HairTail - "Mysterious Chrome Ghosts"

Adolescent Feathersword with a massive Ghost
back in the old days....Aaaarrrrgh!!

Words By Blackbeard

Friday June 17th, 2011 - Typical clear crisp Winter's day - Fresh westerly breeze - night of the fool Moon.
What better way to spend a Friday night than to be on the water, down a tranquil river system, moon screaming, partner's pre-approval of your leave, hearing rumours that those mysterious hairy's are-a-munching.....Aaaaaargh!!!, Treasure awaits!!...So I thought.
My father had told me stories from the old days during the 70's and 80's when these alien like creatures existed in plagued proportions. I had also read that there was a period between the mid 90's and 2005 where they barely existed at all. Since then they have turned up sporadically. The reason for this is very unclear. It seems there is very little understanding of these Mysterious creatures.

Captain Blackbeard showing off
his debut Gost outing catch....aaaargh!!

As far as my knowledge goes on fishing for these F*$#@'s, is very little. I had not fished for them before. All I knew was what my father had told me. He  explained that they use to catch them on heavy handlines, exactly the same rig he used for Jewfish in the ocean - Live yakka, 9/0 Long Shank Hook, 3 feet of 60-80lb Mono leader with a 100lb test swivel, 8 ounce running barrel lead, 60-80lb mono main, pulled 6 feet from the bottom and tied in a cane springer to keep the depth............Oh how much things have changed....Aaaaarrrrrrgh!!!

I arrived at the spot to see hundreds of these little green speckled lights spread across the bay. It seemed as though every single fisherman had these little green glow sticks attached to their lines.
After about 5 mins of observing their actions, I decided against a heavy line, so I rig up a snapper rod with 20lb leader, a running ball sinker to a swivel, 2 foot of leader with a set of 5/0 gangs and a fresh pillie.....down goes my first bait.....aaaaargh!!! As I'm reading the sounder to find fish and adjust my depth accordingly, I witness nearly every boat hauling in fish. 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 mins, 1hr goes by and not a touch.....what am I doing wrong??.....surely that little green glow stick doesn't make that much of a difference?? ....aaaaaargh!!! I am too stubborn and refuse to fish with a glow light. As far as Im concerned these little green lights are purely superficial and a novelty. So I continue to persevere and with a little luck I ended up snagging 4 fish in about 5 hours. I must have jagged them on the way past hahahahaaaaarg!!! It was now 3am in the morning and my hands and feet are on the brink of frost bite, it was time to go home.

Mysterious F@&kers!!!

After a few hours of restless sleep, I got up, ran to Kmart and purchased myself some little green glow sticks....hahahaaaaaargh!!...as you do. So I prepared myself for another hairy attack the following night, this nights events were all a little different. I happened to get my bag limit of 10 in just over an hour. It just goes to show that no matter how good of a fisherman you think you are.....a little research on the correct tackle and methods makes all the difference between catching fish and coming home empty handed. A lesson to be learnt....Aaaaaaaargh!!!