down and keep a proper lookout. A familiar bay looks different in darkness or fog. Use a current chart and navigation equipment, and leave yourself time to get home safely. An old track on a plotter is no guarantee that the water ahead is clear. NSW's night-boating guidance is worth reading before the first evening trip.

Choose shelter, then find something worth fishing

Waratah, Jerusalem, Stingray and Akuna are all bays I've suggested for hairtail. They are places to investigate, not instructions to anchor at one fixed point. Motor around, watch for bait and think about the wind, room to fish and how the boat will lie.

The Jerusalem-to-Waratah move in August 2022 was about the wind on that particular day. Waratah was much more comfortable in that westerly. In another wind, make your own assessment. Staying cold and miserable over fish that won't bite is not a particularly clever victory.

Where a suitable courtesy mooring is available, it can make settling in straightforward. On Cowan Waters, the NPWS moorings are yellow buoys marked with the National Parks logo. The current conditions allow one vessel up to 14 metres, attended, for a maximum of 24 hours. No rafting another boat alongside. Choose a mooring suitable for your boat and leave room for neighbours' lines and movement.

Get the burley going once the boat is settled. Chopped pilchards have been part of my Cowan approach. Keep the bait and jig presentations where that activity is developing, rather than spreading lines across everybody else's water. If the boat's movement makes lines cross, reduce the spread and sort out the position.

Use the sounder to set the depth

The sounder is useful for finding bait and deciding where to put a presentation. It cannot tell you that a screen full of fish will turn into a full fish bag. In the 2022 session, the fish showed at Jerusalem and again at Waratah before the bites began.

Suspend baits at different depths to start, rather than automatically putting everything on the bottom. Note how much line is out, and adjust towards the depth of the returns or the bait that gets a bite. Once something works, make it repeatable. A line counter or marked braid helps, and our sounder guide explains how to read the depth and returns together.

Keep track of each line's angle as well as how much line you have let out. A bait sweeping away from the boat is not necessarily at the depth its line length suggests. Use only the weight needed to keep the presentation under useful control, and check that the hooks and trace haven't fouled the bait.

On a later Waratah visit in August 2022, we watched a fish rise through the water column and take a bait on the screen. It still jumped the hook after a short fight. Finding them and landing them remain two separate jobs.

Fresh yellowtail strips and a simple wire rig

Pilchards catch hairtail, but my preference is a long, thin strip of fresh yellowtail fillet. I've also recommended tailor strips, taken within the applicable size and bag rules. A long fillet is easier to present neatly than a bulky lump of bait.

I have used live yellowtail, but they can turn an orderly spread into a terrible mess. The big Cowan baits are very good at swimming around other lines, the outboard and even the anchor rope. Fresh strips let me spend more time fishing and less time untangling things. The yellowtail live-bait guide covers finding and catching them.

For a straightforward bait rig, these are the parts I've recommended:

• Three ganged 3/0 hooks, with sharp points and enough space along the bait to keep it hanging naturally.
• A short 27lb wire trace between the hooks and your line. Keep the connection neat and check it after each fish.
• A long, thin yellowtail fillet, fitted along the gang with the points clear.
• A small light above the hooks. I prefer a red chemical light. In May 2020 I used a flashing multicolour light about a foot, or 30cm, above the hooks because I couldn't get good red chemical lights in time.

I've also recommended small offset hooks wired together, suggesting hooks around 2/0 for that approach. The aim was to get a sharp point into the mouth instead of having a large hook hang around the fangs.

Prepare a couple of traces in daylight, check every connection under load and keep spare hooks, wire and lights where you can reach them. Cut off a kinked or damaged section of wire instead of trusting it for one more fish. A 3-6kg spin outfit is a sensible starting point for bait fishing, with a smooth drag and enough cushioning in the rod.

Watch the bait rod, then keep pressure on the fish

Hairtail can pick up a bait very cautiously. On an older Waratah trip, the bites were as wary as a luderick's and we lost good fish beside the boat. A bigger bite is not something you can order by leaving the rod unattended.

Watch the rod tip and line. When there is a persistent pull, take up slack until you can feel the fish, then set the sharp conventional hooks with a controlled lift. Keep a steady bend in the rod as you wind. If a fish comes off, check the bait, hook points and trace before sending the same problem back down.

Keep the other rods separated, and clear a line if it is in the fish's path. I lost one during the May 2020 double hookup when it went around another line. The last few metres are a poor time to let everything go slack while somebody searches for the landing gear.

My 40g jig alternative

After watching too many hairtail fall off bait hooks, I started experimenting with small jigs. The setup that worked for me was quite different from a standard reef-jig arrangement:

• A 40g metal jig, retaining its head assist hook.
• A split ring and treble on the tail.
• About 25cm of 27lb wire, topped with a tiny swivel.
• A mini red chemical light on the trace, immediately above the jig.

Work short, sharp lift-and-drop movements through the depth holding fish, keeping the lure in that band. This was an active retrieve, closer to mechanical jigging than a slow flutter off the bottom. The hookups came on the lift. There is no need to wind through the whole water column on every stroke when the fish are concentrated in one part of it.

The rod still needs to cushion the fight. On our May 2015 outing, Ed's old Wilson rod had a slow action that soaked up the lunges nicely. The micro-jigging guide covers the broader technique, and the 40g jig listing is there to check the current product.

I have used a red underwater light as well as the little light on the trace. It is a setup I like and have caught hairtail with. Test your lights before leaving: one batch of party-shop glow sticks I bought for a Waratah night gave off almost no light at all. That was not a bargain.

The Fangs for the Memories report shows the May 2020 gear and catches. Keep the light's cable, mooring line and other fishing lines clear of the jig's trebles. A useful attractor becomes rather less useful when you hook its lead.

Have the landing gear ready, and respect the fangs

Before the first fish arrives, clear a place to deal with it and have long-nose pliers, suitable landing gear and unhooking tools within reach. A long fish twisting beside the boat needs control, not a rushed grab near its mouth. Support its body and keep fingers away from the teeth and any exposed hooks.

Stewart's first hairtail in the August 2022 session twisted as he held it for a photograph and bit him on the nose. That is a very convincing reason to keep a hairtail away from your face. Get the fish settled, take a quick photograph if you want one, then release it promptly or deal with a retained fish and put it on ice.

Have a long insulated fish bag or a suitable icebox ready before launching. Decide how many fish you can use and chill properly. My own opinion of their eating quality has not always matched the enthusiasm of everyone I've fished with, but bringing any fish home warm is a poor start.

NSW currently lists no minimum size for hairtail, with a daily bag limit of ten and a possession limit of ten per person. Check the current saltwater limits, including any baitfish you keep, and carry your recreational fishing fee receipt unless exempt. Keep the number of rods manageable and comply with the saltwater fishing-method rules.

If you want the whole story of the windy start, the move to Waratah and those four fish, read Hairtail Heaven. Take fresh bait, a few prepared traces, a jig to try and a proper pile of warm clothes. The chrome bumper bars are worth a bit of effort. Freezing unnecessarily is optional.