We were in the house at just after 4pm and as both Mom and Dad worked we were what came to be known as Latch Key kids in that we would let ourselves out and in the house because our parents left for work before us and came in after us. We had the house to ourselves before Dad got in about 5pm. Tom and I would usually spend the afternoon after school playing football with the other kids down the oval but today we were planning our weekend escape fishing over night at Jerusalem Bay. The Hairtail were running.
The Hairtail was a fish of nightmares, it looked like it belonged to some prehistoric time as it was long and thin with a pointy head and long razor sharp teeth. Pound for Pound they were well rated as a fighting fish and you would never land one with a normal nylon fishing line. To catch a Hairtail you needed a solid breaking strain on the line, over 12lb; and a wire trace. No one seemed to know much about the Hairtail and what was known was gained from local knowledge. Local legend claimed that the Hairtail could only be caught in Cowan Creek. They never appeared anywhere else in the world and even in Cowan Creek you would only ever see them twice a year in June and October. My brother and I had been going Hairtail Fishing on the June and the October Long weekends for the last 3 years and we had always managed to catch three or four each during the course of the night. It was also believed that the Hairtail would swim vertically up from the depths to take bait and then dive fiercely once they had it. The only sight you had of a Hairtail in the water was a flash of silver and a enormous jerk on your line. You always knew when you had a Hairtail, nothing hit your line as hard. Jerusalem Bay was one of the deepest parts of Cowan Creek and a local favourite during the Hairtail run.
It was Jerusalem Bay where Tom and I were heading, we had just finished packing our gear when Dad got home. We had arranged with Dad a week ago to drop us off at Bobin Head so we could hire one of the small Kickers for the night. The Kicker was a small boat with a half cover and a small outboard motor on the back. Both Tom and I were keen to get started but Dad insisted that we get some Dinner first. We were sitting down to mince and mashed potato when Mum got in. Both Tom and I wolfed down the dinner and then waited impatiently for Dad to finish his cup of tea and have their regular conversation over dinner about her day, work, neigbours and friends. Mum signaled the end of the dinner conversation when she turned to look at us and said "when will you be home". "Tomorrow" Tom said, "or Sunday" I qualified. Dad enquired "Who are you going with" "Mick and Erick" Tom replied. "Where..." Dad started to say. When I replied "Jerusalem Bay". "Hairtail?" we both nodded.
45 minutes later Dad was dropping us off at Bobbin Head. We new the guy who worked at the Halversons Boat Shed, John Edmonds, he was a few years ahead of us at school and used to work here after school for extra pocket money. "Hi guys" he greeted us "after the hairtail". We both nodded. "Got anything for us Johnny" Tom asked. "Yeah, take 209, it's a bit quicker than the others and doesn't leak as much" "Thanks" we replied. We returned to Dads car to pick up the gear, Dad had waited to make sure we could pick up the Kicker before he left. When we had collected all the gear he gave us a wave and said "mind how you go" as he drove away.
We were in the Kicker and heading out of Bobbin Head when Tom said "What should we do first? I can't see Mick and Erick getting down before 11pm so we have about 4 hours".
"Lets head to Jerusalem and get some fishing in before we go and pick them up" I said.
We entered Jerusalem Bay just before 8pm. Then we saw it a large Cruiser was anchored right over our favourite spot. It was about 15 meters out from shore just on the edge of the drop off that we knew dropped down to an incredible depth. We slowly passed by the Cruiser and noticed that they looked to be having a party. There were about 8 adults on board, men and woman. Whilst most were partying I noticed two guys at the rear of the boat facing the drop off and fishing. These two were quietly drinking while they fished. We passed the cruiser and turned right to the other side of the Bay. Across the Bay we stopped and dropped anchor. " Its not ideal" Tom said "but we should do alright, they are making too much noise to fish over there anyway"
The Fishing Trip
Start from the beginning
