The past couple of weeks have produced simply sublime winter weather, and certainly a refreshing change from what we have endured for the bulk of 2022 thus far. Fingers crossed we see more sunshine than moisture for a little while yet.
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On the beaches, bream numbers have been reasonable with consistent reports from most stretches of sand. North Beach has been the pick of locations, with mullet strips, worms and pipis all seeing good results.
Apart from bream, tailor have been terrific with increasing numbers of salmon also taking both pilchards and lures. The recent good tides and lunar conditions also saw school mulloway active on most beaches, although the larger fish have been a tad elusive.
Off the rocks, tailor have been terrific with some solid greenbacks getting about. Good reports have come from most headlands both north and south of Port.
Drummer numbers also continue to pick up. Fish have been caught at both Flagstaff and Shelly Beach, as well as the more distant favoured locations.
Bream and blackfish have also been quite consistent, with Point Perpendicular worth a look, while Point Plomer and Big Hill have been holding reasonable numbers of school mulloway.
Quite a few bonito are also hanging around most headlands, although you will need quite small metals to entice any action.
In the estuary, bream have been consistent with the lower reaches of both the Hastings and Camden Haven rivers fishing very well despite the full moon. Lightly weighted yabbies, mullet strips or mullet gut should prove deadly on the bait front, while soft vibes have been a standout lure profile.
On the blackfish front, the Hastings is holding a few fish although not in great numbers. Those prepared to put in the time have been finding a few fish on most days.
Flathead however have been terrific, with good reports from both Lake Cathie and right throughout the Hastings. Whitebait and lures have both been effective.
On the mulloway scene, while not a lot of reports on larger fish, school-sized models have been prolific, with good reports from the north wall as well as further upstream.
It would appear however some need to acquaint themselves with the rules and regulations regarding bag and size limits for mulloway. Minimum size is 70cm with a bag limit of one fish.
Offshore, despite a bit of swell building last weekend, conditions have generally been as good as we have seen this year to date. Our bar however still needs to be treated with the utmost respect, as the sand build up has certainly not gone anywhere.
Those who have ventured out have generally been doing very well, with good numbers of snapper and pearl perch on most reefs, along with a sprinkling of reasonable kingfish.
The FAD is also still worth a look for mahi mahi, but be warned its removal for winter maintenance is now imminent.
